I am Muhammad Idris from the North but born and bred in ONITSHA Anambra State (South East Nigeria) precisely No. 7 Okija street fegge Onitsha. I don’t know what took my dad there in the 1980s but he told us it was trade. As such 70% of my siblings are born in Onitsha and can speak Igbo more than our dialect. I remember growing up, my parents put me in an Anglican school (St John Anglican Model School) close to my street.
All our class mates are igbos (except I and my brother) and we coexist peacefully, in fact I use to take local/northern chin chin prepared by my mother (she use to sell at down Port Harcourt road close to woliwo up-iweka) to share for my class mates, it was so sweat that they had to be following me home to collect some especially my friend Okwudilichukwu (my mom knows him)
Inside the same school compound we have 3 other schools (all named after North), closer to St john (white and blue uniform) is fegge community school (navy blue and check top uniform), at the front we have Niger primary school (white and green uniform), at the back of it we have Nupe primary school (Red and white). Fegge is a village name in Bassa L.G.A in Kogi State and you already know Niger and Nupe as Northern nomenclatures.
Perpendicular to my street is Abagana street which at middle of the street lies another school called Agai Primary School close to Anambra street. At the end of Anambra Street lies Shaba street that houses the HAUSA QUARTERS. All the above named schools still exist till now.
At the back of my house is Niger Street, adjacent to a very long street called Sokoto road that connects the Onitsha bridge head to the popular ONITSHA MAIN MARKET. At the front of the Market is the ONITSHA CENTRAL MOSQUE (still existing) where the jumaat prayers are held. Close to the Mosque is a long street called BIDA ROAD.
After the morning chin chin market, my mother along with my sisters prepares food to sell at the Head bridge Market at Ogbo ewu (meaning cattle market in Igbo), wearing their complete IJAB (muslim vail) without being vilified ever, even for once.
As for my father, he sales water outside our house, where the other older igbo men (tieing wrapper with their snuff) in the street gather to gist at night. They call our house bey Alhaji (the house of Alhaji) because our Dads went to Mecca in the 80s.
We the children are not left out, we play street football competitions between different streets and different languages and we never fought for once because of our religious or ethnic differences. I remembered one day I was thirsty after playing football and I went to the closest house to the field and an Igbo woman gave me water and washed my dirty legs and wounds while I went back home.
Exactly, Tuesday in February 2006, things changed. There was a reprisal attack following the religious crises in the north. I was coming back from school (Our Ladies Secondary School woliwo), along Ziks avenue I saw where a man was been lynched, my student colleague (Nsugbe) nearly gave me up but no one could listen to him because I properly speak igbo more than him, but my elder brother MUSA wasn’t lucky, he was mobbed because of his tribal mark, Thanks to Soldiers that intervened. When i reached home from school, the house was empty, the house was scattered, a woman now told me that our parents are in the police station seeking refuge. That was how i left my friends, and my books and belongings behind and i never went back to the school again. Some previleged Northerners that heard the information before the attack, left with their family in secrecy, leaving us to face the scourge. In the mid night, we had to migrate with foot from Onitsha to Delta State through the Onitsha bridge. The most painful thing that night was when going through the same we used to play football, seeing some houses where i used to buy satchet water to go and hawk in the market. I was thinking, if the day just break, can my friends come out these houses and recognize me. A lot happened……
When we went back to North, we couldn’t stay up to 3 months, we went back to Onitsha again because that is our home, that is our life but it came with a lot of PRICE. The peaceful community we once knew had changed, our people especially the Sisters and those with tribal marks get embarrassed. The Northerners that owns houses started selling it out, the community started refusing to accommodate some Northerners in their houses.
I began to go street to street, market to Market to buy and sell scrap metals (Akpakara). I served a boss called OGA REMY (in Owerri street), he is very nice, he used to give me money if am going back to school (ABU Zaria). After I finished service, I went to greet him and he told me, please save my number, incase if his children finish school, I should find work for them, because he believed since I am a Northerner, getting a job will be easy for me. That is not even the problem, the problem is When MASSOB became more audible in fegge, there is a place called NWANGENE (Dust bin Area), some part where been cleared, we thought it was for development, guess what, some of our friends we once knew began to build Shanties (as MASSOB police station along creek road fegge). If you and your neighbor had issues, you will prefer to be reported to police instead of MASSOB. Police feared them including the Igbos too because of theft, brutality and other kinds of social vices in broad day light.
In 2014 before I went for NYSC, where I was working (Loading scrap metal into Lorries) in Uga street for OGA GEB (A.K.A ELU ELU), I saw my far far junior in school (Obum-neme) have become a ‘commander’ in MASSOB, they came close to our trailer, requested for money, searched us (everyone including their igbo counterpart) collected our belongings and left. OGA GEB cried and wailed, he had to employ one of them (EBUKA) to be guarding us when working and he smokes Indian hemp in the public and still collect N5000.
That doesn’t stopped it completely, different sect will come and fight, claim territory and left.
At a point the problem was not even with the Northerners again, it was with themselves, we just sat down and keep praying for peace and for the sheath not to point against us one day.
Even ordinary repair work at your house, they will come and seize your equipments (shovel) requesting for money or approval without receipt and there were tens of different sects of them. That was when we realized we where in ANARCHY. Thank God for Governor Willie Obiano that cleaned the street from these thugs. Since then, once In a while, I only visit family members that are still doing business there and I don’t want to stop visiting because “abum nwa ala oatuu” (son of the soil)
WHERE DID THE PROBLEM COME FROM AND HOW CAN WE SOLVE IT ESPECIALLY WE THE YOUTHS.
IGBOS I DON’T WANT YOU TO GO, FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND FEELINGS WILL BE SEPARATED
From MUHAMMAD IDRIS BAWA (tetengi) A NIGERIAN
