The Beautiful Past Remains Fresh As Up North Turns Unsafe

Schooling in Zaria for about 8years, though with experiences of some volatile religious riots and demonstrations in and outside the campus, I would describe my time there as relatively peaceful.

I always went to school and returned home using the night bus (something that always frightened my mum), but enjoyed the experience. 

The buses I traveled in broke down everywhere and anywhere. I slept on the road countless times. I even slept on a decking one in Okene only to find out the next house was my friend's. There was a time the bus broke down close to a police roadblock some kilometers from Kaduna and we were jubilant for the security we might get, at least from robbers. However, we got the shock of our lives as the policemen asked us to walk far away from them for reasons only they can explain.

I particularly remember a journey on a J5 bus that ended in an accident just after the Minna junction. It was about 9 pm and I had to sleep in a "motel" owned by an IBO man. There was no light and I didn't even see the faces of my hosts that night as all they had were lanterns, but I still felt some form of safety and slept with some reasonable peace of mind. 

I also recall several times I got to the flyover in Zaria past midnight and the Mai Suya man who had become my friend because of my various stops asked that I sat with him till morning. I had no concerns of being attacked or badly treated, other than mosquito bites which I stayed awake to ward off now and then. In the morning, just as the sushi prayer was called, he got me a cab that took me to Samaru, the home. of my beloved family (Mrs. Taibat Lawal and Rukayat Lawal Raheem ).

Although I never really went into town, I walked the length and breadth of Samaru town, any time of the day with my friends. I also visited Kaduna City a couple of times and loved it there. Living in the North remains my heart's desire, but when that would be is known only to God almighty.

This same city Zaria is where people no longer go to sleep with their eyes closed. Where people surrounded by military paraphernalia feel naked and exposed to all sorts of societal ills from banditry to kidnapping. A city where no one wants to live or visit again, because they fear that their lives may be cut short by miscreants. What a shame!

Yes, the implosion may have been long coming, owing to the number of children who were left largely to fend for themselves at a young age of 3-4, who grew up on the streets as urchins without a show of love or care, children who were sent to Islamic schools by parents who didn't look back and ended up as beggars and all, there is no reason why the military and security institutions should remain docile to this extent. Something just doesn't feel right!

Sometimes, I wish I had all the answers, or that my suspicions are correct and that something drastic would be done to curb this malaise.

Sometimes I just wish the hands of the clock could be turned back and all these pains and sorrows were non-existent.

Sometimes is just a wish....😥

Kafila Yusuf Buraimoh writes from Lagos