Baga is a metaphor

Last week I flew into Maiduguri to attend a meeting dealing with educational advancement of the state, at the government house.

I have been associated with that house since the mid-1980s, yet I cannot recall a moment I approached the place with such a foreboding than last week’s. The present occupant of the house – Governor Babagana Zulum- was attacked by Boko Haram insurgents twice: on the way to Baga and when he was returning to Maiduguri. It is probably the first time the chief executive and his entourage became direct targets in this unending war of attrition.

What made the attack particularly vexatious was the heavy loss of lives in the first attack which apparently took the governor’s security covers by surprise. It was equally telling that on his way back attempts were made by the insurgents using a donkey strapped with explosives to bomb the governor’s convoy. The security men in the governor’s convoy shot at the booby trap of a donkey, and when it exploded, the insurgents came out of their hiding places to open fire. The insurgents were repulsed. Thus, I had expected to find the government house heavily guarded and wearing a downcast mood, but was surprised to find it relaxed in a buoyant frame of mind.

Many of those who have called at the government house – including other state governors and members of the National Assembly –  to commiserate with the governor have found him in a defiant mood. The journey to Baga, then and henceforth, is not negotiable. The displaced citizens have to go back to their homes. Feeding displaced people endlessly was not sustainable. The only option was citizens back to their homes in order to live, farm and trade in a dignified manner. And he sees it as his cardinal duty to lead in that endeavour, come what may.

We also found him in a similar mood. Throughout our interaction with him, taking the better parts of two hours, he was, nonetheless, in a convivial mood, a master of his brief, and whenever the Baga issue butted in, he was quick to express the same sentiments. Baga is merely a metaphor of things that needed to be accomplished. The Baga people will go back to their homes and farms, period!

One person that is so excited about the prospects of going back to Baga is Hauwa, the wife of Maina Maaji who was Borno State governor from 1992 to 1993. Their family home is in Baga, which they have not seen since its occupation by the insurgents. She wrote a heart-wrenching piece, from which I picked parts to share with the readers:

“Baga….my community, my people’s sanctuary, our home, our refuge, the village my family went to every summer, Sallah and end of year holidays. The only location my children could run out of the house from morning till Magrib and I wouldn’t have to worry or know where they were. The city of our people, genuine lovely folks. That’s our home, our refuge, the place we are most at rest, at ease and at peace. It was and is home.

“Then one day this all came to an end.  Life as we knew it stopped. The devastation was beyond measure, not only were our people displaced, they were beaten, women were kidnapped, men were killed while defending their homes or trying to escape, while some were killed as their families watched helplessly. The physical and psychological damage and torture the likes of which we’ve not seen began to scratch the surface of yet.

“They had to leave, these hard working, unassuming ordinary folks who wanted nothing other than to live their lives simply in the safety of their homes with dignity, a sense of self-worth with their families and to be able to make their living without any hindrances.  Alas that hope, that dream was shattered in a flash and nothing, over the years, nothing could put humpty-dumpty back together again.

“Their lives as refugees began like a bad dream that they never woke up from; a lot of them started that horrible nightmare to the refugee camps without the heads of their families, their sons and daughters; lot of whom were murdered or lost. As if all of the loss wasn’t enough, for most of them, the story ended in the same destination. The refugee camps.  The very nature of what an ideal refugee camp in a normally run nation is in itself bad enough. Needless to say those were no places for any human being. The yearning of our people has always been to go back home to their lives. That has been the dream. But it’s been almost impossible to even dream it!!! It’s been looking that way for a long time because of the security issues and because for lack of better words, ‘it’s been complicated’.

“We were hopeful a couple of times when the moves to take them back were made, but we never got there. That is, until now.  One man’s singular resilience, perseverance, honesty of purpose and single minded determination.

“This man’s focus, hope and never taking no for an answer prevailed. It takes one man to make things happen. One. Babagana Umara Zulum. He is the hero of our time.  Baga and Yala Bornoye, nay, Borno as a whole will forever remain grateful.” Hauwa Maina Ma’aji Lawan