A TYPE OF HOME
One of my fondest memories of Kaduna is reaching it for the first time, unannounced, with only the memories of conversations with my closest friend at Uni, Ja’afaru – memories of how he always said he lived in a place called Barnawa in Kaduna. This was 1997 or 8. I am not sure now. Kaduna was already known from its active North/South, Muslim/Christian faultline – that could be dormant for years and then suddenly, without warning, erupt. And still it was much more innocent times, when a young undergraduate – Lagos-bred, southern and Christian – was not in any way wary at the thought of leaving home, and going off by himself to explore the North. In Kaduna, armed only with the knowledge that Jaf (as I call him) lives in Barnawa, I found my way to this…Barnawa, and began asking total strangers – on the road, in kiosks, standing in front of their gates, at a random basketball court I walked past – if they knew a certain Ja’afaru (kataf, father is late, law student at University of Abuja …
A TYPE OF HOME Read More