After all the work as a sysadmin and all user guides that I wrote about Ubuntu Linux for dummies, I took a hike around the places yet untouched by the massive development going on in Abuja. After walking for miles. I got lost in a maze of tall savannah grass and rolls of hills around the horizon. I also stumbled across isolated communities and villages completely untouched by modernization.
I didn’t take pictures because I won’t want to do such without permission and don’t speak hausa so don’t even know how to ask for permission. Beside I won’t feel right snapping cause I felt like an intruder and definitely won’t appreciate a stranger coming to my house and taking pictures.
Many of the houses were of mud and thatched roofs of reeds. The communities seem sustained by their environment. Lots of dry woods for heating. A near by pond for water,
Lots of land for subsistence agriculture, and wild grass for cattle grazing. Most seems laid back and content. The children when not fetching water are tending to cattle or just running around having fun in the wild.
Although I couldn’t speak the language many I met where extremely friendly and greeted me warmly. I encountered some kids on their way from the pond with buckets of water balanced on their head. They held back when they saw me. Tee shirt a Bluetooth headset hanging round my neck, Jeans and sneakers probably aren’t used to folks dress so strangely. They held back. Then one of them took courage and walked past me while the other looked on. Once it was determined I was harmless the rest followed suit and for a moment we all bursted out laughing.
The sun got too hot and I decided it was time to go.. I went back home pondering if such a place could exist in Abuja. How much of such places exist in several less developed state in northern Nigeria. And although I doubt this folks want to change their way of life to be in tune to what many of us call modern life. I don’t think they would mind some basic elements of modern life like health care and clean water. This folks care more for the rain than who sit in aso rock.. But if Nigeria is ever going to achieve the greatness in craves.. We can’t afford to leave them behind.
