LamikayTy

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.
–Robert Frost

The stress of Lagos coupled with work pressure have made me long for my days as a youth corper! In quiet (maybe too quiet) Sabon Birni, life was slooooooooow! and Peaceful! A picturesque village with no environmental pollution except a few noisy bikes which sped past the corpers lodge once in a while! A number of people were concerned when I decided to accept my posting to this village without light or telephones and certainly no Email, but its a decision I do not regret. I had written a few things down before now about my days as a corper. Please read on:

Sabon Birni! This word stirs memories within me and takes me back a few months. When we were tired, it was “Sabon Birni”, when we were bored (which was quite often), “Sabon Birni”, when we saw an interesting sight that could only happen in the North we said SABON BIRNI. I served in Sabon Birni, reputed to be the largest local government area in Sokoto state. Its a border town and 2 hours on a rough bumpy ride and after crossing 2 rivers (during the rainy season) lands you in Niger republic. My first view of Sabon Birni was late in the evening. As we turned off the tarred road from Sokoto to Isa, I though a few minutes would reveal this ‘strange’ town however it took almost another 40minutes of a really rough and bumpy ride before we saw a tree lined avenue (dogon yaro trees , the neem tree) and then the Kofar (gate). It was getting dark so my view was limited but one thing was sure, it was going to be a long quiet year. There was no body in sight on the outskirts of town until we got to the middle of town (the market) where we saw the indigenes who would be our hosts for a year.
All the corpers were lodged in the corpers lodge with its leaky roof or rather no roof at all and a large compound that became a farm once the rains came.The large building was horrible by southern standards but was considered a ‘palace’ by the locals. It had been built by a fraudulent contractor as a state house for the use of the governor whenever he came visiting but had to be abandoned because it fell short of any building standards. This was where we lived throughout the service year. Fortunately, my self and a friend – the corper doctor got one of the best rooms. When it rained, containers had to be placed under the leaking portions of the roof and plenty of rags were utilised to soak up the water running down the wall but we were better off than a few others whose sleep was disrupted frequently as they swept gallons of water out of their rooms. The whole lodge would awaken and help sweep or scoop out the deluge of water. For one particular occupant who actually had NO ROOF over his head, a few people used to tease him saying he had run away from sweeping duties as a child, so God had piled them up for him until then. It was amazing how we got along! People and Adults (and sorry forgot to add Graduates) from every nook and cranny in Nigeria. East, West, South, North, Middle belt. It was a melting pot the different tribes in Nigeria. We were all teachers for that period. Everyone except the Doctor! It didnt matter what you studied, Law , Accounting, Computer Science, you taught. That was the only industry where we could apply ourselves. The school was a little less than a kilometre from the lodge. It took grit and determination to get out of bed and get to school for 7:30am, especially in the cold. Living in the village was quiet, fun but too quiet. There was no electricity, no form of communication with the outside world except you had a Thuraya phone or via NIPOST. There was no post office but a postal agency. To remain sane I needed to go to town (Sokoto) at least once a month. The journey was about 3 hours and cost 800 bucks (to and fro) of ones hard earned cash but was a much needed break. Calling and checking mail were the primary reasons and of course to connect with what one was familiar with. Watch television and read papers and buy one or two for the news-hungry corpers. Several big events passed us by. Football matches never. In the town or village a few rich villages had DSTV and sold watching rights to everyone so all the leagues were closely followed. There were hardly if any luxury items in Sabon Birni! So a lot of money was saved. I ate 3 square meals every single day! and the staple was sweet potato and I can assure you I ate more sweet potato in one year than I have done in my whole life time (and I am Old ) There were only 2 market days, Sunday and Tuesday. Those days saw us purchase a large number of goods and fresh meat and at prices a whole lot less than on other days. Fresh fish could only be bought on market days. I remember one of my first Sundays in Sabon birin. After Church, we went shopping and at a point we wanted to buy a chicken. However we didnt know the Hausa word for Chicken and it took us a while to find anyone who knew any English. After walking round and round and even clucking like hens, we finally stumbled on an Ibo man who helped us. The word we were looking for was ‘Kaza’. I can tell you none of us forgot that Hausa word. Sabon Birni was quiet and peaceful. Nature at its best, unspoiled though desert like…..(to be continued)

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