The Beauty of Southern Kaduna

I love travelling. I didn’t realise this until my national youth service in 2010. Of course, I had travelled even beyond the shores of Nigeria before that year, but there were things I experienced in 2010 that made me discover this part of myself. Truly, life is a journey, and if you’re deliberate and taking note of certain things about life, you’ll find out that life can be a journey of self-realization.

Let’s get back to my love for travelling. When I and a childhood cum close friend, Boma, had heard that the NYSC posting list was out, we were apprehensive or somewhat anxious about the list. We needed to see where we had been posted to, majorly because we didn’t want to be posted to any ‘dreaded’ place. We didn’t ‘work’ our posting, so it was expected. Come to think of it now, I wish knew some things then, that I know now, like the fact that THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S. Maybe I wouldn’t have been worried. And to think of how things panned out, there was no need to worry about where I would be posted to.

We got to the notice board at Choba park, the campus where the Student Affairs department was located. We found our way through the persons that were already there and got to the front of the board. Looked for where our department was and checked for our names. The first thing was to be sure your name was on the list, before confirming the posting. I found my name and saw KD next to it. It was easy to tell that was Kaduna State. Boma checked hers and it was BA. The first state that came to mind was Bayelsa, so we were excited (for her) until some persons asked what state and we told them BA. We were shocked when they said it was Bauchi.

We eventually went to Abuja together from where we would dispatch to the states we had been posted to. It was a lovely road trip. It wasn’t my first time going to Abuja, but my first time going without my parents, so there was a sense of freedom.

This piece would be too long if I make it a story about my NYSC (it’s actually deserving of a book), so I would stick to the essence of putting this in writing.

NYSC Black Gold Camp, Chikun, Kaduna

Kaduna is a beautiful state. It is way different from the southern states where I have been all my life. Now, the first thing one notices is the landscape. As a nature lover, I got instantly drawn to the natural ambience of the state – the rocks, the vegetation, the valleys, etc. The air was different too, even though there’s a crude oil refinery in the state, it didn’t seem like it. It was a long way to the NYSC Black Gold camp in Chikun. The experience in the camp was amazing for me, even though people would lament and cry and all.

During the Endurance Trek exercise

My PPA was in a little town in Southern Kaduna called Kwoi, in Jaba Local Government Area. Kwoi as I got to know, means egg, and the town had little egg-shaped rocks spread around it. Even the girls’ secondary school where I was sent to teach had rocks lying around. It was way different from what I was used to. Kwoi was serene and peaceful. I made friends who were good to me. One of them would carry me on his motorcycle to see the town (it wasn’t a romantic ride, so don’t even go there! Ha-ha!). I also had the chance to work for WHO as an Independent Monitor for immunization exercises in the Local Government Area, which gave me the opportunity to see more of the town.

NYSC Secretariat in Jaba LGA

I would always make sure I do any job I’m given, so instead of seeing the WHO job as stressful, I saw it as a chance to explore. I went to different communities, spoke to chiefs, spoke to the people (as much as they could understand), and saw nature first-hand.

I and my colleagues (corps members) at our PPA, GGSS, Kwoi

NB: Notice the boulders behind us

I was excited when I saw NOK on my itinerary. The name was very familiar as I remembered it from my History class in secondary school. The place is historical and I learnt it had a museum too. It was a long motorcycle ride from Kwoi, but I didn’t mind. I had to go and I did. Unfortunately, I was told that the museum was being relocated to a new site and couldn’t see much of the artefacts. I also had to complete the assignment which took me to the community. So, I couldn’t take pictures and promised to visit again. Unfortunately, too, I didn’t go back due to lots of events that followed, one of which was the 2011 general elections that caused so much unrest in the southern Kaduna region.

During the elections, I was posted to a community called Fada. The story about the place, while we were in camp, was that there were witches there! They also said there were no electricity poles there as the people didn’t want light, but preferred the darkness. It was scary but funny as well because that was the very place I was posted to as an Adhoc staff for INEC. I didn’t see any witch. Instead, the school where my polling unit was had a BEAUTIFUL scene of hills and valleys which I could see from behind the table where I sat. It was the election process itself that was ugly, not the town.

It was a tiresome election

Southern Kaduna became really troubled after the first set of elections. Mosques were burnt, markets and shops destroyed. Communities set up vigilantes that kept watch at night and even day, waiting for whoever they heard was coming to attack. Because of the stories of impending attacks, I took off and most corps members too. I refused to return for the conclusion of that election which had some cancelled and reruns conducted. The remaining part of the service year was so-so.

I’d conclude by saying, or writing: Nigeria and Nigerians are killing this nation. We have so much to be grateful for, but we are destroying them with our own hands. Whatever is happening in Southern Kaduna right now breaks my heart, because that place is a tourist destination if well managed and developed. I have always wished to visit Kwoi again, to explore further and see what development has occurred there. But with these stories of killings in Southern Kaduna, I’m really concerned about the realization of that dream.