Visiting Sudan; A trip that finally became reality

I have known about Sudan since my early life in elementary school in the 1950s. At that time, my father, Mallam Ibrahim Ahmad, Matawallen Kano, was posted to Gaya town as senior mufti in the Shari’a court. When on holidays, I used to accompany him to Kano on weekends to visit his former teachers at […]

I have known about Sudan since my early life in elementary school in the 1950s. At that time, my father, Mallam Ibrahim Ahmad, Matawallen Kano, was posted to Gaya town as senior mufti in the Shari’a court. When on holidays, I used to accompany him to Kano on weekends to visit his former teachers at the Kano Law School, which he attended in the 1940s. The teachers were mostly Sudanese, namely, Sheikh Bashir, Sheikh Awad and many others. They were living in Kwali Quarters, near the present site of the School for Arabic Studies (SAS).

Nigeria and Sudan have a long history of close traditional, educational and diplomatic ties. For many centuries, people from Nigeria have been travelling to Saudi Arabia en route Sudan to perform the hajj. There were no aeroplanes or tarred roads. The journey used to be done by trekking or animals, so it used to take many years for intending pilgrims to reach Makkah to perform the pilgrimage.

They used to spend some years in Sudan doing menial jobs to raise enough money for their final journey to Makkah. Some rich men and other notables were able to undertake the journey to Saudi Arabia via Sudan, including the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero; hence his nickname, Sarki Alhaji.

I became interested to visit Sudan to see the country and interact with the large community of Nigerians and Sudanese of Nigerian origin, composed mainly of the Hausa/Fulani tribe. My dream became a reality last January when the Almighty Allah made it possible for me to visit Sudan on my way to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah.

I departed home on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, onboard Badr Airlines from Kano to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. We took off from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport at 10:30 am and arrived in Khartoum in the evening. It was a pleasant journey.

Sudan is 2 hours ahead of the Nigerian time zone.

I travelled with Mallam Kabiru Sani Hanga, my former primary school pupil, who is now a retired civil servant like me. He is a graduate of Khartoum University and a regular visitor to Sudan for both official and private engagements. He speaks fluent Arabic, which facilitated easy communication throughout our short stay in the country. His close relative, Alhaji Abdulkadir Ibrahim Chigari provided us with good accommodation, of which I am very grateful. It was Mallam Kabiru that made the accommodation arrangement before our departure from Kano. It was a pleasant surprise because when I asked him about our accommodation before our departure, he answered that I should not worry about it.

On arrival at Khartoum, we were received warmly by some students and children of our host, as he was away on a business trip overseas throughout our stay in his house. The boys were waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. They transported us to our lodge, a few minutes’ drive from the airport.

I observed that Khartoum is like any other city in the urban areas of Africa and the Middle East. There are busy streets with heavy traffic like Kano, during both morning and evening rush hours. We arrived in the city at dusk, close to maghrib prayer time. I noticed that motorists strictly abided by traffic rules despite the absence of traffic regulation officials. We performed the asr and the maghrib prayers as permitted to travellers. We were served a nice meal after isha prayers before going to bed.

We both had a good sleep and woke up at dawn for the fajr prayer. Out of courtesy, Mallam Kabiru insisted that I led the prayer, though, by virtue of being a learned scholar, he was supposed to be the imam. When I insisted he led the prayer, he obliged, reluctantly, but with appreciation. We spent the second day resting but only strolled around our lodge for exercise, and of course, walked to the local mosque for prayers.

The following day, I was taken to the University of Khartoum and other places of interest in the city by Mallam Kabiru. I went round the Faculty of Engineering, which I understand offers quality courses commensurate to any good European and Asian universities. I learnt that there were many Nigerians who qualified from that faculty. I thought it was only Shari’a law and Islamic studies that are taught in the university. I was happy to meet many Nigerians and African students at the university. The school was not in session due to a national strike called by the labour union over fuel price increase, general inflation and new taxes imposed by the government on the masses.

Mallam Kabiru also showed me where he and Mallam Lamido Muhammadu Sanusi, now the Emir of Kano, lived with their families off campus when they were students.

Later in the day, Mallam Kabiru arranged a visit to the house of Professor El-amin Abu Manga, a Sudanese of Nigerian origin. I was happy to meet the professor and listen to his history. He was born in Sudan but was able to trace his origin to Zamfara State. He told us that he had visited Zamfara and traced not only his ancestry but also his blood relatives. He found out that he belongs to a family of traditional Islamic scholars. He made a book out of the journey he undertook to Zamfara and the research, tracing his roots for the benefit of the younger generation.

We went back to Professor Manga’s house in the evening for dinner, during which we discussed matters of general interest. The professor expressed his concern over the situation in Nigeria and hoped that things would improve in our socio-economic and political life. He said he regularly visited Nigeria for seminars and conferences. He is also well placed in the Sudanese government. He was a member of the Sudanese delegation to the African Union (AU) meeting and was happy to meet President Muhammadu Buhari at one of the sessions in Addis Ababa.

We also met one of the Nigerian/Hausa community leaders. He is an elderly person with a large family. He came to visit us in our residence, accompanied by a large group. He is the Sarkin Kasuwa (market leader) and was of great assistance to both Mallam Kabiru and Mallam Lamido Muhammadu Sanusi when they were students, by selling essential commodities cheaply to them.

The lifestyle of Nigerian students in Sudan is noteworthy. They study very hard to pass their examinations with flying colours among other students from many countries. Nigerian students have excelled and earned Nigeria a highly respected position. It should be noted that Nigerian students have to study along with their Sudanese counterparts and other students from Arab countries who speak Arabic as their mother tongue. The Sudanese and the Arabs have advantages, especially in Islamic Studies, yet our own Mallam Lamido Muhammadu Sanusi was appointed the chief imam of the university mosque even though he was not a Sudanese and Arabic was not his mother tongue. He just qualified due to his acknowledged piety and learning. I learnt that throughout his tenure as chief imam on the campus, he led the Friday and Eid prayers. Those who know are not surprised that even as emir, he leads Friday and Eid prayers in Kano.

My stay in Khartoum had to end and we had to return to the airport to fly to Saudi Arabia. My enjoyable stay in Sudan was, however, marred by an incident at the airport. I found that I had to pay a ridiculous fee imposed on all foreigners on outbound flights. I was surprised that we had to pay $100 (N37,000) each, which I considered unwise for the Sudanese authorities to charge as it would discourage foreign visitors from visiting the country.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed my short trip to Sudan and appreciate the hospitality accorded us by our host, Alhaji Abdulkadir Ibrahim Chigari and his family. It was exciting meeting Professor El-amin Abu Manga of Khartoum University, a well-regarded scholar and diplomat, the Sarkin Kasuwa and members of his family, who visited us. I was happy to meet the imam of the Friday mosque near our residence, a young Nigerian scholar sponsored on scholarship for brilliant performance during a Koranic reciting competition in Sudan.