hajia

Its 6.17 pm now which means breaking the fast is close by. As I type these words my mouth is dry and my stomach is cringing. The day has been hot like yesterday with room temperatures hovering near 40 degrees Celsius. A chemical message has been sent repeatedly to my brain urging me to do something. Pictures of delicious foods have flashed in my mind and smells of rich foods have been recorded by my nose. All these have made me to salivate in torrents but I still refused to budge to any temptation. I will wait till I hear the Muazzin's call to prayer. Like I did yesterday and the day before .. since the beginning of the Ramadan. God bless all those fasting. Amen

Harvest season is just round the corner and KT may witness yet another locust invasion. The advance party of these insects have already arrived. And they are everywhere, brownish all and they fly energetically in short courses. Here is praying they will not devour our crops that are still sitting in the farms.

The number one best seller item in KT today is ....wait for it....ice block. Yes plain, old ice block that is made by pouring water in to a plastic bag and allowing it to stay long in the freezer. Ice block hawkers have taken over the retail trade and they display their wares at spots along the road stretching from steel rolling mill roundabout up to the old market. In short, IBB Way is now the place to patrol if you want to quench your thirst with cool water this Ramadan. Temperatures rise to 38 degrees Celsius and naturally, for someone fasting, cold water could be the first thing into the mouth. No wonder the commotion by eager ice block buyers have caused traffic jams on various locations along the street.(thanks J.)

Above picture shows the first customers to spot an ice block seller. Those near by start the crowd followed by those on motor cycles and lastly those in cars join. The commotion caused in this instance did not block the road as the cars were parked neatly on both sides of the road. This scene was captured on Lawrence Onoja road by IBB way as the seller bent down to collect the ice blocks from her sack . The Water Board pump station is in the background.

I combed the whole of KT city limits looking for places or events that a native or visitor can really find interesting this Ramadan. For example places one can go to have sumptuous meals to break the fast with ie iftar. Or places to go and pass the night playing games or watching some event.

I am sorry to say that there are no special meals in all the restaurants I visited for the Ramadan. They claimed that people do not eat out during Ramadan and this could be true judging by the answers I got from the few people I polled on the issue. A new bride of less than one month found the suggestion of eating out ridiculous by saying "impossicant". She said she preferred cooking at home and claimed that her husband also wanted it that way.

Again there are no places one could go to watch plays or drama, or hang out in a floodlit park. If you want to watch the Ramadan opera I mentioned below you have to squeeze yourself in the crowd and watch it standing.
So what leisure time do we have in this month? None but note that one is fully engaged with live Tafsir in the mosques and in the air waves - radio and television. There is only satellite television to break the monotony for me. Theres MBC channels, Aljazeera, Saudi channels, CCTV, fashion tv and a host of others to while away time.

I want you to consider this scenario first: they have given you 51 million naira and after fifteen years you report that the money has ballooned to 760 million naira. This is really good news and perhaps you deserve some mention in the Guinness book of world records.
Well that is exactly what one Suleman Dauda Karohi (SDK) claims to have achieved for the KT Foundation. This foundation was established after money was collected in the state back in 1991. The foundation has the benefit of having General Buhari (yes, same Buhari of ANPP) as its chairman. This could mean among other things that prudence, transparency and accountability are the watch words.
Well in a press conference recently, SDK announced to the world his feat and even gave a breakdown of sorts. Initially I wanted to write a congratulatory message to the foundation and to SDK but questions kept popping up in my head that made me to change my mind.
First what was the main objective of setting up the foundation back in 1991? Was it to make money through investments in share certificates? And why shares only since there are other avenues that could give a higher yield?
I do not believe that building wells in rural areas and donating money to Islamiyya schools is such a worthy objective that required KT people to launch the foundation fifteen years ago. If I recall correctly educational development for the state was part of the objective. So SDK ought to have told us what they did in that sector. What schools did they build? What textbooks, scholarships etc.
The long and short of it is that this foundation is swimming in money with no one to supervise them. General Buhari has many things in his hands and may have even attempted to resign the chairmanship. He hardly attend to the affairs of the foundation. As Nigerians we know how such a situation can easily lead to misappropriation of funds at a large scale.
I am calling on the state government to look into the affairs of this body and streamline its conduct in accordance with the original objectives.

Being the first lady in a state could be very interesting - perks apart. Among other things you have the chance to sit on cozy seats with the governor during public functions or even represent him on occasions. But in Adamawa state, playing the part has become a game of wits. The governor there happen to have four wives and it has now become a race to the podium for the quartet.
Soon after the governor was sworn-in, the problem surfaced as each wife sought to occupy the role to the exclusion of the others. And naturally some less-than-first-lady-like scenes must have been created to the chagrin of the governor and on lookers.
Now how do you solve this kind of problem amicably? Who would accompany the governor and act as the first lady today or this week?
The governor acted swiftly and I am not surprized since he was once a general in the Navy. In the true fashion of the military he assigned the wives different portfolios or areas where each can serve as a first lady to the exclusion of the others.
So Adamawa now has a first lady for political and moblisation affairs, a different first lady for home affairs, another first lady for health and yet another first lady for Abuja affairs. Four different first ladies but all wives of m'lord, the governor.
Problem solved amicably. Unless you have another bright idea, I am giving the governor an "A" rating for coming up with this solution.

Twelve days into Ramadan and its time for drums and drama sketches and short plays all over town. Small boys however get into the act on the tenth day day by acquiring their small drums and beating them silly soon after Asham prayers. These are aged from five to sixteen and they parade the streets stopping at shops, entering into houses with the belief that they are entertaining the audience. Handing them a few coins usually save one from the noise and they move on. For virtually all of them its the first time they handle a musical instrument. And for many of them it would be the last. However the most interesting are the drama sketches that are performed outside or inside houses.These boys pick many themes and use all sorts of make up to assume different roles. Some could dress up as girls or as old men playing out specific roles that rhyme with the chorus and drums behind.
By far the most serious and elaborate is that performed by grown up men and called Karo Ba Shawara. It is a full blown opera that depicts the typical life of the people and in the process teaches a lot of things to the young. Characters sing their lines and comprise of the lead actor and his back ups who respond in a chorus. They use huge gourds laced with beads mainly as the musical instrument. The opera uses themes like the rainy season where the farming activities therein are portrayed. From clearing the farm to the first rains when land is cleared up to harvest time. Marriage, divorce and runway brides are also thrown into the whole drama so as to vary the performance.

Labels: RAMADAN TRADITIONS