This must be among the ugliest towns

My old father, Bello-Barkindo, is gone. I looked around a town that I used to honour, because everything was there and found out instead that everything is gone. Nothing is left; even the once famous penitentiary is offensive to the eye.After a long sojourn away from home, I was finally in my town Numan penultimate […]

My old father, Bello-Barkindo, is gone. I looked around a town that I used to honour, because everything was there and found out instead that everything is gone. Nothing is left; even the once famous penitentiary is offensive to the eye.
After a long sojourn away from home, I was finally in my town Numan penultimate Sunday. I had expected to see the Little London that I left several decades ago to explore the real London. Now I have seen beyond London and expected that Numan would have, by now, risen beyond its pet name, Little London. But alas.
Numan has often been described as another earthly paradise. Indeed, some dreamers even refer to it as the closest thing to the Garden of Eden. I recall the first time I visited the United States of America, decades ago, many Americans whom I met and was introduced to, expressed wonder at the fact that I lived in “paradise” but chose to move to “hell.” Africa to most of them was a heaven that men could visit with a return ticket and a ridiculously cheap visa. Numan made that assumption true.
Whenever a stranger visited Numan in the days of yore, he expressed much wonder at the beauty of the riverside town. It had been built in blocks by the Danes. It was never a village. As a town that was only one square mile, it had three solid educational institutions, a famous cathedral and a strong Christian population. Although the Hamma Bachama was never a Muslim, the chiefdom of the early days tolerated a mosque in the backyard of the palace. However, a trip around Numan these days will reveal that Numan has lost much of its pristine pulchritude. Its unsurpassable natural beauty is destroyed, once by acts of war and now by a combination of natural factors, official neglect and an uncaring and unconscionable set of inhabitants who, it would appear, do not care.
It is said that poverty is the greatest destroyer of the environment. But in Numan, the injury is self-inflicted. The picture becomes even gloomier when the effects of bad governance are aggregated. And, when one considers that Numan’s two most important industries — tourism and agriculture — are dependent on the government the scenario becomes even more frightening. This harsh reality does not augur well for the future of Numan, the gateway to Adamawa, our land of beauty.
For starters, the harbour which once served as a commercial hub, a resting place for the super rich who travelled in to the state has now become one big sewage pond and garbage receptacle. Rated as one of the best natural harbours in the North-east, situated on the confluence of the Rivers Benue and Gongola, that once-peachy-clean body of water has become a most polluted spot. From time to time one hears about plans to address this worsening situation but to date there has been no clear-cut plan of action that is being implemented with any sense of responsibility. And, as if this is not enough to rile any true lover of progress, much of the waters surrounding the town, particularly those that generate income for the people, residential or itinerant, are withdrawing into the bushes.
Of course, the main causes of decay are irresponsible management, improper or ineffective policies and, worst of all, a no-teeth legislation. And you know, one pet peeve I have is that, in most cases when it comes to administrative matters, it is always persons of a certain class that are in the forefront. Is it that we Nigerians have no care at all for our communes?
Interestingly, there used to be environmental sanitation days, clean-up days, which many used to sanitise our homes and streets, and on Saturdays there is usually a flurry of activity relating to clean-up campaigns. But these attempts, though well-intentioned, are merely cosmetic exercises as the uglification continues unabated. Today, our well-laid roads are no longer motorable. Numan has become a pigsty without the pigs. A town which used to have the highest enrolment figures into higher institutions has now become the bastion of barely educated local government officials.
Fact is, we are nasty and uncaring and when it comes to our town, we have become callous. I have always found it amusing, if not bemusing, that people will throw their garbage at the town that gave them everything.
When I was a boy, poor Numan had a penchant for cleanliness. It is, therefore, bitterly ironic that in a town where Christianity is the predominant religion, the tenet which states that cleanliness is next to godliness has no meaning or clout. In days gone by, sweeping up one’s yard was a must, especially on a sanitation Saturday. Brooms were used to ensure that yards were squeaky clean and floors shining like glazed mirrors. Garbage was buried, burnt or used for mulching in backyard gardens. One of the tragedies of modern times is the plastic bottle, not to mention the Styrofoam food containers used much across the entire country. They litter all Numan gutters.
The time has come for successive governments to come up with a comprehensive policy framework and plan of action to counter this uglification of Numan. To begin with, there should be a major beautification programme accompanied by a public-education and awareness campaign. And this should not be a one-off thing, but an ongoing activity. In this same vein, there should be zero tolerance for corruption.
Numan my town is a shadow of itself. It is rough and shoddy. It is no secret that a filthy environment can affect the mind in a negative way. Perhaps that is why there is so much violence, both verbal and physical, in our communities. Politicians, private sector leaders, law enforcement officers, educators, pastors, the media, and just about every civil society grouping out there should treat the uplift of this once beautiful town as a priority. We must bring Numan back, with the vigour with which human rights campaigners are trying to bring back our girls.