Hello Bauchi and Cheers to the New Fearlessness
I have two very interesting friends Nnedimkpa and Adaobi. In all honesty, their ability to wander to the bushiest ends of the earth sans the fear of lions, snakes and all things deemed scary by regular folks like me is what interests me the most about them.
I grew up like every other regular Enugu kid, watching Coming to America, Sound of Music, Tales by Moonlight and eating rice on Sundays(Lowkey, This is a standard rule of every Nigerian household) Nnedi and Ada came to Enugu and passed time visiting all the caves and waterfalls they could find, and I realised that I didn’t truly know the city I’d grown up in. I mean Nnedi filled me up with tales and adventures of her multicultural childhood(No jokes, babe has been everywhere) and all the places she’d been to on her last visit to Enugu, and I sat there listening, all the while thinking — Ositadinma, what have you done in this life? Where have you been. It was no wonder when the moment an opportunity came up for me to go speak at a tech conference in Bauchi, I jumped at it without hesitation. The time had finally come for me to show my two interesting friends that I also possessed the spirit of adventure and the love of the thrill therein.
My Journey to Bauchi began with a six hour sunny morning drive from the Federal Capital Territory in the backseat of a Sienna-esque car. Ignoring my aching back, the journey was quite smooth. I must say that the roads in the northern part of Nigeria are way better than anything obtainable in the south. I must also say that the view of the landscape is amazing. The wonderful mix of open grasslands and gargantuan rocks create this phantasmagoria of humongous proportions. This affirms Hon. Patrick Obaighabghon’s description of it — the aesthetically, jaw disintegrating landscapes once astuciously beloved of touristic primates of Homo Sapient origin.
The people in the north are quite friendly, contrary to what I’ve believed for a very long time now. I’ve also never seen a people so proud of their culture and identity. These people literally showed up for a tech conference fully clad in their native kaftans as against the t-shirts, denims and hoodies I’m used to. I also got lost twice because I couldn’t tell the bike people where I was headed — These people no dey hear English… lol!
On the second day, after delivering my speech at the conference and eating a box of small chops, I headed off to explore the city. It’s not even debatable; Bauchi has huge tourism potential but as you know, Za ganment is looking into it. I started out by visiting the stadium which was similar to every other Nigerian stadium I’ve been to — old and bare. Next up was the Emir’s palace with its 200 year old Emir’s court and the 200 year old mosque. The people inside the palace were more than happy to show us around. After having a nice time seeing the royal stables, I headed off to say hello the remains of Nigeria’s first prime minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
The visit to the tomb was the most thrilling part of this journey. It kinda made me connect with Nigeria — whatever that means. The curator was a really nice guy and I was happy to reciprocate the niceties with a bounteous tip. He took us on a tour of the tomb while showing us symbols and explaining what they stood for in his thick, original Hausa accent. I got to see Sir Abubakar’s remaining personal effects and a reenactment of some periods of his life. The tour ended with me filling my groaning tummy with some portions of masa and a cold bottle of fura de nunu which just happens to be Bauchi’s special delicacy — Perfect combination of joy and satisfaction.
The truth is that I used to find travelling to the north very frightening and terrifying. Who wouldn’t? After watching news reports and hearing about everything that goes down there, it is difficult to not be afraid of going to the place. Nnedi had earlier assuaged my fears, by letting me know that the North wasn’t exactly how the media made it out to be and this one trip has further served to change my perception. Just like everywhere else, the north has its problems but there are real people living real lives in the city of Bauchi and I’m happy that I met them. I think I can happily say that some of my fears have been quelched… lol. I really do look forward to visiting more places in Nigeria, the rest of Africa and the world at large. I guess I’ve finally received the spirit of Ajala the warrior.
Special thanks to Nnedi for going through this article, making some corrections and ensuring that I didn’t disgrace my umunna.
