Where The Map Leads
The day finally came, the day I had silently dreaded, the day I was to go collect my NYSC call up letter. I dreaded the day because I knew I had done nothing to influence my posting, I would have, but I didn’t because I didn’t have the resources to. I left my fate to fate, so I didn’t expect miracles, I didn’t expect better than I got, but I was scared nonetheless. Why was I scared and what the hell might I be talking about? I am talking about NYSC - my experience as a southerner posted to the north and this is how it started.
My dread was made real as I stared at my call-up later, my heart sank into my stomach and I felt a ting of sweat on my forehead. I had been posted to Katsina State, the North-Western part of Nigeria.
I know you might think that my reaction was over the top and unwarranted, but it wasn’t, even though it was before the Boko Haram madness, it was still "THE NORTH", hence my apprehension.
I saw happiness and relief in the eyes of some of my course mates you got more favourable posting than I did, those who got not so favourable were at least paired with other prospective corps members to go to the same states, but what did I get? I got Katsina State, and I was a lone ranger. I was the only one in my set in the department that was posted to Katsina. I hadn’t gone beyond Edo State heading anywhere northward before in my life, now I have been mandated by my country to take that trip, to make that journey to the land unknown - The clarion call they call it.
First, I have to know how to negotiate this journey to the North from the South, how long it is going to take me to get to my destination, given that I am heading to a Sharia state, what Dos and Donts do I need to know? These were my dilemma, my predicament and I had to deal with them...alone.
I asked some close friends and family who I was sure, knew about the North and how to get there for a first-timer. From the suggestions I got, going by flight would have been the best if I had the resources, but since I didn’t, there was only the choice of road left.
The 12 Hour Journey
On the 24th of October 2010, equipped with the travel itinerary and the blessings of both family and friends, I took my first ever trip to the North of Nigeria.
I was at the bus terminal by 5; 30 am and by 6 am, we had boarded and had left, Abuja bound. The plan was to get to Abuja, spend the night at my cousin's place, and then continue on my way first thing in the morning.
I arrived Abuja and at my cousin's place by 6 pm, which means I had spent a total of 12hrs on-road travel. I didn’t mind at all, it was my first time travelling such distance as an adult, so I wasn’t bored at all; so many things to keep the mind entertained and occupied so many new sights to see.
I had my bath, eased in a bit and could now feel the stress of the long-distance travel on my body. I still a have a long day ahead tomorrow, but it didn’t stop me from goofing about a bit with my cousin, because we were very close and we hadn’t seen in a bit.
Ultimately, nature's clock reminded me what time it is and bid my cousin good night and stretched out on the bed. Damn, I was tired!
In no time, dawn was here and I had been woken up by the cries of the first prayer session from a nearby mosque - it was 5 am. I hadn’t gotten to my destination yet, but it was obvious now that I was in a foreign land.
I thought why I was there at that moment and where I was actually headed and my heart sunk to my stomach again, I am closer to my destination now, I was merely 6 hours away now.
I was wide awake now, my mind fixated on my journey, my arrival in KT, and what it might look like. Well, I gotta start before I could arrive, so I hit the shower, ate and was ready to continue my expedition.
My cousin accompanied me to a local bus terminal where I would eventually board the bus heading to KT, and my new reality was soon to set in.
I paid and boarded, but before we left, it struck me that every single occupant in the 14 sitter bus was fully clothed in a thawb and spoke Hausa, except me. I was a foreigner and I stood out like a sore thumb and this bothered me a bit. Well, they aren’t going to eat me, I thought to myself. LOL.
We had boarded now and had left the local bus terminal, it was the last right to my destination and whatever I assumed or expected to see was just a short trip away now, this is it, KT here I come. I was still in my head, trying to get some thoughts out there when the foulest odour hit my nose and disrupted my thoughts. These guys don't take personal hygiene as seriously as they should.
Fourteen men enclosed in a bus, on a dry, sunny, harmattan morning, yeah, everybody was bound to show what they smelled like, and they all smelled the same.
Good enough thing though, the driver was stepping on the gas like I would have, if I was driving, because, damn I was suffocating. I wasn't enjoying the ride at all, and the dude right behind me kept coughing like a mad dog and the putrid filthy air from his mouth kept hitting the back of my neck. What the hell is this? No etiquettes, no sense of social distancing, no civility, no manners.
At first, I thought the first one was an involuntary burst of cough you know, it happens like that sometimes but it appears I gave the man too much credit.
I tried to restrain myself from reacting exactly the way the situation needed (total outburst and maybe a smack or two) but, being in a foreign (Muslim) land and being a foreigner, caution was needed. It'd be risky to lose my head - figuratively and literally.
He paused for a while and I was thinking of what to do if he doesn't observe some manners next time, but the next bouts of coughs on my back stopped my thought in its tracks. Instinctively, I turned around and gave him the longest, coldest and deadest stare my face could muster. I looked at him long and hard, as if to say - Are you brain-dead? And alas...that was the last I was served airy putrid to the back of my head, till we got to our destination.
We got into KT town because I could see signposts indicating we had gotten into our destination town. The bus made its way into a large gated compound and under a big mango tree, finally came to a stop - We are here.
Although very small for a major bus terminal, this terminal was very busy, bursting of activities and full of life. I alighted, looked around, trying to draw it all in. The air was warm and humid, the atmosphere felt congested, I needed to get some real fresh air into my lungs, I needed to head out, find my way to the NYSC Camp, I needed the journey to come to its end, and that means getting to the Orientation camp, but first I need to ask someone how to get there.
I walked up to one of the men there in the terminal, said hello and asked how I could find my way to where I was going. He gaped at me like I was talking nonsense, then he motioned at me in a way that implied that he didn't wanna talk. I left him and walked to another man, asked him the same thing and he shook his head and responded to me in Hausa...he muttered, "ba turenchi" which means NO ENGLISH. Instantly, it dawned on me that the first man wasn't being rude, he just didn't know how to communicate or respond to me in English.
I needed to catch my breath, I am in a bus terminal in a faraway state (felt like a different country altogether) and nobody could coherently talk to me in English, much less directing me on how I could get to my final destination. I was confused now but I just needed to relax a bit, brainstorm and see what way I could come up with. I sighted a photocopying shop and they sold coke and snacks too, my mouth watered and I realized that I was very thirsty and hungry because the last thing I could have thought about in that bus was food. Yuck!
I walked into the shop, saw a young casually dressed girl and just nodded at her while looking at the bench in her shop, she smiled at me and I felt a bit welcome, so I sat down. Mulling over the possibility that she too might not understand English and how screwed I would be.
I drew closer to her and whispered: "do you understand English?" She smiled and said yes. I felt so relieved, I almost gave her a high-five. Thank goodness!
To be continued...
