Jigawa: A corps member’s perspective

I knew Jigawa state as one of the states in Nigeria, back then in my primary school rhymes. But the day I saw Jigawa state as my state of deployment, I had to look it up for its location in the map of Nigeria. I was, however, encouraged by my parents to embark on the […]

I knew Jigawa state as one of the states in Nigeria, back then in my primary school rhymes. But the day I saw Jigawa state as my state of deployment, I had to look it up for its location in the map of Nigeria. I was, however, encouraged by my parents to embark on the journey even though they were disappointed with the posting.
I embarked on the journey with a closed mind, having a fixed stereotyped conception about the state and the indigenes of the state. That was until I found out, to my surprise, that Jigawa state is not the hostile state that I was expecting. Upon entering the town of Gumel, which hosted the orientation camp, my conception about the state began to take a new form. The first thing that caught my attention was the richness in the natural resources of the state, especially their sandy soil. It isn’t a desert at all.

We held our welcoming ceremony on the July 16 with the governor who was represented by the Commissioner for Information, Youths and Sports, Alhaji Aminu Mohammed. In his address, he told us of the booties to be expected from the state during our stay. He made it known to us that accommodation would be provided for the corps members that would be given teaching appointments, and that an additional allowance would be given to all corps members, while making sure to emphasize that Jigawa state is a very peaceful state where we would all enjoy our stay without let or hindrance.
Accommodation, ‘allowee’ (the additional money paid by some agencies to the corps members) and security (especially of corps members from my part of the country who find themselves serving in the northernmost parts of the country) being the issue which usually agitated our minds, the commissioner’s speech brought down the tension in the camp considerably. I, in particular, changed my mindset about seeking redeployment immediately I heard all the promises made by the governor through his commissioner for information.

Moreso, I was taken by surprise with what I met on the camp ground. The camp ground was well-equipped with various facilities necessary for the orientation course, which is as a result of the co-operation of the state government. Contrary to what I heard before coming to the camp that Jigawa State was full of scorpions and snakes crawling all over the place, I never encountered any throughout my stay at the camp.
My initial reservations beginning to evaporate one after the other, I was really in the mood to experience the camp. Camp activities can be categorized into three broad categories. These were the intellectual and cultural training, via the series of lectures delivered by heads of various governmental agencies and other corporate, independent bodies; the military and the Man-O-War Bay training, which is the physical training on the camp and the social activities.
The military training was the one I found most challenging in that it left me physically drained out. It was unlike the social activities which were what I enjoyed most in camp, particularly the inter-platoon competition which included cultural dances and drama performances. My interest here had to do with the fact that it enabled me to learn about other cultural dances outside of mine. But more than anything else, it eased off the tension created in me by the military training which we received every day.

Of course, I also took interest in the lectures delivered by the heads of various governmental agencies and the corporate, independent bodies, because most of the lectures served as eye-opener for me. The most interesting lecture, for me, was the one delivered by the Emir of Gumel town, His Royal Highness Ahmed Mohammed Sani. It changed my stereotyped view of the Emirs in the Hausa land because after he had left, words went round the corpers that the Emir is actually a scholar and a wizard in information Technology. I have since learnt that all the five emirs in the state are either lawyers or IT buffs or ex-top civil servants and that one of them is actually an American educated economist. How could I have known?
The Emir of Gumel told us, in his lecture, the traditions of the people in Gumel, the social conventions of the people including the modes of dressing, especially for women, the architectural patterns and a host of such details, etc. Everything is defined by the Islamic religion, he said.

The military activities marked the grand finale of the orientation programme which was the passing out parade and the closure of the camp. The camp was declared closed again by the Information Commissioner on behalf of Governor Sule Lamido. The commissioner urged us to take our primary posting with good faith, as most of us must have been posted to rural parts of the state, assuring that the communities in Jigawa state are not hostile to the corps members. The commissioner added that the governor was the friend of the corps members, ever ready to provide the facilities that would uplift the conditions of those serving in the state.