MY DREADED MAIDUGURI EXPERIENCE.

by Jamila Gana (Nigeria)

A leap into the unknown Nigeria

Road trip has always been one of my favourite because, it gives me ample time to reflect, reminisce and most importantly, road trip makes me see reasons to be thankful for the very little things. My first longest road trip was from Abuja to Maiduguri in Nigeria. Maiduguri as we all know is the headquarters of the terrorist group known as boko haram. Travelling into the unknown especially when you are not sure of if you will return alive, has been one major risk I ever took in my entire life. With the killings, explosions and attacks; and every newspaper and news outlets carrying headlines of how outrageous number of people got killed in major attacks, thousands of children and women being displaced, Maiduguri is certainly the last place you want to ever visit as a tourist. It was on a sunday morning in june 2010 (the very odd day of the week to travel to the northeast because major attacks takes place on Fridays and sundays where congregations gather to worship), my dad drove me to the motor park where I boarded the "Borno Express" bus going straight to the city of maiduguri. It is roughly a 12 hour journey. We took off at about 7:45am. I ensured to sit by the window and did not plan on sleeping, not because I was kindof scared, I didn't just want to miss out on anything since it was my first time going that way. After 5hours of out trip, we stoped at Bauchi for lunch. I got off to bus and had rice with salad and beef after which I used the convenience and d headed out to get some biscuits, drinks an roasted meat that will take me through the rest of the journey. At 2pm, we continued, drove deep into the northeast. The outrageous number of military check points Is enough to scare the hell out of you and I never seized from praying for preservation and guidance. From the stories we hear, most of the military check points are actually mounted by the terrorist group posing as the Nigerian army. Unlucky travellers got attacked by these group of people. It got very hot and the journey became stressful as we continued deep into the territories where people tagged as "no go area" I.e a place you should never conceive of going. It was getting towards evening and we were still hours away from our destination. As it got dark with the military check points getting more intensed, my andrenaline started rushing. The darker It became, the more scared i became and i started question myself why i had to come this way, that everyone discouraged me from coming; especially my mum. I wanted us to get into Maiduguri as soon as possible. Thesame Maiduguri that people dreaded now felt to me like a place i will find solace, rest and calm. That was my belief as it got darker. Alas at 7pm, we got to our destination. Got off the bus and got a taxi to take me to Mairi, the place I am about to spent the next 6years of my life. On getting to my new neigbourhood and compound, my compound mate where so friendly and gave me a warm welcome. They showed me to my apartment and offered me dinner and hot water to shower. They gave me some piece of advise on how to live a smooth 6years In the dreadful Maiduguri city without getting into any trouble. They said maiduguri is not as bad as we see it on the media. They left my room at exactly 10pm so i get good rest to face the next day odeals. The bomb blast and explosions followed by intensed exchange of gun fire by the terrorist groups and the Nigerian Armed forces woke me up at exactly 12am and in that very moment, i wanted to fly back home ASAP. MAIDUGURI thought me patience, perseverance, courage and above all, it thought me to be vigilant and also how to protect myself in the little way i could. Lessons of life you can't learn just anywhere.