Why Xmas spells mass exodus East for Igbos
The moving luxurious bus is packed full with passengers making the yearly trip from the north to the south to meet up with relatives for the Christmas celebrations. It is a season of merriment but little of that is visible in the bus as the passengers bowed their heads in prayer while the roaring voice […]
The moving luxurious bus is packed full with passengers making the yearly trip from the north to the south to meet up with relatives for the Christmas celebrations. It is a season of merriment but little of that is visible in the bus as the passengers bowed their heads in prayer while the roaring voice of a preacher invoke the protection of heaven for the safe trip of the travelers against road accidents, armed robbers and kidnappers. As the preacher’s voice rises in stridency, the fervent amen! amen! of the travelers rises in note, capturing the fears and expectations of the multitude inside the bus.
Some few kilometers outside the Kano city capital, at Kwanar Dawaki, the preacher disembarked from the bus, his duty having been done, and yet again dedicates the lives of the travelers into the hands of God. “I am here to pray for the brethren travelling so that God will protect them,” the preacher, Pastor Linus Ajodo says. He calmly pockets the money the passengers contributed for him to enable him return back into the city, which is not a bad take for a nearly thirty minutes of prayers, while they proceed on the journey south.
For the Christians travelling to the south for the Christmas, the majority of whom are Igbo’s from the south-east, this year they would be returning home to places which have been marked by a very high degree of kidnapping and armed robbery activities, at a time almost shutting out residents within their homes and emptying the streets in the usually bustling cities of Aba and Onitsha in the south-east. The south-east has become Nigeria’s greatest crime spot.
But it is a mark of the resilience of the Igbo spirit of adventure and mercantilism, something which has made them enterprising traders dotting every corner of Nigeria, that the situation back home has not reduced their thirst of making the yearly trip back home to connect with family and friends.
Abigail, 35, says Christmas is the only opportunity she has of seeing relatives who like her live in far flung corners of Nigeria in search of opportunity. A mother of two, she braves the long queue at the Jabi Park in Abuja to pay for a fare, the price of which has doubled because of the Christmas rush. This Christmas, Abigail would be going home with a mission to see relatives whom she hopes would offer her and her husband a lifeline, after the small trading business she engages here in Abuja, selling cosmetics and women clothes, with her husband is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain because of cash crunch. “This is how it is for us. While the year might have been good for others, it might not have been good for everybody. I have relatives who are supportive and when we meet at home, they would be interested in how I and my husband are faring. Some of them live abroad and are doing quite well; Christmas is the only time they have to come home. Since things are not so easy for us, my husband raised the fare for me and the children to come while he stayed behind.”
For others, the yearly exodus is a family tradition. Patrick Emeka, an Igbo resident in Kaduna says, “It has become our tradition to travel every Christmas. I am going with my wife and my children because this is the only opportunity to see our relatives who are based in other parts of the country and even abroad. We meet to discuss family issues. No matter the fare, we must go.’’
The yearly exodus to the south-east has captured the attention of state governments who use the opportunity to gain political capital with their indigenes by providing free buses to convey them back home. To assist their indigenes resident in Kaduna, the Imo State government sent two luxurious buses to the state in order to convey them free of charge to the state. At the Command Junction in Kaduna where indigenes of the state converge to enter the buses, the President of Imo State Indigenes Welfare Association (ISIWA), Kaduna State, Barrister Pious Eze says the state government engaged the services of Best Way Transport Company to carry their people free of charge as part of efforts to reduce their suffering.
“I am here to ensure that everything went smooth. This is an annual exercise, it was conceive to enable our people celebrate the festival with their love ones in the village without any hitch. It is free of charge. It is not only for Kaduna State people, it is for all the northern states, Lagos and Abuja are also included.’’
Nonso Onyema, one of the beneficiaries of the free ride, says, “The gesture would enable me to reunite with my parents in Imo State. I commend the state governor for the gesture.”
While such gestures are meant to serve as a mark of concern the state governors have for their people, the reality on ground in the south-east paints a contrary picture. This year all the academic staff of state universities in the south-east have downed tools asking for better remunerations and accusing governors of the region of neglecting education. The crisis has failed to be resolved, prompting JAMB to delist universities in the region from those that would be accepting candidates for the new academic calendar. That is going to be one wasted academic year, or more, for the students in the south-east.
Henry, a civil servant in Abuja says he is fed up with the stalemate between the university lecturers and the governors of the south-east and is going back home to bring two of his younger brothers to Abuja so they could continue with their education there. He says: “I love going home, but you will agree with me that the news coming out of the south-east has not been good recently. Which do you contend with? Is it the kidnappers and their brazenness or the armed robbers and their dare devilry? I just hope the situation there will not get to the level where some of us will not want to go back home at all.”
The buses heading to the south-east from major Nigerian cities like Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Kano would be heading to a region which has probably the worst road network in Nigeria. The situation is further worsened by the fact that the states surrounding the southeastern states have narrow roads which are mostly marked by potholes. For the Christmas revelers going home, it would not be a smooth ride at all. Four connecting roads to the region are in terrible state of disrepair, almost hellish. They are the Ore-Benin Expressway, a main link between the southwest and the southeast; the Okene-Auchi roads for passengers coming from Abuja and the northern states; the Onitsha-Enugu roads for travelers from the southeastern states and the Enugu-Aba/Port Harcourt roads for travelers from parts of the south-south.
Chinedu, a transport worker in Abuja reminisce on the poor state of the roads. “The southeastern roads are a disaster,” he says. “You leave beautiful roads in Abuja and even roads in fair condition coming from Kano to Kaduna and even to some extent Lagos and Port Harcourt roads. But the moment you approach the southeast you begin to be angry and frustrated. It is as if the governments there are doing nothing.”
Chinedu says: “Enugu to Aba Road is a one-lane express and even after that they cannot still maintain the road because everywhere is just potholes. The Ore-Benin Road is just rough, in some places there is no asphalt. It is a dangerous road. On the Onitsha-Enugu roads you meet gullies in addition to potholes. The Okene-Auchi Road is a nest for armed robbers. The road is also narrow and bad like the others.”
The high casualties on the roads, especially during Christmas periods have led to a yearly ritual by the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, to step up campaign about safe driving to drivers. The police set up more checkpoints, especially along hot spots to stave off armed robbery. But before the travelers make it home, there are some sad tales that follow. “You learn to put your life in the hands of God,” says Chinedu philosophically.
A usual cry by travelers during the Christmas season is that transporters take advantage of the rush to exploit them. Mrs Ogechi Egbo who was waiting to travel to Owerri at the departure lounge of Gobison Transport company in Kano says, “Honestly, I am not happy with the hike in the transport cost, I am a regular traveler. What they used to charge before now was N3, 350 but as soon as the festive period approached, they hiked the price to N5, 550 which is what I have paid now.”
Chief S. P. Njikonye, the area manager of God Bless Ezenwata Motors in Kano justified the increase on the need to protect the interest of the passengers. “We are not happy increasing the transport fares during this period,” he says. “But actually we have no option; Kano-east route at the moment is the lowest charging route during this period. Lagos to east which is closer is now over five thousand naira, so if we don’t hike our prices the transporters are likely to move their vehicles to those places which are more profitable.”
But while others lament over the cost of transportation, Jimmy Samuel, a loader with the Best Way Transport Company in Kaduna says his celebration has already started, because he is making good money.
“Before this week,” he says, “we hardly load one bus but now we load three buses daily. Other transporters too load two or three and we have seven popular transport companies operating here. Before this festival daily I hardly make N1, 000 but now I make N5, 000 and at times more than that. What I am making daily now used be my weekly take home The demand is too much now and this is why the fare was jerked up. Each of the buses carries 20 to 30 additional passengers beyond the carrying capacity. It would be difficult to quantify the number of passengers who embark on a particular trip.”
The yearly exodus has created a crisis of expectation on mostly young people who every year want to make sure they “shine at home”, as Sunday, 19, puts it. Sunday started preparing for the Christmas festivities since four months ago he says because he cannot afford to go to the village and “disappoint my people”. The youth paints a picture back at the village in the southeast where everyone wants to give the impression of success. He says: “After one year, you can’t just go like that with nothing to show. Even your people will ask you what you have been doing when your mates are making money.”
At Peace Park, Abuja where Sunday waits for a bus to fill up, he and other youths have earphones connected to expensive phones, listening to music in the style of urbanites. But like a lot of southeastern youths who leave home in the village to become traders in the cities, he has little education. He scoffs at the idea of school, saying, “Right from childhood, I have been groomed to do business and nothing else, because that is the fastest way to make it in Nigeria. In our place people respect you more when you have money. It is my dream one day to build a big house in my village for my parents.” Sunday is quick to say he would never resort to crime, which he agrees is sometimes an option embraced by youths who feel pressured to show some indication of achievement as they prepare to travel home to see friends and relatives.
As a yearly ritual, the Christmas exodus acts as a thermometer of how prosperous the year has been for many Nigerians as they gather at home to not only share love but compare their successes.