I grew up in the inner part of Zaria which was predominantly occupied by the Hausas, in a place called Chikaji. The unique thing about my childhood is that I spent much of my time in my dad’s chemist shop. We lived a very triangular life, from home straight to school then back home. We dare not spend extra time in school or else my Dad go change am for you as Nigerians would say. He trained us in the Idanbosky style, he wasn’t a preacher of indiscipline.
As a result of my upbringing, I didn’t have much friends my age and the environment where we were we couldn’t make friends there because of the social and cultural gap that abound between us and the people in that environment. The above story is a background to the subject on ground which is ‘Hashimu’
He was our nearest neighbor. Physically, he isn’t tall, has what our Naija people call a big man’s body that the type of people who are always plump whether they are healthy, sick, poor or rich, on his face is a tribal mark drawn from the edge of his nose and tilting towards the jaw which shows that he is a proper Kano man (he once claimed then that the tribal marks are the first things he would surgically remove from his face when he has the means to do that. Now, he is financially capable to do that and surprisingly, the mark is still there!) he had a barber shop next door to us, he doubled as a mass communication student in the prestigious Ahmadu Bello university and also a barber during his spare time. His real name is Hashim which is an Arab name but had been renamed Hashimu by the area boys who didn’t know better. He often came to our shop and spent time with us. As a teen, some of the things he told us then were things that we didn’t have insight to, haven’t thought about but were true. He discussed with us not as children but as if he were having a discussion with his fellow adult. In hindsight, as an adult now, I remember and cherish those moments with him.
Now this post is getting too long, almost becoming a biography, so I’ll go straight to the lessons:
Lesson 1: Wrestling is not a sport but practiced choreography
You might think that this isn’t a viable lesson but like twelve years ago when we had the likes of Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena etc. The issue of wrestling being real or acted was a topic of serious debate that even led to banging hands on tables and quarrel among friends especially, impressionable teenagers. For once, I never cared about wrestling, the violence, blows and blood did not resonate with my person. But my brothers were die - hard fans, they knew the names of all the wrestlers and their signature moves. So, you could imagine their disappointment when Hashimu told them that what they were watching was mere acting, they argued with him and later claimed when he left of course, that he doesn’t know what he is talking about. Years later, they have discovered that they were wrong and swallowed their words. You can imagine my shock when I see adults arguing in this year twenci twenci that wrestling is a serious sport! Their proof: the bloodshed during wrestling.
Lesson 2: year one to year two are the time to build one’s grade point average in the university.
Before I ever knew anything about grade point average, he always reiterated that the first two years in the university are the most important years that would determine the results a student would graduate with. According to him, some first-year students are always distracted by the euphoria of getting into the university, their new-found freedom and so many things they could do with the freedom.
Reality - one’s performance in the first two years of the university can boost or discourage an individual. Plus, the information garnered in the first two years is a building block for the remaining years of one’s educational journey in the university.
Lesson 3: Religion is different for the poor and the rich.
I remember vividly a girlfriend of his then, although a muslim, she rarely covered her hair talk more of wearing a veil. When we asked him why she was different, he simply stated that religion is different for the rich and poor.
Reality: both the muslim and the Christian religion as a result of hypocrisy and double standard permit or rather overlook some things from the rich which they would have raised hell if it were done by the poor. A case study of this is the controversy surrounding the present Governor of Kano State, Ganduje. I won’t say more on this.
Lesson 4: Quality isn’t always cheap
As a teen growing up in Zaria, there were some amount of money that I couldn’t comprehend wasting on certain items such as make up, sandals etc. I remember my surprise when Uncle Hashimu told me that his rich friend bought a lipstick for two thousand naira. I felt indignant, ‘what a waste!’ I exclaimed! ‘Doesn’t she have anything better to do with her money? Foolish, rich girl’, I concluded.
Reality: men and brethren, the money I spend on make up these days makes me shake my head in hambarrassment. In my defense, it was poverty that was talking then not the real me!
Also, those cheap make up, apart from the sad fact that they can make one appear razz and tacky what street boys do call ashawo kobo kobo, they aren’t good for the skin and can lead to skin diseases. So, these days I don’t condemn what I can’t afford so that I won’t be forced to bite my words.
Lesson 5: Less is more
It wasn’t unusual to see little girls hawking their wares and walking pass our shop with their faces painted like masquerades; lipstick, powder, eyeshadow, mascara etc., each makeup item fighting for prominence over the other, Uncle Hashimu will just scoff and claim that it's illiteracy disturbing them. According to him, ‘how many educated people have you seen appearing like that?’.
I can remember those days were when music videos started gaining much popularity in Nigeria, most popular musicians were in competition with each other on the person who would produce the hottest music video. It was not uncommon to see lots of girls shaking all their body parts, the musicians dressed in all colours of the rainbow and lights flashing everywhere!. The first time Hashimu complained about bad lightening, I was like, ‘this man sef, your sabi sabi is getting too much ooo, must you have an opinion about everything you see?’
Reality: heavy makeup actually look razz, although I've seen very educated people who wear their make up like masquerades. Hence, it is safe to say that it isn’t only little hawker girls who wear bad make up. More so, the early music videos of Nigerian musicians had bad video quality. We have definitely come a long way in our music industry.
Lesson 6: One album musicians
The term ‘One album musicians’ is even more dignifying, they were actually one song musicians. These are sets of individuals who made waves with a particular song from their music album think Zule Zuu’s song ‘kerewa’. They place so much emphasis on the song and every now and then remix that same song until the public becomes sick and tired of them and their songs
Reality – Nigeria music industry has grown way beyond that shit, nobody is ready to be listening to a song over and over again in the name of remix. Our musicians are hot stuff men…
I learnt so much from Uncle Hashimu because he wasn’t a pervert like so many who would take advantage of younger ones especially girls. It is so sad that these days that the older ones who should teach and mentor the younger generation are the ones that are defiling, exploiting them. I believe our generation needs more ‘Uncle Hashimu’
Note: as much as I respect him as an individual, I do not and will never agree to his politicial and religious beliefs which I see as bordering on extreme but the good thing is that each of us respect our differences.
Today, he is a family man, a lecturer in Mass Communication department in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
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