Quote from KIMBYSVOICE on September 25, 2021, 1:48 pm

Image by King232a from Pixabay

When Abba promised the kids a trip to the mountain in “Kamrum Bajju” village (where we went to bury my friend, Gizzle’s mum), they didn’t give him breathing space till he took them. Alma didn’t allow her mum to rest either. They left “Tum” (another village) very early in the morning to be in Kamrum on time for the trip to the mountain. Even our oyinbo baby wasn’t left out. They had so much fun in the village, they declared, “this is the best place ever, we don’t want to go back to the city”.Oya now!

Of course, it’s the best place ever. The freedom to move around without restriction!

They reminded me of my childhood and Christmas in K-10. It was the best place to be. The best time of our year was spent in the best place. We looked forward to it.That annual trip crowned the year for us.

Why do I say it was the place to be?Many reasons.

There was no GSM then. We could only communicate via letters written and posted at a post office. That was only possible if you knew a pickup place or post office box around you where you could drop off letters.

That time of the year meant seeing our relatives. Cousins we used to see once a year. We all lived in different parts of the country. Different states, towns and all. We were not even old enough to think of travelling to those places for visits.

On very rare occasions, we got to see in between the year. Maybe at a wedding or… Very rare I said.

Our parents saw each other somehow but we…🤷🏽‍♀️So we were always excited and looked forward to seeing each other.

Another reason was that K-10 was the only place we were allowed to go out without a strict curfew. There was freedom for “Yawo”(waka). We were at liberty to move around. We were home and safe. There was no fear of any child getting kidnapped or missing or even being harmed.

That was one period we were free to eat out without fear of being spanked. You remember the “don’t eat from anyone’s house” warning?Back then even if you went out with your parents and were offered food, you knew better than to say “yes” until they tell you “eat”. Even at that, you’ll look at their body language to be sure they really meant “eat”, if not, hmmm! Your name na sorry.

So going to K-10 was it.

Last but not the least, all these happened at Christmas time. See why it’s my favourite time of the year.

Carols started to play sometime in November, further fanning the flames of the excitement of that season. Once the songs started to play, the countdown began. Count down to the major event of the year, our trip to Fadan Kagoma.

Some many things added up to the excitement. You see, asides from the new clothes and food, asides the daily traditional dances that take place…The icing on the cake was the “kyoma khi hyip”. It means “going around the village”. This took place on the first of January. As early as 6:AM, the “Kpop Gwong” (king), wearing his royal apparel, would go round the village on a horse. Yup!

Dance, Boys, African, Festival, Dancing, Play, Children

Image by Fietzfotos from Pixabay

Then all the royal aids moved with him while different traditional dance troops sang and danced as we all (yup, we) danced around the village. We used these leg adornments made with palm fronds.

They came woven in strings of boxes with small stones in them so when you moved, they made these sounds. If you knew how to follow the beats well, the sounds added to the melody. It was soooo out of this world! That was the height of the holiday. If the New Year fell on a Sunday, it was usually moved to the next day. here was a standard ritual we followed once home. Clean! The whole house would have accumulated so much dust and dirt. While cleaning, we looked out for the first Fulani woman to pass so we could buy “Fura”(a local meal made from millet/sorghum, in balls) “da Nono” (fresh cow milk). They are best taken fresh.

I used to love it until Dr Endie told me how she witnessed the process of extracting the milk while collecting samples for her lab work…

Nna mehnnn! Let’s just say I replaced Nono with Yoghurt.

After taking “Fura da Nono”, we would finish cleaning then head out to the clan to say hello to all the relatives. Enough “kunu” (local drink). There are two types, “kunun Zaki” (it’s smooth) and “kunun tsaki” (has lumps). Then “tuwo” (cornmeal) with “miyan karkashi” (long/draw soup, it’s black abi green). But I loved it and still do.

We did so many things back then. We had picnics, visited Kpain, a river surrounded by rocks. One of the many rivers in Fadan Kagoma aka K-10. That was the river most people used to go and wash because of the rocks.

We also used to swim there. I remember Pa Byoma (my great uncle of blessed memory) warning us never to be caught swimming there. There was a myth about the river. Can’t remember it now.

But Bae and Co would lead us there. On coming back nko, he only needed to look at our eyes and he’d know his rules had been broken. They’d be so red…

Phew!

Thank God for technology, we are constantly in touch. We love them still and it’s always a delight to hook up. But for me, Christmas in the village is now history. Everyone is grown-up, most are married. Life has changed so.

I will always look back at that period in my life with fond memories and a warm feeling in my stomach but would I do it again? In this lifetime? I doubt it very much.

So while the adults were worried about the near absence of a telecommunications network in Kamrum (if she catches me) and inability to communicate with the world, the children were having a ball…

Will they still think it’s the best place to be ten or fifteen years from now?

I’ll be watching 👀👀