A DREADED SOJOURN

The first time I wanted to leave for Maiduguri, people thought I was crazy. To many, it was like offering to admit myself into the realm of perpetual genocide. A realm of which I could be a goner the moment I stepped in. This was the same Borno I have always looked forward to seeing ever since I was a child, this was the same Borno that was so peaceful, calm and welcoming, this was the same Borno that drains all my troubles and wash away my childhood tears and fears as I holiday there and forget there was another world outside my native Biu town, this was the same Borno that was the beginning and the end of my own definition of a free world of bliss and fantasy, this is the same Borno that is now a forbidden Kingdom! Should I therefore elude them because they are plagued in carnage of wicked hemorrhage? I was actually scared for my life because I know I am as susceptible as any other poor Nigerian. Hausa, Kanuri or Igbo, Christian or Muslim we are all vulnerable poor masses. But I braved it because I had to go. The moment I boarded at the Nataco bus park in Lokoja and saw the number of eastern and other fellow Nigerians I was to embark to Maiduguri with, I soon realized mine wasn't a heroic blaze after all. These non indigenes heading there are the real brave Heroes. They are practical examples of that bond we share that is now being threatened by a mutual enemy. We had to book and wait for those luxury coaches coming all the way from Lagos and Port Harcourt areas. It was 8:00pm and their ETA was around 10:00pm so I had ample time at my disposal. I went to say my prayers and decided to have something to eat. Normally, I do lost appetite for anything but water whenever am suppose to be on transit, but today was different, I do not know whether it was prompted by that mix of anxiety and pinch of uncertainty rumbling in my stomach. I decided to have egg and tea at a Mai Sha’i joint anyway. It was now some few minutes to ten and my anxiety and expectation became high on the gear. At that moment, the coaches started arriving in their multitudes headed for different place in the North. Not long enough Maiduguri’s coach came by and we boarded. From the appearances of passengers and their accent at one point or the other, I quickly did a rough statistics of the origin of my co travelers. About 50% were easterners, about 30% other parts of Nigeria, 1% foreign National (black French speaking precisely) while the Northerners are about 19% mostly indigenes.......(ctd)