Trekking through the hills of Mazah village
A year before now, a woman in labour will have to be carried in a makeshift cane bed by at least four able bodied men from Mazah village, who will trek the five-kilometre distance, going up the rocky hills and down the narrow valley to the main road, where the woman will be transferred into […]
A year before now, a woman in labour will have to be carried in a makeshift cane bed by at least four able bodied men from Mazah village, who will trek the five-kilometre distance, going up the rocky hills and down the narrow valley to the main road, where the woman will be transferred into a commercial vehicle or a motorcycle to be conveyed to a hospital. Many infants have taken their first deep breaths on that rocky path, and the hills have resounded with an infant’s first cry during the five-kilometre walk. Many old and young men and women from the village, have also gasped their last breath during that same laborious walk.
The rocky mountainous climb from Mazah village to Anguwan Rukuba -Odus junction in Jos, is a daily routine for the villagers who take their farm produce as well as firewood to Anguwan Rukuba market where they sell them. To understand the plight of the people, one will have to experience the five-kilometre walk to the village and back. The descent to Mazah village, though tough, is easier than the return journey which is wearier, since the routes go up the hills.
While walking through the route with a friend in the morning of October 1, Nigeria’s independence day, there was no sight of villagers either going or coming, and this is because they often leave for the market as early as 5am. Down the dusty long road, the trek becomes less cumbersome, as one gets in tune with nature’s serenity; surrounded by beautiful plains and hills that rise and fall, lush greens sprayed with tiny yellow petals. The chirping of birds from a lower distance of the forest, and the rippling sound of a nearby stream soothes the ear, while visiting a village where the people, who are Anaguta by tribe, claim to have lived alongside the stormy hills and valleys for hundreds of years.
Few meters into the trek, this reporter and a friend came across a 10-year old boy named Gayus who lives in Anguwan Rukuba, and asked if he was going to Mazah village. He quickly snapped his fingers as though saying ‘God-forbid’, adding that he didn’t want his heels cracked. The boy’s action indicated a preconceived notion communities in the city harboured against the people of Mazah, as being a highly impoverished and remote lot, despite their proximity to the city of Jos. The 10-year old who was dangling from an old tree with a friend of his, about 500 meters from Anguwan Rukuba, later explained that all those who lived in Mazah were old-fashioned, and possessed cracked heels because of the long distance trek they had to endure every day.
Mazah village looks deserted in the day, and much of the thatched huts are dispersed and hidden behind tall Maize farms. Networks on mobile phones suddenly go off. There is no sign of a Police station or check point anywhere. Visiting Mazah for a Muslim may be seen by many as too bold , but it is a sign of the relative peace and tolerance that has gradually returned to Jos. The sight of a primary health centre, government primary school and a borehole facility, was also an indication that the once remote village is rising from its stupor.
Abreymo Kayiwa, the village head could not say precisely when and who established Mazah village, but he was quick to claim “Mazah village has been in existence for hundreds of years. It is the oldest Anaguta village in Plateau State.”
Sitting on a stone carved throne in his palace and surrounded by elders from the village, Kayiwa said the once narrow and stony footpath to Mazah village, having now been replaced by a motorable path, carved out by the huge graders of construction companies, has eased the villager’s plight, and opened up the village to outsiders who had stereotyped the people, to now visit and appreciate the mountainous serenity and the people’s hospitality.
Mazah is indeed wearing a makeover, and the village head was proud to boast about it. “We would have boasted of three boreholes but the engines have been stolen, so we still use water from the stream and when the streams are dry, we turn to the two wells in the village. Every morning our women and young girls go to fetch water from three different running streams, found at different locations within the village,” said Kayiwa.
The health centre and primary school were first established in the 90’s by the first executive Chairman of Jos north LGA Samaila Mohammed Abdullahi. Over the years, the health centre which is now headed by Rodelmwa Vitungdun, a chief nursing officer, has been renovated, and a residence has recently been constructed for workers on duty to attend to night emergencies, and also address issues associated with accidental deliveries on the rough mountainous climb.
Rodelmwa explained that the health centre was only equipped to handle symptomatic cases, as more serious cases are referred to the Plateau State Specialist Hospital in Jos.
“The place is too small, and the clinic needs to be expanded. There are only three beds, and, in an instance where we want to keep patients for observation, we usually keep both male and female patients in the same room, because of limited space,” she said.
The people of Mazah, who are predominantly farmers and hunters, are festive in nature. The village head explained “We have many festivals but there are two major ones. We have the one that marks the end of the harvest which takes place in January. There is a lot of dancing with farmers and the local alcohol is brewed for the old people to join in the jubilation. We also have a festivity when any of our hunters captures a tiger or an enormous animal. The entire village jubilates, young and old, but now it is difficult to find large wild animals. For the past two years we have not trapped very large animals, maybe we have eaten them all.”
Surprisingly, when asked if they craved the luxuries that come with living in the city, Kayiwa simply said “the good things of life that make food delicious such as salt, maggi, fish and palm oil are in Jos. We don’t have such things here, and we are used to cooking our food without them, but when we get them we are happy.”
As little as their life expectations may be, they have a vision to attract people from other villages to buy and sell farm produce in their village. The village head explained “by the time the road is completed we want people to start coming to our market to buy our farm produce, instead of us taking it to them in town. We share a boundary with Tilde in Bauchi state, and we go to their markets on Tuesdays, and they can come to ours on Wednesdays.”
Jummai Bulus who farms and sells carrots and wheat at Anguwan Rukuba market said “I love my life here. I have five children and gave birth to two of them on the hills, while the remaining three were delivered at home. I was carried on a locally made bed tied with ropes and accompanied by ten people from the village. But I delivered half way to the main road, so we returned home.”
Bulus explained “Jennifer,my first child, who is 15 years was born on the hills, and my last, Masanah who is 10 months old was also born on the hills. When I gave birth to Masanah, work had just commenced on the road, and the route was not motorable even for a motorcycle.”
Once the road is completed, the Jonah Jang administration will no doubt make history as the emancipator of Mazah people. Bulus is also convinced that no one will ever deliver a child on the hills again. Her optimism was vividly expressed when she said “the era of giving birth on the hills is over. The workers in the health centre now have rooms so they now sleep in Mazah. The rocks have been graded and levelled for a car or motorcycle to follow. We hope that the road will be tarred, but if it is not, we will still be grateful.”
After spending two hours in Mazah village, armed with a genuine perception of the village, the people’s warmth and easy life style, it was time to return to the city. Back on the hill top, having walked for almost two hours; panting for breath, dragging sore feet and an aching back, there was no sight of Gayus and his friend. But turning back to admire the landscape, the energetic stride of an old woman carrying firewood is captured. She had walked five kilometres from the village with the load on her head, and didn’t look out of breath.