Barely two weeks after two churches were bombed in the city of Kaduna, Kaduna state, the postings for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was released and I was posted to Kaduna state. Naturally, I didn’t want to go there and proposed to defer my service as I told a friend who encouraged me to go and try to change the posting while in camp which I seriously considered. However, the reception of this news by my family members was a vehement NO but after convincing them that I was only going for camping where I would try to change my state of service, they finally came around. So I packed my bags and prepared for my journey.
Kaduna State had been placed on curfew after the bombings so I was quite apprehensive when our bus left the park late and after enquiring was told that we wouldn’t be reaching our destination earlier than six o’clock in the evening which was of course past curfew. It was evident to my co travellers that that was my first time of going to the state so they allayed my fears and told me not to worry, that I’d get to the camp safe which I did.
I settled in camp quite fast and started processes to get relocation away from the state in earnest. I tried all I could to get this to work out if not for anything just so my parents could have rest of mind so it was really disheartening when the lists for relocation was released and my name wasn’t among. I cried bitterly since I wasn’t yet disposed to serving in the state as several people had implored me to saying things were not as bad as it seemed. I however accepted my fate and when camp ended headed to my Place of Primary Assignment to start my work. I was determined to make the most of my fated stay in Kaduna.
In the Corper’s lodge where I resided, we were regaled with tales of massacres by our predecessors. Some of them, they had witnessed while most were stories they also had been told by the people far and near. They told us especially of a reprisal that occurred few months before we were posted and how the Christians had run the Moslems out of the southern part of the town burning down mosques and promising more if they dared to attack Christians there again. Somehow, this gave me a bit of respite which I quickly passed on to anyone down south who showed sympathy for my fate. Gladly, I told them that where I stayed in Kaduna, the much dreaded sect couldn’t touch us.
Serving in Kaduna started to become interesting as I made friends who took me to fun places. Also, being used to the hustle and bustle of a major city like Lagos, it took some getting used to not to rush for buses or be loud in my actions. The thrill of learning a new language which was made easier by a booklet we had been given in camp and by daily conversations with indigenes eager to teach us made me to completely acclimatize and in no time, I had forgotten that I even tried to leave Kaduna state.
Some months into my service year, by a stroke of luck, I got an opportunity to work with the popular NGO, World Health Organization. Since the work was not going to be a distraction from my primary assignment, I took it. This birthed a new experience for me as the job entailed that I have a good grasp of the Hausa language, which I had yet to fully do and work in the field which may be several kilometers away from the main town. My first job took me to a village where i ad to reach on a motorcycle.
My overall experience in Kaduna state was one where I kept facing reasons to be scared and take flight but I found myself surmounting them one after the other. I could easily have convinced myself that the wise thing to do was return to the safety of Lagos but I was bolstered by the strength I saw in those people, indigenes and outsiders alike, who called it home. The attempt of their tormentors to make them give up their yearning for western education only seemed to bolster it since they all refused to abandon all they had spent a long time building and which gave them freedom to live as they dreamed. This made me appreciate courage and realize it wasn’t the absence of things to be fearful of but the decision to continue to strive to live meaningful and productive lives despite it.
Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Gratitude Travel Writing competition and tell your story.
