Is there a future for him?

Is there a future for him?




While helping my parents today on a farm in a remote bush, something struck my mind. I saw this young fulani boy passing by with some herds of cattle as they seek harvested farms for their animals to feed on. It's the season the nomadics usually show up. In this period of time, farmers here in northern Nigeria are busy harvesting their farm produce, which consist of maize, groundnut, cowpea etc.

And when they are done the fulani's will usually let their cattles to feed on the remains, while sometimes they will deliberately allow their animals into the farms that are yet to be harvested which eventually leads to conflict and sometimes even death.

So when i saw this young fulani fellow, moving with a small white water container hung by his side while his hands were resting on a stick placed around his shoulders in the herdsman style, i began to wonder what his dreams are? And i  imagined if he even have dreams. For sure he is not educated, because he knows no school. He was brought up in a difficult enviroment surrounded by bushes, grasses, trees and even wild animals. He knows no comfort of even a cosy home.

All he has was a home made of grass and dried guinea stalks as they move from place to place. He was taught how to care for the cattles which was the informal education he received, for they are the main priority.



He learns how to care for them, address them and even call them in the fulani way. This is life to him, nothing else matters. He will be probably into drugs just like the other adult herdsmen are doing. For they are fond of sucking patching solution to get high, smoking weed and taking some sort of coloured mixed up drink from a small transparent synthetic Sack, which i observed for a while. For i presumed, they seek extra energy because of the strain of moving from place to place seeking for the food, their animals will eat . By his teen age this young fellow will probably be married off to a girl younger than his age and this will make him a family man.
Will there be any hope for many like him? Or will there be someone who will give hope to children like him?
How can his story change? You can be that change. There ought to be a way to change the situation of this young child, a way should be made to provide education to this nomadic children who are still subjected to this poor condition. We have to put away our differences, do away with the 'i don't care attitude' . Just imagine if he was your child, will you still stand and look?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Cultural day

Image
Today was Kamwe people's cultural day and the presentation of a book, titled " kamwe people of No rthern Nigeria: origin, history and culture " by the author Iliya Yame Kwache,  which depicts the journey of the Kamwe people , starting from their origin.   The Kamwe people live in northern Nigeria of Adamawa state whose main residence is a local government called Michika. This area is surrounded by the vast Mandara Mountains which serves like a wall between them and Cameroon. They once lived on these Mountains and up to this day, many of the kamwe  people reside on these mountains. The kamwe people speak different  dialects and these dialects are up to twelve(12) in number and Each one of this dialects are slightly different and similar to some degree. The culture of the Kamwe people is vast, even though some of them are not practised today. Each  Kamwe dialect has its own based residence in Michika distinctively but the  metropolis  wh...
Read more

My greatest fear

Image
Johnny wake up! Something is moving in the room!! It’s dark in here, can you please turn the light on. I can't! The power went off! What’s that sound? Oh my God. According to Wikipedia Fear is a feeling induced by perceived danger. It is also a strong emotion induced by anticipated danger. Fear is normal and it’s like a shield designed to protect us humans from perceived danger. It’s often directed towards a situation or objects that don’t necessarily pose a real danger. Phobia is often termed as an irrational fear towards a situation, living creature, object, etc. It’s being termed as' irrational' because people find it unreasonable. Take for example xanthophobia, the fear of yellow colour. People with xanthophobia fear anything yellow including the Sun. Others include coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, turophobia, the fear of Cheese and so on. Sometimes these fears are seen as anxiety disorders. Nevertheless that’s just an introduction. I know we all have our fe...
Read more

MY AFRICA

Image
Africa is a beautiful continent, talk of the animals, trees, people and different cultures, it just makes it so special. One of the notable things in Africa is their culture. Different people in different countries share different way of life. During the olden days before colonialism what the people respect more is their ethics and traditions. And anyone that does not follow this traditions can be severely punished at a point. The game hunt and cultivation of farmland has been the way families can feed themselves. The females are fond of gathering firewood and cooking while The males are always eager to impress them through wrestling contest, game hunt,popularity ETC. They are always trying to show their capacity to provide. The children will always dance and sing songs in the moonlight, wishing the merriment will continue forvever. But what happen to my Africa now? It seems like the life we left behind is antiquated. We no longer regard the old customs, yes we longer regard some of...
Read more