Good evening everyone. I recently embarked on a visit to the Northern part of Nigeria.

Katsina to be precise. The journey from Lagos to Tudu where I stopped took approximately 24 hours by road.

This was my very first time travelling across the South Western part of Nigeria and thus journey was worthwhile as I'd lovento share my experience which may not be so different from others who may have visited this part of the Nigeria.

The unique things I will like to discuss on this thread borders on Security, Agriculture, trade and the people.

My bus left Ikorodu, Lagos at about 1 p.m and by 6 a.m the next morning, we were already at Abuja/Niger road after a brief stop at Mokwa.
There we witnessed a gruesome accident involving a commercial bus and a tanker where 4 of the passengers were burnt beyond recognition while the rest of the passengers were critically injured. Most of them had broken and.magled limbs.

Seeing this was so devastating but we had to move on as soon as the police arrived the scene.

I will share pictures later in the thread but for now. Let's just focus on the good part of my experience during this trip.

Following

A sane society would have investigated the cause of the accident and taken measures to prevent it reoccurring in the future but 9ja na zoo na.

Talking about security, e get where secure for Nigeria?


Even security barracks aren't secure.

The accident scene.

One of the first things I noticed oncrossing the Jebba bridge was the vegetation. Jebba by the way is the border between the North and the South. That was where our masters decided to draw the line between the Northern and Southern protectorates.

The Savanna vegetation is quite different from the tropical vegetation we have in the South western part of the country. There are no thick forests and bushes like we have here. The trees are sparcely populated with shrubs here and there. I'm sure pictures will do more justice. Another things was that most of the land is cleared and prepared for farming. They have a loamy soil which according to Agriculture is one of the best for farming after the humus soil.

The Northerners are heavily involved with farming planting mostly vegetables and food crops. Red pepper, Bell pepper, Tomatoes, Sugarcane, Carrots, Spinach, Wheat, Maize, Cocumber, Spinach, Cabbage. The list goes on.

Below are mallams selling fruits and vegetables on regular days.

No

Veryfied:
One of the first things I noticed oncrossing the Jebba bridge was the vegetation. Jebba by the way is the border between the North and the South. That was where our masters decided to draw the line between the Northern and Southern protectorates.

The Savanna vegetation is quieter different from the tropical vegetation we have in the South western part of the country. There are no thick forests and bushes like we have here. The trees are sparcely populated with shrubs here and there. I'm sure pictures will do more justice. Another things was that most of the is cleared and prepared for farming. The have a loamy soil which according to Agriculture is one of the best for farming after the humus soil.

The Northerners are heavily involved with farming planting mostly vegetables and food crops. Red pepper, Bell pepper, Tomatoes, Sugarcane, Carrots, Spinach, Wheat, Maize, Cocumber, Spinach, Cabbage. The list goes on.

Below are mallams selling fruits and vegetables on regular days.

ipob new media say people that farm and produce most of the food consume in Nigeria are parasite and lazy .

abeg continue. someone like me way never visit north before since them born me go like learn from your experience

Munamoqel:
No ipob new media say people that farm and produce most of the food consume in Nigeria are parasite and lazy .

This is why people like u are hereditarily stupid.

What brought Ipod into this matter if u are not a fool.
Everything must have tribal colouration before it can be validated.
Ode Buruku!

ibechris:





This is why people like u are hereditarily stupid.

What brought Ipod into this matter if u are not a fool.
Everything must have tribal colouration before it can be validated.
Ode Buruku!

please post on ipob/esn new media .

Munamoqel:
No ipob new media say people that farm and produce most of the food consume in Nigeria are parasite and lazy .

I know fulani herdsmen like you will be here

The weather.

How can I forget to talk about the weather.
Within two days I spent in Katsina, I had gotten charred lips due.to.the low humidy and cold weather.
The first thing i did in the morning was to have some Tea and I also visit the Maishai for a cup of hot tea before I sleep at night.
Due to the season of the year, the weather there was very cold. People usually burn wood and charcoal at night just to keep warm and early in the morning.
I also saw some young lads doing puff and pass around a burn fire just to catch some heat. I'm sure the white men enjoy the weather when they were around and that's probably why they favour the Northerners more politically.

The people

The Northerners are generally people. Most part of the town is serene and quiet, everybody going about their business in peace. Everything is going on as it should and i wonder how most of the Abokis I know in Lagos get so aggressive and hostile with tempers flaring so fast whenever there's an argument or altercation. I often thought its as a result of the environment which they came from but upon visiting the North, the reverse if the case.

The ones I saw in villages and towns do not show any capacity for violence. They leave their shoos and place of business to attend their prayers when its time and come back within a few minutes. Nothing seems out of the norm out there.

The only abnormal thing I noticed was how much security conscious the wealthy among them is. They usually built their houses with tall fence and a barb wire on top of it. This wasn't normal too me but them who wouldn't be security conscious when most of the people around you leave below the poverty line.

Trade

Farm produce and livestock are huge in the North. Most towns have their market days where people come from Neighboring villages to trade their farm products and livestock. Goats, Cattle, Ram even Guinea fowl, Ducks and Chicken are not left behind.

The market day is Tuesday in Kankara a town in Katsina that has been battling insecurity since Book Haram. The relatively peaceful and quiet town all of a sudden became busy with crowds from all over the place so much so I wondered where all this people were a day or two days ago when everywhere was quiet.

In almost lost my way around because everywhere suddenly changed.

I was basically there to see the goat market and buy some because there's a huge demand for goats in my area. Most restaurant kill at least one everyday. The bars also prepare goat meat Asun at night so I figured I could easily sell 20 goats within a week if my price was competitive enough hence my journey to the North.

Below is a picture of the Goat market in the morning just before it became so crowded.

Frontpage material

Interesting read

Veryfied:
Trade

Farm produce and livestock are huge in the North. Most towns have their market days where people come from Neighboring villages to trade their farm products and livestock. Goats, Cattle, Ram even Guinea fowl, Ducks and Chicken are not left behind.

The market day is Tuesday in Kankara a town in Katsina that has been battling insecurity since Book Haram. The relatively peaceful and quiet town all of a sudden became busy with crowds from all over the place so much so I wondered where all this people were a day or two days ago when everywhere was quiet.

In almost lost my way around because everywhere suddenly changed.

I was basically there to see the goat market and buy some because there's a huge demand for goats in my area. Most restaurant kill at least one everyday. The bars also prepare goat meat Asun at night so I figured I could easily sell 20 goats within a week if my price was competitive enough hence my journey to the North.

Below is a picture of the Goat market in the morning just before it became so crowded.

Insightful thread.

But with the level of insecurity in some of the North-West states of Nigeria, you are still travelling by road and at night because of some goats?

You don't want to be kidnapped,
get brutally beaten, gang-raped
and end up paying millions or get killed by those dweeps and bandits from mainly Niger Republic and Mali hiding in Falgore forest and other NE forests. Most of those
aggressive and violent guys in
Lagos are NOT Nigerian Hausas
but from Mali and Niger Republic. These same guys who also ride commercial bikes in Lagos don't speak fluent Hausa but a lot of folks in Lagos or the South in general mistakenly call them Hausa people!


It's good to always take calculated risks but do that by travelling via rail or air.


Also try to get a competent local dealer of the livestock in Katsina who can speak Hausa and English and navigate his way through any local blackspots. He can then send the livestock to you in Lasgidi and get paid after factoring the transport cost.

According to Nasir El-Rufai's comments last week in the FCT, the bandits' hideouts are well-known based on aerial surveillance using sophisticated gadgets that were also used to secretly listen to the conversations of the bandits... And it would require the Nigerian Air Force jets to bomb all the bandit dens at the same time (to prevent any escape).

Glad you came back to your base
by road without any negative incident on the way.

All the best.

Veryfied:
Trade

Farm produce and livestock are huge in the North. Most towns have their market days where people come from Neighboring villages to trade their farm products and livestock. Goats, Cattle, Ram even Guinea fowl, Ducks and Chicken are not left behind.

The market day is Tuesday in Kankara a town in Katsina that has been battling insecurity since Book Haram. The relatively peaceful and quiet town all of a sudden became busy with crowds from all over the place so much so I wondered where all this people were a day or two days ago when everywhere was quiet.

In almost lost my way around because everywhere suddenly changed.

I was basically there to see the goat market and buy some because there's a huge demand for goats in my area. Most restaurant kill at least one everyday. The bars also prepare goat meat Asun at night so I figured I could easily sell 20 goats within a week if my price was competitive enough hence my journey to the North.

Below is a picture of the Goat market in the morning just before it became so crowded.

did you check out any cows?

felixzo1:
did you check out any cows?

There were Cows available. I'm certain the prices are cheap but I didn't have the logistics to move them so I never bothered.

Thanks alot Alphataikun

That's the plan eventually. It wouldn't be wise of me to trust someone who I don't have an established business relationship with a huge sumnof money.

I already have someone in the market who does most of the buying and were working towards him shipping them to Lagos without me being present. For now, I have to make those trips and oversea things myself.

Veryfied:
Thanks alot Alphataikun

That's the plan eventually. It wouldn't be wise of me to trust someone who I don't have an established business relationship with a huge sumnof money.

I already have someone in the market who does most of the buying and were working towards him shipping them to Lagos without me being present. For now, I have to make those trips and oversea things myself.

no way since ipob are killing northerners selling goats and cow to them in East .now una must travel to North to buy urself or stop eating beef .

Veryfied:
Thanks alot Alphataikun

That's the plan eventually. It wouldn't be wise of me to trust someone who I don't have an established business relationship with a huge sumnof money.

I already have someone in the market who does most of the buying and were working towards him shipping them to Lagos without me being present. For now, I have to make those trips and oversea things myself.

That's awesome @Veryfied.
I'm glad you had the foresight
to think things through before hand. My vast use of business intelligence gathered from years back shows that most of those goats come into Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, etc, from Niger Republic (including the hides and skin).

There's a big informal trade between the North of Nigeria and Niger Republic, hence the lucrative LAKAJI (Lagos, Kano, Jibia) trade route connecting to Maradi in
Niger Republic.

Take charge and stay safe.

Cheers.

Security/ Terrorism and Banditory.

We all know this topic is a big issue in the North and most Mother's states have a fair share of this incessant plague.

Kankara for instance has had its own fare share over the past couple of years. In 2011, Keystone bank which happens to be the only bank in the town was bombed and all the money carted away. You can still see the demolished entrance with the effect of a hand grenade on its entrance. The group of armed men also went ahead to storm and kill 11 police officers at the police station adjacent to the bank and carted away over 20 Ak 47's.

Just last years was the abduction of the Kankara boys who were taken away from their hostel just a few kilometers away from the center of the town. These are just but a few major incidence that makes it to the press. There are many other kidnapping and killings that happen without being reported.

I found out about these from an indegene who escorted me to the market.


Cc lalasticlata.

I'd love this thread to make the front page.

Almajiri kids.

This picture says it all.

Refreshment


I have to say this has to be one of the best drinksnive taken inna while. As a matter of fact, I called up the company to see how we can get it in Lagos. Of course they forwarded someone's contact and I spoke to the person.

I hope very soon we'll have this drink widely available in Lagos and other cities. Its just too good.

Veryfied:
Refreshment


I have to say this has to be one of the best drinksnive taken inna while. As a matter of fact, I called up the company to see how we can get it in Lagos. Of course they forwarded someone's contact and I spoke to the person.

I hope very soon we'll have this drink widely available in Lagos and other cities. Its just too good.

I taught they said the north is baren and parasite and don't produce anything.

Abeg how much can olosho cost that side.


Hope with 2k5 I fit carry ten oloshos

Munamoqel:
I taught they said the north is baren and parasite and don't produce anything.

I guess not.

doctore212:
Abeg how much can olosho cost that side.


Hope with 2k5 I fit carry ten oloshos

On my second night in Kankara, I went on a fishing expedition hoping I could find a red.light district with prostitutes. Not because I wanted to sleep with one but I was just curious to know how it would look like.

First off, there were no hotels or guest house. Secondly, no LovePeddler houses like we have in most South Western states.

Apparently, there were prostitutes but they operated secretly. After asking a few bike men and I had to be cautious on who I asked before I got reported to the Hisbah.

One finally took me to a place where we had to approach a woman in a shop who I would pay before being allowed entrance to the house opposite where the girls were.

On fulfilling my goal of knowing how its been done there. I quickly asked the bike man to take me back.

Lol. How is it done there. You said you wanted to know how they looked. Now you don go do another thing.

On my second night in Kankara, I went on a fishing expedition hoping I could find a red.light district with prostitutes. Not because I wanted to sleep with one but I was just curious to know how it would look like.

First off, there were no hotels or guest house. Secondly, no LovePeddler houses like we have in most South Western states.

Apparently, there were prostitutes but they operated secretly. After asking a few bike men and I had to be cautious on who I asked before I got reported to the Hisbah.

One finally took me to a place where we had to approach a woman in a shop who I would pay before being allowed entrance to the house opposite where the girls were.

On fulfilling my goal of knowing how its been done there. I quickly asked the bike man to take me back. [/quote]

Veryfied:
Refreshment


I have to say this has to be one of the best drinksnive taken inna while. As a matter of fact, I called up the company to see how we can get it in Lagos. Of course they forwarded someone's contact and I spoke to the person.

I hope very soon we'll have this drink widely available in Lagos and other cities. Its just too good.

How can I get this drink?