Father Raymond Hickey: The friend I never met
Reverend Father Raymond Hickey who died in Jos recently, at the age of 85, got acquainted with me on the pages of Daily Trust, three years ago, and he maintained a lively correspondence with me over the time. I had written an article on the visit of Prince Charles of the UK to Nigeria and […]
Reverend Father Raymond Hickey who died in Jos recently, at the age of 85, got acquainted with me on the pages of Daily Trust, three years ago, and he maintained a lively correspondence with me over the time. I had written an article on the visit of Prince Charles of the UK to Nigeria and had alluded to an earlier visit to Borno State by the Prince along with Princess Diana in 1990. I confidently asserted that the 1990 Prince’s visit was the first ever by a British royal personage to Borno.
A few days later, I received an email from Father Hickey who introduced himself as ‘an old Catholic priest, an Irish missionary, who spent long years in Borno & Yobe states and is now in Jos. I am very interested in the history of Borno/Kanem, and I found your article on British royal visits to Borno (Daily Trust, 13 Nov) very good.’ After congratulating me on a well-researched article, he pointed out that contrary to my assertions, there were some other visits by the British royals to Borno in the past. He mentioned the visit of Prince Michael of Kent, the first cousin of the Queen who came to Borno in 1970, or thereabout and even visited Pulka, in Gwoza Emirate, where Father Hickey was stationed. He remembered that the prince was led to Pulka by Meta Monguno, the English wife of Shettima Ali Monguno, Nigeria’s Minister of Mines, Power, Petroleum and Energy, 1972-75.
It was the beginning of a close relationship with the Reverend Father, exchanging several emails over the period, often receiving his insights on my weekly column, which he followed earnestly. At an instance, I promised to pay him a visit to his Diocese in Jos but unfortunately, these last two years, travelling on our roads has been rendered difficult mainly due to the various insurrections pervading all parts of the North. When I learnt of his death, I felt a sense of loss, of a friend that I did not have a chance to meet.
From the very onset, Father Hickey had charmed me by always starting his emails with Zuwa ga abokina, Malam Gambo, and would always close with Wassalam, daga danuwanka, Fada, Raymond Hickey. That always used to remind me of how letters were written in the Hausa tradition 50 or 60 years ago when I was a young lad too. Over time, I came to know that he had lived all his 60 working years in Nigeria and close to half of that in Borno. Father Hickey was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1936; was ordained a priest in Rome in 1960 and was immediately posted to work in Nigeria. He arrived in Lagos in October 1960, just two weeks after our independence, and was sent straight to Maiduguri.
In one of the emails, he told me that in Maiduguri, he briefly lived in the church premises now opposite the State Secretariat. Of course in 1960, the secretariat had not been built, but I knew the site very well, being heavily congregated with plenty of neem trees. As children, we occasionally played truant to come to play there. Due to the paucity of indigenous converts in Maiduguri, Father Hickey was moved to Pulka, in Gwoza Emirate, at that time part of a Trust Territory of the United Nations, though administered from Nigeria. It was from his headquarters in Pulka that he ministered to the surrounding areas in Biu, Shani, Micika, Mubi and Yola provinces. He learnt the Hausa language, spoke, and wrote in it very well, chiefly because that’s the language his church used for all means of communication. In addition, he picked a little of the Mandara, Karekare and Bura languages.
In 1965, he moved to Potiskum, now in Nangere Local Government Area. He vividly recalled his life in those places and related historical incidents and people that made strong impressions on him. In Potiskum, he recalled the exiled Shehu of Bama that lived there and Alhaji Yaro Gambo, a prosperous businessman. Father Hickey lived a total of almost 30 years in the Borno area, spending most of his youth there. That probably explains why at every prompting, he expressed emotional attachment to Borno. In one of his emails, he said: ‘Yes, I served in today’s Borno and Yobe states for 28 years (1960 to 1988), and it is still very much ‘gida’ for me.’
After his long stay in Borno, Father Hickey was posted to Lagos where he spent seven years before coming down to Kaduna and finally to Jos where he remained till his death. At his death, he was reputed to be the longest serving missionary in Africa. Father Hickey told me that he had been to all the states of the federation and regarded himself as both Irish and Nigerian. I found him a very well-informed old man in all my interactions with him particularly on matters relating to Borno. He wrote scholarly articles on Borno history which he contributed to The Annals of Borno, a journal of University of Maiduguri, and other publications elsewhere.
It was a privilege knowing Reverend Father Raymond Hickey and I send my condolences to his flock in the St Monica’s Catholic Church in Rantya, Jos.