When Uche left her home in the South for Kebbi State as part of her NYSC service, she didn’t know what to expect. “The weather was harsh, the dry air and coughing on public vehicles almost made me throw up,” she recalls. But what made the experience unforgettable wasn’t the climate—it was the people.
Her mother, sensing the challenges ahead, had secretly packed two hijabs in her luggage. “At first, I didn’t know why,” Uche laughs. “But soon I realized that in the North, some Christians wore hijabs too—not for religion, but for culture. It became my way of blending in.”
Uche learned Hausa words, shared laughs at local shops, and slowly built trust with the community. At Kalgo bus stop, she would spend afternoons at Mohammed’s shop, fumbling with her limited Turanci while he smiled patiently. Her respect and curiosity earned her warmth in return. “Even at my PPA, they saw I didn’t discriminate. They helped me find better accommodation, away from the crowded corpers’ lodge,” she says.
During Ramadan, she would remind her neighbors of prayer times and watch in delight as they shared kosai and dankali, always saving her a portion. Teenage girls at the station, who initially teased her by calling her “Anti,” gifted her a full hijab that covered her from head to toe. “Of course I wore it! I felt loved,” she says with a grin.
Uche’s story of acceptance didn’t stop at the streets. Even a ruler’s wife invited her to her inner chamber after hearing of her kindness and promised that whenever Uche returned to Kebbi, her home would be open.
Reflecting on her experience, Uche contrasts it with the tribal backlash she faced years ago over a romantic relationship. “People were questioning why I would consider a Yoruba man because I am Igbo,” she says. “But my year in Kebbi taught me that love, respect, and understanding are bigger than tribe or religion.”
Here is her real post on Facebook:
I served in the North, Kebbi State to be precise. And I can boldly say I never, I repeat never, received half the insults I got yesterday from the Northerners. In my last post, I shared how I wanted to marry a Yoruba man 5years ago, but his mother refused because I am ‘Omo Ibo’. Some Yorubas reacted too, but the reactions from many of my fellow Igbos made me shake my head. It showed me how deeply tribalism has eaten into the fabric of unity in Nigeria.
Before I, Uche, left for ‘ugwu Hausa’, my mum quietly packed two hijabs inside my luggage. When I got to Kebbi, it was not easy at first. The weather was harsh. The dry air, the coughing from natives, especially in public vehicles almost would make me throw up, like everything felt strange. But I knew I would be there for a year, so I decided to blend. I stopped feeling irritated, stopped complaining, got me some nose-masks to help with journeys.
Sometimes I would walk out of Chikingari to sit at Mohammed’s shop at Kalgo bus stop, where he sold minerals, ‘kankara’ and ‘suya’. We would gist, but he smiled most of the time, for lack of understanding my ‘Turanci’, and I would carry on speaking in the nonsense 😂trying out the small Hausa words I was learning. I began using my short hijabs. I realized that in the North, some Christians like Muslims wore hijabs, not about religion.
Even at my PPA, they observed my character and how I didn’t discriminate. Before long, the same Hausa people helped arrange paid accommodation for me away from the corpers’ lodge at Gidan Kofa, a place mainly for those teaching in the government ‘makaranta’.
During fasting periods like this, I would even remind them when it was time for prayers. They would wonder what kind of human being I am, after laughing out loud. They knew I am a Christian, yet when they shared ‘kosai’ and maybe ‘dankali’ after breaking fast, they always sent my own to the office.
Some teenage girls came to the station giggling and calling me “Anti”, because that was about all they knew in Turanci. And jointly gifted me a full hijab, one that covered me from head to toe😀 I wore it! You think I wouldn’t? Tah😂 I was loved there. The love of God exuded from me, to light up every life that came my way. At some point, a ruler’s wife sent for me in Birnin Kebbi. She is ‘hajia’ so I was led to her inner room where I saw her face. She told me she had heard good things about me and made me promise that whenever I return to Kebbi, I must come and see her. That door of relationship is open for life.
So when I now see people reacting with tribal sentiment over a relationship heartbreak from five years ago and asking why I would even consider a Yoruba man, it really disappointed me. May tribe and religion never be the end of us in this country.
I rest my pen.
With ❤️
@nwayiocha1 #mystory #relationships #NYSC #northernnigeria #marriagematters #tribe #ineversee #nwayiocha1 #newsong
