The Early Days

Chapter 1

The Early Days

My early days in the Chikaji community were full of suspicion. My parents were not sure of the new community that we have just move into and wanted me to be careful of the Boys. I was therefore careful although I longed for friends to play with. I did not know who these boys where and they in turn did not know me. We use to stare at each other.  Later I found out that the boys were Hausa and Muslims. Everything about this was new to me.

The five time daily prayers were strange to me. The loud speaker was directly behind our house therefore we could hear it clearly when the sallah call is made. There was a point whereby I could say the Sallah call word for word because I heard it several times in a day.

I created more suspicion when I started to go to church with my big Bible in my hand. I could tell that most of the boys had not seen a Bible before now. I could tell this by the way they stare at my Bible. One or two of them on some occasions wave at me and I waved back.

However, there was a little group among them that use to confront me on my way to church. They will try to pick a quarrel with me. The last day that this took place it resulted into a misunderstanding.

However, One day one of them whom I later found out was Audu came to me with a soccer ball in his hand. He asked me to join him in playing it and I did. There after we became friends.

Gradually we became friends with them one by one. Our meetings in the community primary school, market and particularly soccer field also contributed in making us to become friends. We later form a soccer club that was called Chikaji Eleven and I was the captain.

Our friendship got to the point that we were going to one another’s houses. This is possible because children were allowed to enter the “kulle” houses. I went beyond the “Zaure” in many houses. My favourite hose was however that of my special friends the twins, Hassan and Usaini.

Language was also a barrier to our friendship but with time I leant to speak Hausa like them. One of the most interesting part of learning Hausa is for one to be able to say “Kura ture turmi  turmi ture kura” as fast as you can over and over without biting your tongue. If you can do this my friends consider you to be a good Hausa speaker.

Two of the most important people that taught me Hausa were Hassan and Usaini. The rest of my Hausa was leant by association and as a subject in school.

My Hausa became good and it allow me mingle among them without one knowing the difference. When I am among my tribe men the Jaba people and speak Hausa they say my Hausa is too deep. There Hausa was full of mother tongue interference. There are example like when the want to say, “Gona” that is farm in Hausa they will say, “Gwana.”  “Kosai” is also pronounced as “Kwasai.”

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