₦airaland Forum

The last two months have been quite eventful and somewhat adventurous for me even amidst the jet-lags, fatigue and dizziness that come with lots of travels especially on land. No thanks to our port holes and desert sands.

I work with an INGO office in the North east and I have had the cause to over this time cross deserts, meander through forests and bush paths just to gain access to hinterlands in some of Nigeria’s north eastern states. (Maiduguri and Yobe State in particular).

I still believe nothing would have hitherto taken me to these places if not for this job and of course I am not complaining because I am enjoying every bit of the mission trip and as a matter of fact it’s fun meeting folks (locals) from such nooks and crannies that can be comfortably termed as “forgotten corners of the world”. As every of such encounters opened my eyes to grasp the reality of the endemic poverty they face with no hope in sight.

The Integrated Nutrition Programme (An INGO sponsored nutrition project targeted at Pregnant mothers in the North Eastern Nigeria) (INP) sponsored by the Department For International Development (DFID) has no doubt taken me to Hard-to-Reach areas too numerous to mention, but amongst them all, My Mission trip to Skekau village (Home town of the Boko Harm leader Abubakar Shekau ) stands out for me. Don’t ask me why, (Your guess is as good as mine).

Shekau; a tiny settlement with less than 1,000 inhabitants (Unofficial figure ), is located in Tarmuwa Local Government Area of Yobe state it is with littered thatch and mud houses owned by locals, with only two modern structures, namely; the UBE structure and the old and abandoned dispensery. shekau has very insignificant government presence (abandoned health facility, no motor able road,) with scantily scattered locals who are mostly nomadics and pastoralists going about their activities.

However, throughout my stay there, what kept playing in my head was the fact that before now, this remote village would not even spell on the lips of inhabitants in Yobe Metropolis or play in the minds of the state government talk more millions of Nigerians. But today, the name “Shekau” sings on the lips of not only the owners of Buckingham palace, but also echoes in the minds of the occupiers of the White House. I wish their popularity would transcend into development for them Alas! this is not to be so.

Apart from the obvious lack of government presence, nothing in this remote area denote insecurity or terror because we even went without any security escort. The tranquility in the village would make you wonder how such a calm and quiet settlement brought up one of the most wanted man in the world (Abubakar Shekau). After all, Abubakar Shekau could just be a bad egg among so many good ones in Shekau community. The locals like every other African setting are so welcoming even though most of them especially children stared at us like we were human species from Mars.

Upon my private enquiries from one of them, It bits me that there has never been any pocket of attack in this village (his home town) and as a matter of fact, the UBE school in the picture still functions till today even though security scares forced it closure for some time but it functions at the moment according to my source.
It is so unfortunate that Abubakar Shekau has brought this village to limelight in his own way and this community would always feature on the wrong side of history at least for so many years to come.

I felt fulfilled been a guest at shekau village and as my manner is, i could not help but inscribe my initials (MD OKABA was here ) on the walls of the facility for posterity and immediatly I remembered I have a virtual family called nairalanders who would want pictures from one of their own who visited this unknown corner of the world.

Dear Mods, please shine the light on shekau community by placing this on FP

Me, trying to clear a beneficiary to get a bag of rice, a carton of oil ( made up of 6 gallons), a bag of beans and millet and two sachets of salt

Celebrating the World hand washing Day with primary school children through a campaign.

Expatriates doing their on the ground assessment of the village

Nice job.This is wat I love doing. Reaching out to people

ReneeNuttall:
Nice job.This is wat I love doing. Reaching out to people

Its actually my passion

Lovely one OP.

cc:
Mynd44
OAM4J
Freiburger

Is this not worth pushing to front page?
If na snake talk, it for d front page by now.

EFGH:
Lovely one OP.

cc:
Mynd44
OAM4J
Freiburger

Is this not worth pushing to front page?
If na snake talk, it for d front page by now.

Just may be Lala is sleeping and seun is out of town.

Who knows

.

mdokaba1:
Its actually my passion

Nice one.