Travelogue: People still travel to Maiduguri

If I had not been born as a Hausa/Fulani, the next Northern tribe I would have loved to be is a Kanuri, Maiduguri.

I so love the language, I love the variety of the local food, I love the people and the way they dress (who has not heard of the legendary Maiduguri cap and the beautiful women, Lifaya?), and I so love the history.

Remember Borno was an empire, rich in knowledge and culture; you just need to see the Maliki dancers who entertained the invited guests and participants during the opening ceremony of the literary event I went for.

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Although, I also noticed that the Maliki dance, if one may say, also depicts the monogamous nature of the people – one man, one wife. I might be wrong, but it is like of all the tribes of Northern Nigeria that are majorly of the Islamic faith, the Borno people are the most monogamous, the ‘one man-one wife’ culture is strongly adhered to and it is like they even adhere to this when they, for some reasons, relocate outside their territory. But as I have said, I might be wrong.

If only the Borno empire’s scribes had diligently and extensively documented their extended history, and left it behind as was done for the Roman empire, the world, I am sure, would have been awed by what it will encounter, particularly as it relates to leadership skills and thrills, knowledge, warfare, trade and politics. Historic filmmakers would have had many stories of this beautiful tribe to tell.

So, I was in Maiduguri, the state capital, from July 19 till July 22. Yes, people still travel to Maiduguri — people from all parts of the country, people with ‘restless legs.’

Mind you, before I left home, I made sure I left my ‘will’ behind, not written, no – I am not that daring. I didn’t want to tempt God.

I didn’t know what the other people I travelled with in the bus that left the Unguwa Uku Motor Park in Kano were going to Maiduguri for ‑ may be for business or family issues, but for me, it was the usual business ‑ the book business/ literary activities. For wherever the book business takes us, we go; as long as we can, even if it is into the ‘lion’s den.

The first thing I noticed along the way, apart from the very good road network, right from Kano State, across the three states that link up Kano to Maiduguri – Jigawa State, which to me, has the most beautiful road network I had seen, that is apart from the Katsina Ring Road in Katsina City, then Bauchi State, and the road through Yobe State, up to the gates of Borno State ‑ was the kind of intense stares I got from the security personnel at the checkpoints. The stares made me jittery, that perhaps, it was because I was wearing an earpiece and reading a book at the same time, while sitting near the window, my favourite place, even on planes; or they could smell my fear from afar.

It was much later I came to realise that the stares might not be unconnected to the colour of the clothe I was wearing, as I was wearing an all-black attire. Well, I did that, thinking I would blend with the locals, because I noticed the last time I was in Maiduguri, about 10 years ago, that the women loved wearing black, especially that long Abaya Arab dress. However, things have changed, and if you are ever going to visit Maiduguri, don’t wear black; in fact, to all the states in the North East. You can, however, wear it if you don’t mind being intensely-starred at by security personnel manning the checkpoints.

We arrived Maiduguri around 5:00 p.m and proceeded to the venue of the event, the Command Guest House, a very beautiful place.

The chairman of the Northern Nigeria Writers Summit (NNWS), Malam B.M Dzukogi; the General Secretary, Dr Aisha Umar, were there to welcome us.

Also on ground were an assistant to the state governor, Jack Vincent Fidelis, as well as a Senior Special Assistant to the governor, Christopher Godwin Akaba, among others.

Needless to say, soldiers – God bless them ‑ were everywhere, working hard to keep the state and its people safe from attacks.

We were entertained in the evening of our arrival by a powerful poetry presentation on the plight of hundreds of other abducted girls, whom the world largely ignored, focusing only on the Chibok girls, as well as the harrowing living conditions of those in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.

The play was presented by a talented group of young men and women from the Borno Literary Society, headed by its interim chairman, Hassan Abdullahi.

The presentation brought tears to the eyes of the audience, as it revealed vividly what those young girls and boys went through in the hands of their abductors, and the stigmatisation they faced from the society after securing their freedom.

The event was a three-day conference on the development of a blueprint for literature in Northern Nigeria.

It was also a contribution to the development of Northern Nigeria literature and education by the umbrella body of writers in the region, that is the Northern Nigeria Writer’s Summit (NNWS), and was facilitated by the state government, through the auspices of the office of the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Dr Muhammaed Bulama.