When I look at the latest unofficial map of Nigeria,I'm extremely shocked and saddened
by the areas marked with a different colour-the 20000 square Kms of territory overran by
the dreaded, brutal and bloody Boko Haram, the Jihadist group that has already established a
Caliphate in North Eastern Nigeria,and and is threatening to spread into Cameroon ,Niger and
Chad.
I am saddened because the towns shown in the map are very familiar to me. Leelamma ( Mrs Kurian) and I taught at Teacher's College, Shuwa, in Gongola State, from 1981 to 1987. It was a college
which trained Primary School teachers. I am sure Shuwa is now under the control of Boko Haram.
The other towns marked under Boko Haram control in that area are Mubi,Michika and Bama.
Maiduguri,the capital of Borno State ,and home to 2 million people, is in the sight of Boko Haram,
and could fall any time.
The names of the familiar places are beautiful, and have an Indian touch,by coincidence. Michika,
Mubi, Maiduguri, Malaraba etc.The 'ma'sound is the most endearing because it's associated with
'mother'. When I heard about Maiduguri, I wondered how an Indian-like name was given to a city
in Nigeria. We have similar names like Malabar, Malayalam, maidan, maida mavu,Mavelikkara, Mannar, Mylapore,Mancheri ,Malampuzha ,Mailappra etc.
Maiduguri is 170 Kms north of Shuwa,For our official purposes,we used to travel to Yola,the capital of Gongola State, 230 Kms South. Every Sunday, we would go to the market at Michika,
25 Kms away. For banking and shopping, we travelled to Mubi, 110 Kms South.
Travelling was great fun because the roads were new and of high standard, constructed by Italian
companies. Petrol was cheap,at 20 kobo per litre. Unlike in the present day, there were very few
varieties of cars. The two common cars were the VW beetle and Peugeot 504. I drove a beetle,BO
259 PT.( BO for Borno and PT for Potiskum)
Life at Shuwa was enjoyable despite lack of facilities. There were about 30 teachers and about
1000 students, all living in the college campus.There was a big component of expatriates on the staff,with 5 Malayalee couples,four Pakistanis, four Philippinos, one Ethiopian, one Swiss
Missionary and one Kashmiri.
In the evenings, Malayalees would meet and discuss everything under the Sun,especially the
politics at home. My friend Mr Mani Kurian and I jointly subscribed to Malayala Manorama newspaper, which would arrive in a bundle of 7-10 copies, two or three weeks after publication.
Sunday was the market day at Michika, 25 kms away from Shuwa. It was an open market,
where the traders sold their wares in a primitive manner. Goats and chickens were available
'live'. Sometimes we would buy a goat and take it home to share among the expatriates. Our
Pakistani friends were good at slaughtering the goats.
Every staff house at Shuwa had a Boys' quarters. Two or three students lived there. They were
very obedient and cooperative,and were always available for assistance. On Sundays, two of them would accompany us to the market, and carry the shopping bags.
For other shopping, we would go to Mubi, a bigger town. Most of the traders were Ibos from
the South. Huge music systems were popular in those days. These were displayed outside the
shops. TV sets were rare.
About 20 Kms before Mubi, there's a junction called Malaraba. There was a Lutheran Church and Mission there. Sometimes we would stop at the Mission to buy eggs. Once I saw a group of
German visitors there.They had come to teach the local people skills such as carpentry,bricklaying
farming etc. Before they left, they built some houses for the poor.
At Shuwa, there was a Catholic Church and a clinic.There were two Irish nuns working in the clinic 24/7,serving the poor. Among the patients, there were many who came for treatment for snake-bites. The area is known for snakes.One morning, the students displayed a king cobra that they had
killed. It was about 8 feet long.
I don't know whether those schools ,churches and Missions exist now. Boko Haram has burnt down
hundreds of schools and churches. Scores of teachers have been killed.
Our trips to Maiduguri were mainly to purchase gold. Maiduguri market is a sprawling open
market. with small stalls. Gold bangles, coins and dollar notes were sold by elderly Al Hajis
relaxing on carpets. Audio cassettes of Chadian and Sudanese music were played here and there.
Occasionally, Hindi songs were also heard.
My friend,the late Mr Samuel Kochummen ( Bhanu), was an avid buyer of gold. Actually, he
bought gold for his friends in faraway places. Sometimes he would invite me to accompany him
to Maiduguri to purchase gold coins. After the purchase,we would go to the goldsmith's shed to get it
melted and made into bangles. The goldsmith knew only two English words. After examining the
coins,he would say,'' Good gold.''One day,he made a futile attempt to cheat us by flipping one coin
away from the lot, but Bhanu's alertness saved the situation. Bhanu had a great sense of humour,
and often , he would mention this incident and we would enjoy a hilarious joke.
Maiduguri is unforgettable because our second daughter, Praveena was born at Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
There's a remote place in Borno State, known for a wrong reason. A deadly virus fever , known
as Lasa fever was identified in Lasa. Lasa is about 40 Kms from the main road and accessible by
a rough gravel road.In 1987, Praveena fell seriously ill with malaria, and we took her to Lassa Hospital in the night. I was surprised to find a big hospital in the midst of a difficult terrain. German missionaries had established the hospital long ago to serve the poorest of the poor.
Dr.Reddy from India was in charge of the hospital. By that time, most of the expatriate doctors had left Nigeria. Dr Reddy had remained behind to serve the poor.Thanks to his care, Praveena recovered.
Even before the rise of Boko Haram, Jihad had taken root in Northern Nigeria. In 1986, there was
an uprising in Yola, capital of Gongola State.A fundamentalist group called ' maitatsine' burnt down
the market and killed many people. The uprising was quelled in fighting that lasted for many days.
About 300 people lost their lives.
If Maiduguri falls to Boko Haram, it would be a major disaster for Nigeria. Maiduguri is home
to many Christian Churches and thousands of believers. That Boko Haram and ISIS are now
linked and are working in close cooperation is extremely alarming.
by the areas marked with a different colour-the 20000 square Kms of territory overran by
the dreaded, brutal and bloody Boko Haram, the Jihadist group that has already established a
Caliphate in North Eastern Nigeria,and and is threatening to spread into Cameroon ,Niger and
Chad.
I am saddened because the towns shown in the map are very familiar to me. Leelamma ( Mrs Kurian) and I taught at Teacher's College, Shuwa, in Gongola State, from 1981 to 1987. It was a college
which trained Primary School teachers. I am sure Shuwa is now under the control of Boko Haram.
The other towns marked under Boko Haram control in that area are Mubi,Michika and Bama.
Maiduguri,the capital of Borno State ,and home to 2 million people, is in the sight of Boko Haram,
and could fall any time.
The names of the familiar places are beautiful, and have an Indian touch,by coincidence. Michika,
Mubi, Maiduguri, Malaraba etc.The 'ma'sound is the most endearing because it's associated with
'mother'. When I heard about Maiduguri, I wondered how an Indian-like name was given to a city
in Nigeria. We have similar names like Malabar, Malayalam, maidan, maida mavu,Mavelikkara, Mannar, Mylapore,Mancheri ,Malampuzha ,Mailappra etc.
Maiduguri is 170 Kms north of Shuwa,For our official purposes,we used to travel to Yola,the capital of Gongola State, 230 Kms South. Every Sunday, we would go to the market at Michika,
25 Kms away. For banking and shopping, we travelled to Mubi, 110 Kms South.
Travelling was great fun because the roads were new and of high standard, constructed by Italian
companies. Petrol was cheap,at 20 kobo per litre. Unlike in the present day, there were very few
varieties of cars. The two common cars were the VW beetle and Peugeot 504. I drove a beetle,BO
259 PT.( BO for Borno and PT for Potiskum)
Life at Shuwa was enjoyable despite lack of facilities. There were about 30 teachers and about
1000 students, all living in the college campus.There was a big component of expatriates on the staff,with 5 Malayalee couples,four Pakistanis, four Philippinos, one Ethiopian, one Swiss
Missionary and one Kashmiri.
In the evenings, Malayalees would meet and discuss everything under the Sun,especially the
politics at home. My friend Mr Mani Kurian and I jointly subscribed to Malayala Manorama newspaper, which would arrive in a bundle of 7-10 copies, two or three weeks after publication.
Sunday was the market day at Michika, 25 kms away from Shuwa. It was an open market,
where the traders sold their wares in a primitive manner. Goats and chickens were available
'live'. Sometimes we would buy a goat and take it home to share among the expatriates. Our
Pakistani friends were good at slaughtering the goats.
Every staff house at Shuwa had a Boys' quarters. Two or three students lived there. They were
very obedient and cooperative,and were always available for assistance. On Sundays, two of them would accompany us to the market, and carry the shopping bags.
For other shopping, we would go to Mubi, a bigger town. Most of the traders were Ibos from
the South. Huge music systems were popular in those days. These were displayed outside the
shops. TV sets were rare.
About 20 Kms before Mubi, there's a junction called Malaraba. There was a Lutheran Church and Mission there. Sometimes we would stop at the Mission to buy eggs. Once I saw a group of
German visitors there.They had come to teach the local people skills such as carpentry,bricklaying
farming etc. Before they left, they built some houses for the poor.
At Shuwa, there was a Catholic Church and a clinic.There were two Irish nuns working in the clinic 24/7,serving the poor. Among the patients, there were many who came for treatment for snake-bites. The area is known for snakes.One morning, the students displayed a king cobra that they had
killed. It was about 8 feet long.
I don't know whether those schools ,churches and Missions exist now. Boko Haram has burnt down
hundreds of schools and churches. Scores of teachers have been killed.
Our trips to Maiduguri were mainly to purchase gold. Maiduguri market is a sprawling open
market. with small stalls. Gold bangles, coins and dollar notes were sold by elderly Al Hajis
relaxing on carpets. Audio cassettes of Chadian and Sudanese music were played here and there.
Occasionally, Hindi songs were also heard.
My friend,the late Mr Samuel Kochummen ( Bhanu), was an avid buyer of gold. Actually, he
bought gold for his friends in faraway places. Sometimes he would invite me to accompany him
to Maiduguri to purchase gold coins. After the purchase,we would go to the goldsmith's shed to get it
melted and made into bangles. The goldsmith knew only two English words. After examining the
coins,he would say,'' Good gold.''One day,he made a futile attempt to cheat us by flipping one coin
away from the lot, but Bhanu's alertness saved the situation. Bhanu had a great sense of humour,
and often , he would mention this incident and we would enjoy a hilarious joke.
Maiduguri is unforgettable because our second daughter, Praveena was born at Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
There's a remote place in Borno State, known for a wrong reason. A deadly virus fever , known
as Lasa fever was identified in Lasa. Lasa is about 40 Kms from the main road and accessible by
a rough gravel road.In 1987, Praveena fell seriously ill with malaria, and we took her to Lassa Hospital in the night. I was surprised to find a big hospital in the midst of a difficult terrain. German missionaries had established the hospital long ago to serve the poorest of the poor.
Dr.Reddy from India was in charge of the hospital. By that time, most of the expatriate doctors had left Nigeria. Dr Reddy had remained behind to serve the poor.Thanks to his care, Praveena recovered.
Even before the rise of Boko Haram, Jihad had taken root in Northern Nigeria. In 1986, there was
an uprising in Yola, capital of Gongola State.A fundamentalist group called ' maitatsine' burnt down
the market and killed many people. The uprising was quelled in fighting that lasted for many days.
About 300 people lost their lives.
If Maiduguri falls to Boko Haram, it would be a major disaster for Nigeria. Maiduguri is home
to many Christian Churches and thousands of believers. That Boko Haram and ISIS are now
linked and are working in close cooperation is extremely alarming.
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