‘In Turkey, I was a king’

Opportunity can come, even if once in one’s lifetime. And this year, 2012, brought a couple such for me and I seized them. Among others, I was in Dubai to attend a training programme and I was invited to deliver a paper at the Ege University’s Faculty of Communications, Izmir, Turkey. While there, I used […]

Opportunity can come, even if once in one’s lifetime. And this year, 2012, brought a couple such for me and I seized them. Among others, I was in Dubai to attend a training programme and I was invited to deliver a paper at the Ege University’s Faculty of Communications, Izmir, Turkey. While there, I used the opportunity to attend a three-day international conference in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, organised by a Germany-based institute. Izmir is an interesting city, the third most populous in Turkey. It  has 11 metropolitan districts. It is also reputed to have almost 3,500 years of recorded urban history; some say possibly even longer as an advanced human settlement.

Lying along the coast, Izmir has been one of the principal mercantile cities of the Mediterranean Sea for much of its history.

Ege University (Ege Üniversitesi in Turkish; also known as Aegean University) is a public university located in Bornova, a district of Izmir, Turkey. It was founded in 1955 with the Faculties of Medicine and Faculty of Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in Izmir and the fourth oldest university in Turkey. Ege University ranks close to the top among research universities in Turkey.

Izmir is widely regarded as one of the most progressive Turkish cities in terms of values, lifestyle and dynamism.  It hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1971 and the World University Games (Universiade) in 2005.

I headed for this Mediterranean city leaving Nigeria via Egypt Airline from Abuja through Cairo–Dubai-Cairo-Istanbul to kick off my 29-day  vacation/short-course visits abroad starting from April, 2012. On  I arrival at the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, I met an official who asked me to follow him. As we got outside, he brought out his whistle and blew it to call a cab. The taxi took me to my hotel, which is a 25-minute drive from the airport.

The hotel is housed in a 100-year-old refurbished building in Istanbul. The hotel is about two minutes’ walk from Taksim, the part of town that is the heart of public transport, shopping malls, cafes and about 10 minutes drive to the beautiful historical spots of ancient Istanbul.

My hotel room had many interesting historical symbols and drawings on the ancient times of Istanbul. The hotel, at the heart of the city, gave me feeling of peace.

The main objective of the symposium, which brought together undergraduate and graduate students of communication in national and international programmes, was to enable students to question both theoretical and practical thoughts within the context of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary topics related to concepts such as communication, culture, ethics and creativity. It was also to improve their debating abilities and create a platform where they can share their critical and analytical studies. The method of the symposium included having the communication students to discuss and exchange ideas in search of new theories and methods. I have a feeling that if the symposium was in my country, my name would not be there. It would probably be schemed out in favour of candidates no matter how grossly ineligible they may be.

I have never been to Turkey and didn’t know any person in that country, but my name has been in the Ege University’s records. I was the only black person from Africa.  Some of the participants were from Russia, UK, Mexico, USA, Poland, Iran, Germany, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Moldova.

The sun set and the entire atmosphere made me to read more comfortably and continue my research study. After a shower in the afternoon, I changed into my traditional attire – Long gown (doguwar riga) and Zanna Bukar. I then checked the guide book and found where I could get a GSM SIM card. I chose Turkcell, a service provider which commenced operations in 1994.

On my way back, someone called me.   When I turned I saw a slim, light skinned young man, almost my height. We exchanged greetings, and he introduced himself. He is a citizen of Turkey, an English Language student at the Istanbul University and now on teaching practice. “Where you are heading to,” he asked me, and I pointed to the hotel I was about to enter. He asked for my GSM number, and my just acquired Turkcell SIM card came in handy. We exchanged numbers.  He then told me that he wanted to go to the bank and that their home was very close by and that he would check on me the following day.

Late in the evening the following day, my phone rang. It was my new Turkish friend calling. “Salam. How are you?” “Fine, okay. Thanks to Allah,” we exchanged greetings.

His next words rattled me. “I am inviting you to be our guest at our house. I have informed my friends about you, and they are all waiting to meet you.” I remained silent for some seconds, and then I said, “Okay, no problem.” He promised to pick me up.

I remained in bed, thinking. I asked myself: what if this young man only wants to kidnap me? Or could  he be a security officer suspicious of me? I later called him to cancel the meeting, suggesting that we meet the following morning.

By 12:45 noon, my phone rang again. “Hello! Hussain, where are you?” It was  my Turkish friend waiting outside. When I peeped through my hotel room window, I saw him, wearing a black suit. I finally said a prayer and decided to join him. I used the time I would meet him to send a short text to my aunt in Abuja and my editor,   in case I am kidnapped, they should know which number I used to text them after I left Dubai. We walked for about five minutes to their house which is a five-storey building. He said they lived in the last apartment.

On arrival we met six other young men, some were students in different faculties and universities in Istanbul and one was a teacher. I was surprised the way they all heartily welcomed me. They were very friendly. There were delicacies and food awaiting my arrival and almost everyone wanted to be close to me. They admired my traditional wear. After a short prayer we ate and chatted for some hours, though   three of them do not speak English because they study in Turkish. So we communicated through an interpreter who understood English.

Our friendship became so strong within two days as if we had known each other for  years. I went to their house in the morning and returned to my hotel late in the evening, because I found it interesting joining them to read and learn about their country, while also using the opportunity to read my paper.

They suggested that I relocate to their house, before I leave for Izmir and Ankara for my training and paper presentation, but I told to them that I had already paid for six days.

A very touching incident was when they came to my hotel room the day I was to check  out.  They carried my luggage to their home, did my laundry and ironed my clothes, then arranged them in my travel bag. They prepared my meal. In fact, they treated me like a king.

In Turkey, there is no such thing like godfatherism. When I sent my abstract,   at first, I did not give myself a chance, but I was surprised when I received their reply that my paper, entitled “Visual Communication & Creativity” (Dummy and Sketch of a Newspaper Page Layout), had been selected for presentation among others for Ege University’s 1st International Communication Students Symposium entitled Communication, Culture, Ethics and Creativity, organized by the university’s Faculty of Communications, Izmir, Turkey.

The committee which did the selection included the Scientific Advisory Board, which comprised Prof. John Hill (University of London, Media & Arts Department), Prof. Ralph Negrine (University of Sheffield, Department of Journalism Studies) and Prof. Dr. Müge Elden (Ege University, Faculty of Communications).

I had sent my abstract a day before the deadline, about eight hours to the time limit on December 29th, 2011. I received a reply on Monday, February 6, 2012, informing me that the organizing committee has accepted my abstract, and also stating conditions for the programme as it relates to resource persons. I discussed my research work with some superior officers, including our editorial adviser, who encouraged me. One of our top editorial officers reviewed my paper and gave me the go-ahead.

We shared different approaches and applications from different countries within the framework of communication culture, ethic and creativities during the symposium. Participants were put together in a common platform, we were able to grasp the process of creating a scientific product through obtaining more knowledge, which I believed we should apply and will contribute more to create a qualified source to be utilized in not only scientific but also corporate circle. This symposium has boosted myself confidence to realize my potential.

My best moment during the trip was when I met those incredible people who drew me closer to them. We were at the HAGIA SOPHIA, this awe-inspiring Istanbul landmark, now a museum, has been important to Christians and Muslims for centuries. At the place, we met security operatives outside. My friends spoke in Turkish, with the operatives who were informed that the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was inside. He came for a programme and then was about to leave the place. My friends made a case for me so I can see the Prime Minister. The request was obliged. “Hussain, come,  come closer,” I was beckoned, and went  very close to the PM’s  car before he came and entered inside, waving to people standing by and watching him. I believed he waved me back too. I do not think I would get such rare opportunity here in Nigeria given the insecurity pervading our dear father land.

Any where we went, my generous hosts struggled among themselves to pay for whatever services we needed ranging from tickets for bus, river and metro transport.

I attended a special gala night/dinner organized by the Turkey Journalists and Writers Foundation, in Ankara was a remarkable event to memories. It was really fun.

We went to the Panorama 1453 History Museum, where I was taken round as a special guest from one of the royal families.   We prayed inside a mosque built in 1592 inside the museum.

My memory goes to one of the students of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi who wrote the greater part of the 130 parts of the Risale-I Nur. Inside was an old man of about 90 years, after they informed him that I am a visitor from Nigeria, he came out from his room walking like a young man, shook my hand.  “Are you from Africa?” he asked. I said “yes.” He sat and began praying.  One of my friends who translated it into English, also gave me a short   story about    Bediuzzaman. He was born in eastern Turkey in 1877; his life time spanned the final decades of the Caliphate and Ottoman empire and died in 1960 at the age of 83. He not only taught many students, he also engaged in debates and discussions with leading scholars from all over the Islamic world.  He was a scholar of the highest standing having studied not only all the traditional religious sciences, but also modern sciences and had earned the name Bediuzzaman, meaning wonder of the age, in his youth as a result of his outstanding ability and learning. The old man left for his room and brought a   book (The Flashes Collection) a collection of Risale-I Nur and a small piece of paper hand written du’a from the late Bediuzzaman. “That it’s a gift from my heart.  I wish you a safe journey back home,” he told me.