Homecoming?
- Details
- Category: Philosofaith
- Written by M. U. Ndagi
- Hits: 941
This piece was supposed to feature in this column last week. However, some challenges occasioned by the imperfection in man’s invention, technology, scuttled all efforts to get it across to readers.
Consequently, the piece that was published in the column penultimate Saturday was inadvertently repeated in place of it. This occurred when I had a busy week attending the 29th National Conference of the Nigeria Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies (NATAIS), which took place between February 28 and March 4, 2011 at a village called Katsina, somewhere in far-away north-western part of Nigeria.I was enthused to write this particular piece by the desire to set straight the history of the relationship between Nupe kingdom and the old Hausa state of Katsina, which our host at the conference, the Katsinawa (people from Katsina), attempted to re-write or at least corrupt. This piece is actually to recount my encounter with the Katsinawa at the opening ceremony of the conference. Readers who are not from Katsina (non-Katsinawa) should bear with us for dedicating the column, this week, to those who perhaps deserve no mention where people from Nupe Country are in charge.
Like in my several previous visits to Katsina, I have always had my way and was thus full of enthusiasm that my recent trip was another opportunity to take some run-away slaves back home. But this time around, it was a different story. When I was told that the Executive Governor of Katsina State and the Emir of Katsina were going to be represented at the occasion, I declared to those sitting close to me that they were avoiding me for fear of being captured and taken to Etsu Nupe’s farm at Bida. This also gave me further confidence that I was, as usual, going to have my way. While enjoying the traditional pride of a Nupe man in the midst of Katsinawa, an old Bakatsine friend, Ustaz Abdurrahman Adoro, whom I never thought was around, suddenly appeared. Before I could decide what to do, he had dragged me to where the chairman of the occasion, the articulate and highly educated Wazirin Katsina, Dr Sani Abubakar Lugga, was sitting. I did not know how I found myself kneeling before the Waziri who publicly declared to the audience that he was setting a Nupe man free; adding “You are welcome back home”. Truly, Waziri’s very polished and sophisticated English is quite awe-inspiring; (this must be a slip of the tongue or of the pen).
Two reasons, I guess, are responsible for the unpredicted defeat (sorry, setback) I suffered at the occasion. First, my friend Abdurrahman Adoro, whom I did not know had completed his PhD programme in Sudan and was back in Katsina has an intimidating physique, tall and huge; making it easy for him to drag me before Wazirin Katsina. Second, the presence of another personality on the high table further daunted me. He is Justice M. D. Abubakar of the Katsina State Judiciary whose eloquence and linguistic command, no Chomsky in the west or Sibawayh in the Arab world could resist. While leaving the venue, Justice Abubakar directed his driver to bundle me into his car booth. What saved me was my borrowing from the style of Turkish Pilgrims in their observance of hajj rites. I clutched my arm into that of the President of NATAIS, Professor Ja’afar Kaura of the Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto, as if we were Siamese twins. Though a Manta-sabo (Hausa title for judges), he couldn’t have bundled a professor into a car booth. This was how, at Katsina, I came to realize the wisdom in the aphorism that “if you don’t know how to catch a thief, the thief will catch you”.
Throughout the period of the event, every Bakatsina who met me kept repeating the statement of the Wazirin Katsina that “Its homecoming for you”. I’m still finding it difficult to understand how they got that corrupted history which seeks to subdue Nupe hegemony over Katsinawa. It is relevant here to make references to comparative Islamic history. When the Ansar of Madinah in company of the Prophet (SAW) triumphed over the Makkans as manifest in the conquest of Makkah, some Makkans were taken as captives of war to Madinah and others were left in Makkah. I have not heard anyone saying it was homecoming for the Ansar whenever they came to Makkah to perform hajj or for other legitimate purposes. How then could it be homecoming for the Nupe each time they visit a place they once conquered? It would rather be appropriate to say it is homecoming when a Bakatsine visits Nupe land because he or his ancestors were once there as slaves.
Anyway, I will contact some senior colleagues who are columnists with the Media Trust limited to help me rework the history which the Katsinawa are attempting to subvert. I will talk to Sanusi Abubakar, the Tuesday columnist for Daily Trust to help me out. My only fear is that he would subject this historical project to some complex economic theories, which could make me lose vital historical data in the process. I do not consider talking to the Editor-in-Chief, Malam Manir Dan Ali, as a better alternative because he is a Bakatsine. My friend, Mr Idang, might also be too controversial for this project. Mr Tunde Asaju would have served me better because as a Yoruba man who knows the history of the defeat of the Yoruba by the Nupe, I do not doubt his loyalty. Unfortunately, he is thousands of kilometers away from me at the moment. I am thinking of discussing with Dr Kabir Mato. My anxiety here borders on the fact that he might convince me to endorse the political intrigues and democratic maneuvers required to execute my very pressing project.
My last hope is Malam Mahmud Jega, the Monday columnist and versatile Editor of Daily Trust. This option is also not without some disturbing complications. Malam Mahmud will certainly give me all the facts and figures needed to accomplish my project. He will give me the date, venue and infact the hour, minute and second during which the last transaction took place at the Katsina slave depot. My only worry is that, like the Waziri Aku in the “Magana Jari Ce” of Malam Abubakar Imam; Malam Mahmud Jega would take me through a theoretical but sequential and humorous analysis of the history I intend to set straight such that I would, like the prince in the “Magana Jari ce”, get carried away and thus forget about my project. My only reliable resource now for this historical project remains the surviving grandparents I have at home. It is our prayer that Katsinawa would be guided to accept the history of the relationship between the Nupawa and Katsinawa as documented by Nupe historians, amin.
Our papers
Homecoming?
Category: Philosofaith Written by M. U. Ndagi Hits: 941
This piece was supposed to feature in this column last week. However, some challenges occasioned by the imperfection in man’s invention, technology, scuttled all efforts to get it across to readers.
Consequently, the piece that was published in the column penultimate Saturday was inadvertently repeated in place of it. This occurred when I had a busy week attending the 29th National Conference of the Nigeria Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies (NATAIS), which took place between February 28 and March 4, 2011 at a village called Katsina, somewhere in far-away north-western part of Nigeria.I was enthused to write this particular piece by the desire to set straight the history of the relationship between Nupe kingdom and the old Hausa state of Katsina, which our host at the conference, the Katsinawa (people from Katsina), attempted to re-write or at least corrupt. This piece is actually to recount my encounter with the Katsinawa at the opening ceremony of the conference. Readers who are not from Katsina (non-Katsinawa) should bear with us for dedicating the column, this week, to those who perhaps deserve no mention where people from Nupe Country are in charge.
Like in my several previous visits to Katsina, I have always had my way and was thus full of enthusiasm that my recent trip was another opportunity to take some run-away slaves back home. But this time around, it was a different story. When I was told that the Executive Governor of Katsina State and the Emir of Katsina were going to be represented at the occasion, I declared to those sitting close to me that they were avoiding me for fear of being captured and taken to Etsu Nupe’s farm at Bida. This also gave me further confidence that I was, as usual, going to have my way. While enjoying the traditional pride of a Nupe man in the midst of Katsinawa, an old Bakatsine friend, Ustaz Abdurrahman Adoro, whom I never thought was around, suddenly appeared. Before I could decide what to do, he had dragged me to where the chairman of the occasion, the articulate and highly educated Wazirin Katsina, Dr Sani Abubakar Lugga, was sitting. I did not know how I found myself kneeling before the Waziri who publicly declared to the audience that he was setting a Nupe man free; adding “You are welcome back home”. Truly, Waziri’s very polished and sophisticated English is quite awe-inspiring; (this must be a slip of the tongue or of the pen).
Two reasons, I guess, are responsible for the unpredicted defeat (sorry, setback) I suffered at the occasion. First, my friend Abdurrahman Adoro, whom I did not know had completed his PhD programme in Sudan and was back in Katsina has an intimidating physique, tall and huge; making it easy for him to drag me before Wazirin Katsina. Second, the presence of another personality on the high table further daunted me. He is Justice M. D. Abubakar of the Katsina State Judiciary whose eloquence and linguistic command, no Chomsky in the west or Sibawayh in the Arab world could resist. While leaving the venue, Justice Abubakar directed his driver to bundle me into his car booth. What saved me was my borrowing from the style of Turkish Pilgrims in their observance of hajj rites. I clutched my arm into that of the President of NATAIS, Professor Ja’afar Kaura of the Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto, as if we were Siamese twins. Though a Manta-sabo (Hausa title for judges), he couldn’t have bundled a professor into a car booth. This was how, at Katsina, I came to realize the wisdom in the aphorism that “if you don’t know how to catch a thief, the thief will catch you”.
Throughout the period of the event, every Bakatsina who met me kept repeating the statement of the Wazirin Katsina that “Its homecoming for you”. I’m still finding it difficult to understand how they got that corrupted history which seeks to subdue Nupe hegemony over Katsinawa. It is relevant here to make references to comparative Islamic history. When the Ansar of Madinah in company of the Prophet (SAW) triumphed over the Makkans as manifest in the conquest of Makkah, some Makkans were taken as captives of war to Madinah and others were left in Makkah. I have not heard anyone saying it was homecoming for the Ansar whenever they came to Makkah to perform hajj or for other legitimate purposes. How then could it be homecoming for the Nupe each time they visit a place they once conquered? It would rather be appropriate to say it is homecoming when a Bakatsine visits Nupe land because he or his ancestors were once there as slaves.
Anyway, I will contact some senior colleagues who are columnists with the Media Trust limited to help me rework the history which the Katsinawa are attempting to subvert. I will talk to Sanusi Abubakar, the Tuesday columnist for Daily Trust to help me out. My only fear is that he would subject this historical project to some complex economic theories, which could make me lose vital historical data in the process. I do not consider talking to the Editor-in-Chief, Malam Manir Dan Ali, as a better alternative because he is a Bakatsine. My friend, Mr Idang, might also be too controversial for this project. Mr Tunde Asaju would have served me better because as a Yoruba man who knows the history of the defeat of the Yoruba by the Nupe, I do not doubt his loyalty. Unfortunately, he is thousands of kilometers away from me at the moment. I am thinking of discussing with Dr Kabir Mato. My anxiety here borders on the fact that he might convince me to endorse the political intrigues and democratic maneuvers required to execute my very pressing project.
My last hope is Malam Mahmud Jega, the Monday columnist and versatile Editor of Daily Trust. This option is also not without some disturbing complications. Malam Mahmud will certainly give me all the facts and figures needed to accomplish my project. He will give me the date, venue and infact the hour, minute and second during which the last transaction took place at the Katsina slave depot. My only worry is that, like the Waziri Aku in the “Magana Jari Ce” of Malam Abubakar Imam; Malam Mahmud Jega would take me through a theoretical but sequential and humorous analysis of the history I intend to set straight such that I would, like the prince in the “Magana Jari ce”, get carried away and thus forget about my project. My only reliable resource now for this historical project remains the surviving grandparents I have at home. It is our prayer that Katsinawa would be guided to accept the history of the relationship between the Nupawa and Katsinawa as documented by Nupe historians, amin.