How My Maternal Grandfather Confronted My Witches And Wizards Menace
OpenLife Nigeria reports that the endless story of former military President, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida stretches to his secondary school experience at Government College, Bida , Niger State.
In a section of his book “A Journey In Service,” the General narrated how his maternal grandfather, then, the Chief Imam of Minna, helped him to confront witches and wizard menace in Bida.
The account is reproduced below
It was a privilege to have gone to what is today known as Government College, Bida.
Although founded by the colonial government in 1912 as a Provincial Middle School, admission to the school, at inception, was problematic.
With its primary focus on areas around what is today’s Niger state, the British colonial government held back entry into the school until it was sure the institution could be fully equipped with teachers and other facilities.
Therefore, the first set of 60 students, who, incidentally, were beneficiaries of one of the best-equipped schools of its time, did not resume until 1914, two years after the British formally founded the school.
As the school’s operations expanded, its name changed.
Between 1929 and 1953, it became known as Bida Provincial School. It was called the Provincial Secondary School between 1954 and 1966, which included our years in the school, 1957-1962.
After 1966, the school’s name changed to Government Secondary School, Bida.
And then, finally, it became Government College, Bida, which has remained its name to date.
When I arrived in 1957, I was 16, and my school admission number was 211.
So much has been written about our class, the famous class of ’62, made up initially, if my memory is correct here, of 31 of us, and how that class produced two Nigerian Presidents, four state Governors, two Federal Ministers, three Justices, four Ambassadors, and other influential Nigerians!
The school is also known to have produced a former Chief Justice of the Federation, Hon. Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi. Both Hon. Justice Jibrin Ndajiwo and Hon. Justice Abdullahi Mustapha are prominent alumni.
The school has also produced Ambassador James Tsado Kolo, Ambassador Abdulrahman Gara, Professor Jerry Gana, Senator Awaisu Kuta, and the following Emirs of Suleja and Kontagora, Malam Awwal Ibrahim and Alhaji Saidu Namaska, respectively.
Admittedly, when my classmates and I came in 1957, we were quite a handful: Abdulsalami Abubakar, Sani Sami, Sani Bello, Garba Duba, Muhammed Gado Nasko, Abdulmumini Keki Manga, Mohammed Mamman Magoro, Paul Babale, Mohammed Buba Ahmed, Samaila Ahmed, Mohammed Ndakotsu Dokotigi, Dauda Gulu, Mai-Riga Mahuta, Musa Hassan, Yahuza Makongiji,
Mohammed Makama, Ibrahim Sanda, Usman Maikunkele, Umaru Baban Guyijiyi, Usman Yakubu Nmadako, Muhammed Bare, Yamusa Wali, Samuel Bala Kuta, and Umaru Gbate.
Mamman Jiya Vatsa joined us from Suleja in form three. Yet, none of us foresaw what fate had in store for us and how things would play out later in life.
We were just impressionable young teenagers, acutely conscious of how lucky we were to enter the precincts of what was then the only secondary school in Niger
Province, a prestigious institution with a reputation that preceded it!
No more!!
Some of us came with fictitious tales about what Bida looked like. Before my departure to Bida, I had picked up stories of ghosts, witches, and wizards that populated Bida at night! I was so frightened that I went to my maternal grandfather, the Chief Imam of Minna, for advice on confronting that menace.
He promptly wrote a small Arabic text on paper and told me to commit it to memory. If I encountered a witch or a ghost, the instant recall of that Arabic text, according to my grandfather, would cause the ghost to vanish!!
Fortunately, I didn’t need to use the text because I never confronted ghosts or wizards throughout my five-year stay in Bida!!!
Instead of ghosts and spooky spirits, what we encountered on arrival at the college was a serene atmosphere that sprawled on an expanse of Sahelian vegetation that was itself an inspiration.
But even more importantly, we felt and knew, even as 16-year-olds, that Bida sat on a terrain with a rich past as the capital of the ancient Nupe Kingdom.
This history preceded even the exploits of Tsoede, the first Etsu Nupe, supposedly the son of Attah of Idah, who was said to have founded the Nupe Kingdom in 1531.
By the time we graduated from Bida in 1962, we had learnt a lot more about Bida’s rich past and imbibed much of its cultural beauty.
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