1. The Kaduna Mosque
2. Hassan Katsina House
3. A road scene
4. The Emir of Zazzau’s palace in Kaduna, opposite the Kaduna Museum.
5. A street scene.
6. An antique shop.
7. The railway bridge over Kaduna river.
8. Hamdala Hotel
9. Stadium roundabout
10. The State House of Assembly, reputed to be where Lord Lugard lived while he was in the Northern Nigeria.
Before setting out to Kaduna, I sent a lot of questions ahead of me, mainly because whenever I thought of the state, my memory just fails to conjure up any images at all. If I had only thought a little while back to years of childhood, I might have remembered that the Nigerian Defence Academy that trains all Nigerian soldiers is located in the state. I should have known this because there was a time when my brother was seriously considering enlisting. That was like twenty years ago. Now, all that circled my head were merely blank thoughts that never materialized into any concrete images, and my father had always said that there were no stupid questions.
So I asked, in all innocence and as a precaution to a situation of being hopelessly stranded in a strange land far away from home, “There is a UBA bank branch in your state, right?” And the problem started.
Unknown to me, that was the ultimate of all ignorant questions in today’s Nigeria. Actually, even to me, I realized the folly as soon as the question was uttered, but I justified my question with instances during my youth service in Jos when my National Bank account was suddenly rendered useless when I realized that there was no branch of the bank in the state. If I had thought about it a little more, I would have realized that after the consolidation of banks throughout the country, one of the requirements of new banks was that they must have branches in all thirty-six states. Yeah. Dumb me. To add salt to injury, as Zainab took time to remind me about a hundred times during our first meeting since New York, “Kaduna was the capital of the old Northern Region. How could we not have UBA?”. All my protest that the question was supposed to be a reflection on UBA and not on Kaduna as a state fell on deaf ears, and I’ve been paying for it ever since. Think about it, I said. You have Chase Bank in NY and we don’t have it in Edwardsville. It doesn’t mean that Edwardsville is “bush” as you must have thought I meant, but that Chase just doesn’t have the national reach. The more I made the argument, the more I lost.
And there’s more. I never really put my mind to the extent of the Shariah law introduced to some states in Northern Nigeria since 1999 so my asking the question also seemed to put her at some defence. “Yes, we cut people’s hands,” she said, and I will make sure that you lose one of your fingers before you go back to Ibadan.” Now I’m doubting whether father was right after all, because here I am looking like the dumb American returnee, and about to lose a limb. I am still a Nigerian, am I not?
Here is the deal: I’m not lost, but I have not yet informed my hosts that I have arrived in this town. I am discovering the city by myself. A chance meeting with a stranger at the bus park has got me far into town and here I am in the lobby of a famous hotel tapping out my thoughts to the world. I’ve seen the palace of the Emir of Zazau. There should be other things nearby to see, beside the barbecue of suya on sticks enticing me from across the road.
A few things have happened since the last time I blogged. I have been to Abuja. Yes, the famous capital city. I have visited the National Assembly and the National Mosque. I even went to Aso Rock. Truly. It all happened last night, like a dream. A few years ago, under military rule, all the places I visited last night might have been off limits. But here we are in a democratic government, perhaps with a little too much liberty. (Personally, I think the National Assembly Complex should be guarded a little more. We don’t want to have someone place an explosive device there in the dark of night, and still be saluted “Sir” on his way in and out.)
What else, the National Mosque is a very magnificent structure that make for good photography. It is somewhere to sit and contemplate, free from the bustle of the big city. And the city really is big. Sorry Lagos, you lost the battle a long time ago. Abuja is also a city of contrasts, like every big city. On one side are sprawling landscapes of wealth, and on another side of town are huts and small houses for the “ordinary people”. But don’t let that tag fool you. An apartment for rent even in those low cost areas cost a fortune compared to other parts of the country.
I have not had my fill of that capital city, but I am at least out of there, thank goodness. As soon as I’m done devouring Kaduna, I’ll see what else these parts can offer to the footloose traveller.
PS: This town is like Ibadan all over again. Or is it just me? I’ll put up photos as soon as Starcomms allows.
The railway track from Lagos reaches Ibadan, Abeokuta and then head up north towards Zaria, Jos and Maiduguri, and the very first proposals on this trip was to have gone via railway. How nice that could have been, except that it would have taken days if not weeks to commute between even almost neighbouring towns. At least, it could have been a good chance to see more of the countryside as one ascends up the country.
So here I am in Ilorin, a sorta border town between the North and the South. But don’t take my word for it. Most residents of this town know for sure that politically and geographically, Ilorin belongs to the North. There is a very long and bloody history behind this conclusion. Don’t ask me. One thing for sure is that everyone here speaks Yoruba, and perhaps Hausa as well, among other languages. The state’s motto is “The Land of Harmony”, perhaps a play on the diversity it embodies.
The towns of Ekiti that lay in-between the journey from Ile-Ife to Ilorin are interspersed between rocks and hills. It is also a land of diverse tongues. The Akoko area of Ondo and Ekiti States is one of the most linguistically diverse places in Nigeria. Many of the languages there are endangered or under some sort of threat from globalization, and the influence of Yoruba, thus the influx of linguists from all over the world to study and document those languages. I have worked with at least three of such linguists, doing fieldworks in villages in the Akoko Area, some from the School of Oriental and African Studies, in the UK, and a few from SIUE itself. Has anyone heard of a language called Ayere or Uwu?
So, Kaduna is the ideal next stop, and it is six hours away from here by car. That is not the problem however. The problem is where I intend to sleep when I get there. This, of course, could also be the most exciting part of the trip. Now imagine me in jeans and a ktravula t-shirt, with a backpack and dark specs walking up to the gate of the government house and requesting to meet with the Governor in person. “Yes sir. I am a Nigerian Fulbrighter from the United States on a short trip around my country. I need a place to lay my head just for a few days while I check out your state and I have come to you, being the chief executive of the state. I’m all yours. What say you?”
Now, that would be an adventure.