Me and Hausa (One of the Nigerian Language)

Me and Hausa.............

For me Nigeria is a country of languages ... there are over 700 languages/dialects pronounced. Apart from that English, Yaruba, Igbo and Fulani are the most dominant languages in Nigeria. All these languages have accepted as per the geographical establishment of the tribes, Eg. In the North & North central: they speak Fulani & Hausa, in the East: they speak Igbo, in the west: they speak Yaruba but English is the official and the most acceptable language in all over the country. But as a development practitioner, more often we need to open our self to wear other's shoes in our foot and respect other's culture, language, tradition and religious beliefs. Hence, I tried a little to wear the shoes of my community and grab their language their life. The understated are my personal language learning in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria:

Numbers:
1= Daya, 2=Biyu, 3= Uku, 4=Hudu, 5=Biyer, 6=Shida, 7=Bokwe, 8=Thakwas, 9=Tara, 10=Goma,
20=Isire, 30=Talatin, 40=Albain, 50=Hamseen, 60=Sixteen, 70=Sabaen, 80=Tamanin, 90=Chasein, 100=Dari, 200=Daribiu, 300=Dariupu, 400=Darihudu, 500=Daribiya, 600=Darisida, 700=Daribakwe, 800=Daritaqus, 900=Daritara, 1000=Dubudaya

Days:
Sunday=Lahadi, Monday=Litinin, Tuesday=Talata, Wednesday=Laraba, Thursday=Alhamis, Friday=Zumma, Saturday=Assabar.

Greetings:
Goodmorning=Inaquana, Good afternoon=Inauni/Sanudarana, Good evening=Sanu da Yama, Goodnight=Sidesafi, See you tomorow=Saygobe, Restwell=Hu ta Gazia, See you latter=Say anjuma, One Some common questions(?):
How is your family?= Ya ya yali?, How is your wife?=Ya matanka?, How is your work?=Ya gazia?, Come and eat food=Zo nka chi ambinchi, Helo=Sanu, Thank you in singular=Na gode, Thank you in plural=Mugode, What is your name (to a masculine)=Me ne ne Sunanka? What is your name (Feminine)? =Me ne ne Sunanki? How much it is?=Na wana wa? How is your child=Ya ya yaro,
No problem=Bawahala
Exclamation (Really!, is it so?)=Habba! One beauty of greetings= Ya waa..
Yes= Ee, No=Aa.

Common Usage of matters:
Water=Rua, Electricity=Wutan, Fire=Wuta, Food=abenchhi, Friend=Aboki, Book=Takeda, Office=Opishi, house=Gida, Fruits=Ya ya itachi, Vegetable=Ganye, Dress=Riga, Cap=Hulla, River=Rafi, Sea=Kogi, Hair=Suma, Animals=Dabobi, Cow=Sania, Milk=Nono/Madira, Yogurt=Nono, Butter=Maisanu.

A little experience of Binu in Kano, Nigeria...

Binu Anand is one of our Co-VSO Indian Volunteer in Nigeria, who is really an interesting and lively guy. He has a few experience on his own... lets see and enjoy............................................

Life in Kano………………..

Life in Kano is interesting, the people are busy with their on ways of keeping themselves engaged, roads are busy with cars, huge trucks and achabas (our friendly motorcycles!) which keep ferrying up and down keeping the roads busy, streets are busy with children and way-side sellers with their goods all over the pavements and with almost every other person stopping over, keeping the streets busy…….with a majority of muslim population and the strict five times prayers regime, keeps the whole of Kano busy……………….. its a busy life in Kano!

Kano is very much like an Indian township, minus Sharia law!, with unclean roads, garbage all around, busy roads, honking vehicles and lots of smoke pollution (emission from vehicles) and of course the very friendly domestic animals on road!!!. You find lots of young lads running around any vehicle that stops, asking for a couple nairas; Kano gives you a closer resemblance to India with the presence of the occasional Bajaj auto-rickshaws, but the only difference is that the auto-rickshaws are accessible only by women and men are not allowed! Men folks never try to stop one, they just won’t!!! Well the most easiest, hassle-free but adventurous way of moving around is on your friendly achabas (ironically for your safety you are recommended to wear helmets, but if you intend to wear one be careful of getting robbed – coz the common notion is that only the rich uses a helmet!!! Save yourself from a crash or save yourself from being robbed!!!)

Interestingly the food stuff available especially in Kano (generally in Nigeria) resembles more with that of Kerala (the small southern most state of India which inhabits the world famous “mallus”). The staple food is Rice……rice and rice alongwith Yam, Cassava and Plantain – the big banana (ethakya / ethapazham). The other availabilities are potatoes (often called as Irish potatoes), ‘huge’ onions, ‘small’ tomatoes, occasional cabbages and rare brinjals. Surprisingly there are huge markets where you get a lot of Indian spices including fennel seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, dry ginger……….and some more, of which I don’t know the names of! Well every hotel serves you rice in a couple of different names …….like the jollof rice, fried rice (not the chinese one but certainly Nigerian!) and plain rice; you get only meat to eat with, even if ask for vegetables soup – you should expect for something surprising and shocking! Their vegetable soup often has bits of dried fish and small pieces of meat, its vegetarian for them!!! Its very, very, very hard to find something called as vegetarian here in Nigeria!!!

Nigeria is interestingly one of the largest oil producing nation, as quite a few of you out there know, but interestingly is one country with the largest scarcity of the basic infrastructure. There is no public transport system, its only the small badly maintained bush taxis, the ‘costly’ but ‘better off’ taxis and the ‘adventurous’ achabas; when it comes to electricity, the sole source is your dearest friend in Nigeria- “Generator”; you find them everywhere shops, offices, homes…..any where and everywhere. The one that is preferred here is a petrol generator as petrol is half the price of diesel (petrol is N 70 i.e. INR.23.33/ltr and diesel is N 180 i.e. INR.60/ltr). Well there is a government establishment called ‘NEPA’ which is supposed to supply electricity to the whole of Nigeria but I guess hardly anyone knows of its existence!!! One of the other major scarce commodity in the whole of Nigeria and especially northern Nigeria is ‘potable water’, although there is a government establishment to take care, but like in many Indian cities and villages, its ‘air’ that comes out of it instead of water!

But even with all this you somehow start liking and appreciating the hospitality and the good nature of Nigerian folks!!! After all Nigerian are considered to be the most ‘happiest’ people on the earth, so its better that you mould like them, as the saying goes “be a Roman when in Rome” !!!

On the road of Nigeria

It was 7^th of July 2008, 3 pm, I was going to Abuja (capital of Nigeria) from Jos, Plateau (one of the State of Nigeria) to celebrate 50^th year celebration of VSO, along with my wife one Ugandan volunteer (Aloo) and a German volunteer (Sebastian) too. We left Jos at 1pm and our estimated time of arrival at Abuja was 4.30 pm.

The German volunteer had bought a second new (second hand) car in between his placement to make himself mobile in Nigeria, because car is one of the most essential vehicles in Nigeria unlike our country (India) and Sebastian is fund of traveling.

That car had been driven by the Sebastian with a controlled speed. Just after Riyom (a local government of Plateau state) we got a puncture, at that time all of us came down and started to change the Tyre and discovered that it need to be replace with a new one, because the additional Tyre was not in very good condition. There after Sebastian was very alert and drove the car less than 50km/hr (where the average Nigerian driver used to drive 100 to 150 km/hr) and it was extreme right of the road as per the rule of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

With the help of the additional changed Tyre we passed close to 50 km, where we heard a siren, and discussed among, “it might be one of the minister or transfer of money”, but latter on we discovered that it was transfer of money. Suddenly we saw a big van was coming towards us with few armed security forces along the way of our destination. Then they started kicking, striking the gun on the car and showed the gun to us, as if they are going to shoot us. All of us were shocked and heart was biting more than 100 times/minutes. Opphs. What all of these going with us?..... Immediately I asked to Sebastian to park the car and let them go ahead……………………………..Latter on we came to know that their intention was to stop our car and park it. We waited there for 20 to 30 minutes and let our heart to breath in normal. Thank god, finally we reached to a place to buy a new Tyre and reached at Abuja at 6.30 pm. We shared this dramatic and drastic experience with all of my co-Volunteers and my employer, all of them were also surprised and regretted on this experience. But please don’t worry, we all are safe and continuing the volunteering with the same fresh spirit.

Indo african

Hi, i am Biswajit Daspattanayak, born and brought up from a big village of Balasore district, that is called and well known as Barunasingh of Orissa, India. I recognized that village as "big" because of several reasons, one among them is that the village has really tried best to nurture my child hood. Honestly, i can't quantify the amount; i have received from that village. However, i am simply great full for that.

Life has taught millions of experiences in my little span/tenure of life and one of those experience inculcate in me that, "CHANGE" is more constant and the honest truth of life. Life always follow in the way of change agent, that keep changing ones personal life which also give direction to his/her coming future life.

I started look at me very keenly before 5,1/2 years ago and also did a personal analysis which gave me a perfect direction towards the life, and i can be ever chastity with it. To be candid with the direction i am trying my best to follow the way forward. May be just to align with the direction, i finally landed in the land of most happiest people in the world i.e. Nigeria with my wife which now added with my cute son (YASH). I and my wife came to Nigeria with several personal and professional reasons.

Just before few days i encountered a big problem in me i.e. i do a lot of thing in my life and also gaining invaluable experience in the way of life, but i never tried to document it. Hence i find it very essential to make me documented and let it to be a guide for me.

Let us see how i am succeeding by documenting all these small things............