At long last, we are in Kaduna State!
Kaduna State is to the North of Abuja, but belongs to the North West of the geopolitical zone in Nigeria.
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| Map of Nigeria and its states (source:wikipedia) |
A huge river, Kaduna River gave rise to the name of the state. But according to Zaharan, our guide for this trip...it has a more sinister meaning. Kaduna, derived from the root word Kada means crocodile in Hausa language. Honest! Google it...But according to another source..it's from another language, Gbagyi which means river. Anyway, right now just accept the simple fact that we are in Kaduna.
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| the mighty Kaduna River |
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what greeted us in the car.... blank single line
exercise book with our pictures
..this is too much mannnnn |
Well, I did mentioned the airport was under renovation/construction, so a bus were at the tarmac to ferry us to a new terminal building few hundreds meter away.
There, we met Zaharan and the rest of the team. If you could call them a team. Well, a commander, the standard security detail and finally a "retired F1 driver" (he must have a Super license) (to drive at godawful speed across Kaduna) completes the team. The MOPOL (Mobile Police)..trust me, works like a clock work. The commander were with us and inform the 'control' form time to time.
"Zulu-Alpha-Tango-Uniform-Romeo and plus 3...."
said the commander to his control. Felt it was like in some military ops in the movie. He gave assurance, "all will be ok".
Corn and Cattle..oh ya Goats too
We left the airport almost immediately and along the country road, there were acres and acres and I mean lots of corn. Corn field as far as the eye can see. I daresay, Kaduna State looks like Kansas or maybe Johore, Malaysia. Its flat... undulating landscape for miles around. Here and there you see corn fields, big or small along the road.
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| corn field just after the airport |
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| Dorothy will feel right at home |
Zaharan mentioned, agriculture is big here. Apart from corn, Kaduna also produces groundnuts, yam, cotton, cassava etc. More than half of the population are engage in agriculture. Livestock and poultry farming is also one of the mainstay in Kaduna. True enough, there were cattles (both cow and bull with long horns), goats grazing on the field. But the animals were not left unattended...mind you.
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| "run!!!" |
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| the shepherd tending to his herd of cattle |
The towns along the way
The countryside quickly gave way to small township. It is always busy in Nigeria. Even on Saturdays. The road was bumpy and there were many trucks (Mack trucks, just imagine Optimus Prime...the movies, not the cartoon) too, and all were laden with goods bound for the industrial areas around Kaduna. Btw, Kaduna State population is around 8 million.
We proceeded steadily with the assistance of the F1 driver in the security car. I was amazed how he navigated thru the thickest of traffic jam. Even Zaharan had commented something towards the driver. As for me at the back, trying my best to look cool and not...ahem, soil myself before we get to our destination.
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| Peak is here... |
We entered the compound and already the children had been waiting for us patiently. There were about 50 or so of them, Ranging from a few months to teenage. According to the care taker, these children go to school and pick up certain trade like tailoring for instance. They have better chance that way and tailoring is big in Nigerian culture.
They performed a dance, a short one but always in a very upbeat tempo. The music scene in Nigeria is huge. Musician and artist all over Africa would say Nigeria is the place to be and hit big. There will be a music festival sometime this year. Anyway, there were speeches. One from Mama, the lady behind this herculean effort of raising and sheltering these children, and also a short one from Madam. Next was the cutting of the birthday cake (all the August baby included) and a group photos.
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| Madam and Mama |
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| Madam and the baby, only few weeks old |
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| Fay giving out the book |
I could see Ben was not himself. Sad to see the children without parents, but Fay was ok. She helped Madam to give away the exercise book..which was ordered by Zaharan (we didn't know about it until it we arrived). Yahaya was there too, with his two children and wife. The children also were given jollof rice and there were cartons of soda drinks for them.
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| group photo, with some of the children |
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| Mama and Madam with the baby |
We left the compound and with Yahaya and his family to a nearby restaurant to have our meal; before we push off to Abuja. Yes, we are going to Abuja next. A 250km journey from Kaduna to Abuja...maybe will take us about 3 hours...maybe less.
At the restaurant, I got to know more about Zaharan and Yahaya. We.... ahem, bitch (can't find any suitable word) about Madam and we laughed like old friends. It was great to be among friends. New friends.
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a restaurant owner (his restaurant was under
renovation that day) giving direction
to another restaurant.. hmmmmmmmmmmm.... |
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Zaharan (back) and Yahaya (front)..please note
Zaharan's flashy watch doubles as mobile phone receiver |
At exactly 5.27pm, we departed for Abuja. I will definitely visit Kaduna again. Even if I have to sneak behind Madam. The visit was too short. I'm pretty sure Kaduna has lots to offer like visiting the Palace of Emir of Zaria, Nok village and its culture (terracotta figurines), waterfalls etc etc.
Kaduna, I will be back!!!
Aheh
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