KAFANCHAN (1)
Rising from rot wrought by Railways’ woes
By MAURICE ARCHIBONG
Thursday, October 26, 2006
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•College of Nursing, Kafanchan
Photos: MAURICE ARCHIBONG
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Welcome to the southern Kaduna State town of Kafanchan,
which as some sources opine, actually evolved from the local
railway terminus. For decades, Kafachan was a bustling railroad
junction, and that importance led the settlement to leap beyond
its initial limits and subsequently blossom into a full-blown
urban centre.
Today, apart from some of the earliest institutions, such
as New Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) Gin School,
formerly Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) School, and the Roman
Catholic Mission (RCM) School, New Saint Peter Claviers, Kafanchan
also boasts a College of Nursing, College of Education, Federal
Technical College, High Court and Magistrate Court and at
least eight primary schools. Aside academic institutions,
Kafanchan has a General Hospital, several banks, and a station
of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
But, when the current Traditional leader of Kafanchan’s
Igbo Community, Eze Charles Chima Okoli, came here in 1938,
the village had little to show, apart from the Nigeria Railway
Corporation (NRC) complex, which berthed here in 1927. Thus,
Eze Okoli actually witnessed the village grow from a settlement
without a motorway linking it to other parts of this world,
into a sprawling township.
It was only natural that Kafanchan Railway Station would transform
that part of this world, for this NRC base was not an ordinary
one. According to Mr. Akinwoye Abdul-Raouf, District Public
Relations Officer of the NRC, Nigeria’s rail body comprises
seven Districts nationwide, and Kafanchan is one of the NRC’s
seven hubs. Kafanchan Station is Headquarters of the North
Central District of the NRC, and oversees rail services in
Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau States. With a rail network
linking the country’s southern parts to the north, Kafanchan
was naturally going to evolve into an important nerve centre
of the nation, and it did.
Apart from the colonial officers and missionaries that had
work to do around Kafanchan, countless people from other parts
of Nigeria also gravitated toward the emerging north central
settlement spawned by an ever-busy railway junction. Those
days, countless Igbo, Yoruba and other peoples looked to Kafanchan
for work.
Interestingly, some of the migrants brought their jobs with
them. One of such people was Alhaji Ibrahim, a foodstuff merchant
that later sired Alhaji Abdulsalam, who was for 29 years “Oba”
of Yoruba in Kafanchan. Although a number of Igbo traders
also washed into Kafanchan, many “Ndi-Igbo” actually
made their mark as Engine Drivers or fitters in the Mechanical
Section of the NRC, according to Eze Okoli.
Eze Okoli, who was enthroned on November 11, 1991 following
the passage of his predecessor, Eze Agwu, who hailed from
Imo State; told “Sun Travels” that some 80 per
cent of the town’s settlers were lured there by work
or economic opportunities offered by Kafanchan Railway Station.
Expectedly, this 80 per cent of Kafanchan’s inhabitants
relied on the prosperity of the local railway station. Thus,
the impact on this community of the virtual collapse of Nigeria’s
railway services is anyone’s guess. For close to 50
years, while the NRC thrived, Kafanchan knew nothing but growth.
Unfortunately, as the fortunes of the NRC dipped, so did the
plight of most of this town’s inhabitants.
To date, that lull in Kafanchan’s fortunes lingers,
though the locals have since come to terms with the vicissitudes
of a failed railway industry, which literally was once the
heart of their lives. During reminiscence with “Sun
Travels” the traditional ruler of Kafanchan Kewaye,
“Agwam Fantswam (Kafanchan) 1,” Mallam Musa Didam,
recalled: “Kafanchan was very vibrant, while the railways
functioned.” In the good old days of the Nigerian Railways,
the inhabitants of Kafanchan enjoyed life more abundant, the
monarch intoned.
The story of Kafanchan is evocative of the plight of Jebba,
a town that straddles both Kwara and Niger states, where rail
services were akin to the soul of the community. Although
their stories are similar, many differences remain, for Jebba
existed long before the locomotive was invented, whereas Kafanchan
is widely passed off as a spin-off of the local NRC station.
During our assignment in Jebba, we had talked to a number
of NRC retirees and it was only natural that we did the same
in Kafanchan. In the more southern Jebba, ex-railway workers
had lamented the non-payment of their pension for about 28
months. In Kafanchan, the pensioners’ plight was similar;
former NRC workers here have not received any payment for
25 months!
Interestingly, Kafanchan seems to be emerging from the economic
lull brought on by the staggering decline of the NRC, unlike
Jebba that has been on its knees since the collapse of Nigerian
Railways and the once vibrant paper mill located there. Fantswam
locals had simply fallen back on agriculture, which was their
main occupation before the advent of the railway junction
in their town. Although the natives of Chori, Kwoi, Nok and
other Ham lands claim the terrain produce ginger of the best
quality, the Fantswam also grow this crop aplenty! Possibly
owing to the railway junction set up in Kafanchan, the Fantswam
settlement also came to serve as collecting centre for ginger
and other agricultural produce.
Walking down Railway Station Street in Kafanchan, the tourist
can’t miss the delectable whiff of ginger effusing from
nearby warehouses. Aside ginger, the Fantswam seasonally produce
gargantuan harvests of beans, guinea-corn, millet, maize,
yam, cocoyam, rice and “acha,” a grain commonly
cultivated throughout Plateau State and Kaduna State’s
southern areas. This agricultural revival and the plenitude
of new businesses opening in Kafanchan have spawned a new
lease of life for this town, which despite its relatively
small size boasts at least two cyber cafés, not to
talk of several interesting hotels: Afili Guest House, Golama
Hotel, Leisure Castle and Royal Castle, among others. Moreover,
the three most popular GSM networks, Celtel, Glo and MTN cover
Kafanchan.
Brief geography
Kafanchan is the headquarters of Jema’a Local Government
Area (LGA). The LGA is made up of 12 wards, including Kafanchan
A and Kafanchan B, while the other 10 wards of Jema’a
are Asso, Atuku, Bedde, Gidan-Waya, Godogodo, Jangidi, Kagoma,
Kaninkon, Maigizo and Takau. As could be seen, Kafanchan straddles
two wards, one of which is Kafanchan Kewaye. Each of the two
wards of Kafanchan has a District Head, while the other 10
wards boast four more District Heads.
We had actually hoped to speak with the two traditional rulers
of Kafanchan, however, three visits to the emir’s palace
in two days failed to yield fruit and one had to hope for
better luck next time.
One the other hand, we enjoyed the privilege of an audience
with the “Agwam Fantswam (Kafanchan) 1,” Mallam
Didam. The instrument of office of the Agwam Fantswam “is
a sword of considerable antiquity.” Usually, after the
selection of the king-to-be by an electoral college, a sub-clan
of traditional priests, known as “Makatanak,”
is vested with the spiritual authority to initiate the new
chief. Thereafter, the chief is given the symbol of power
(sword). It is note-worthy that the people of Fantswam have
some check and balance mechanism built into their traditional
institution, for “no member of the ‘Makatanak’
could aspire to the Agwam’s throne,” according
to sources at their Palace in Zikpak.
Zikpak is one of Kafanchan’s seven districts. The other
six are Aduwan (Katak-Atswat), Manyii, Takau, Takum, Ungwar
Yashii (Zahwo) and Zibin. Currently, however, the ruling houses
come from the following five, Manyii, Takau, Takum, Zibin
and Zikpak, where the incumbent Agwam Fantswam hails from.
Apart from the six district heads of Kafanchan, the seven
districts of this settlement throw up 32 Village Heads. Welcome
to Kafanchan, town of numerous leaders! Although traditional
rulers increased after the arrival of colonial masters in
these parts, however, constituted authorities are not recent
developments among the Fantswam. Reliable sources indicate
that even in the pre-colonial era, when the Kauru/Kajuru peoples
ruled them, Fantswam in Kauru had at least five chiefs, namely
Yabiliyok, Dodo Jinjirim, Kadon Mazah, Abui Duniya and Dari.
Marathon trek to the Promised Land
But, where exactly, did the Fantswam come from? Put another
way, where was the ancient home of these people? A draft titled
“Brief History of Fantswam (Kafanchan),” which
the authors say, “is largely based on myths and legends”
states: Pressure of more powerful kingdoms from the north,
e.g. Kanem Borno Empire, and encroachment of the (Sahara)
Desert forced…several independent tribes that migrated
from the Bauchi Highlands in the 16th century.” This
source posits that the Fantswam were among these migrants
and that their original home was Inkil.
The Agwam Fantswam, who was installed in January 2001, said
oral tradition also traces the original home of his people
to that same settlement (Inkil) in the eastern parts of Bauch.
Inkil, the monarch added, stands 5km from Bauchi City. After
leaving Inkil, the sojourners first settled at Bunga. Although
Bunga was fairly fertile and near a river, “the search
for a better and more peaceful abode” informed the relocation
of the migrants southwards to Karge.
Being predominantly hunters and farmers, it is possible that
the forests around Karge were not thick enough for the migrants,
which meant that they were soon on the march, again. The wayfarers
passed through Zalan to the Jos Plateau and settled for a
while on lands now occupied by the Anaguta and Jarawa peoples.
But, they would walk on, yet again, through Rahama on to Kauru
and then to Manshan in Atyap Chiefdom. It remains unclear
why they moved out from Manshan, but the immigrants resumed
their trek, which took them through Magata, Kacecere, Zali
and finally, to Kafanchan. The Agwam Fantswam said further
migration was probably discouraged because the thick forest
of their present homeland offered plenty of game and protection
from slave raiders. Talk about the classic long walk to the
Promised Land!
But what proof is there that the Fantswam actually traversed
the lands named in their migratory route? The monarch cited
the ease with which Fantswam people could learn the tongues
of the natives of those settlements as evidence of their ancestral
ties to such ethnic groups.
According to Mallam Didam, the Fantswam people never heard
the word Kafanchan, the current name of their town, until
they began to interact with outsiders. Throwing some light
on the etymology of their town’s name and elements of
Fantswam culture, Agwam Fantswam, who spoke with us in the
presence of Mallam Ayuba Yaya and Mallam Samuel Maigida, “Dan
Maliki” or “Gumarak” and “Waziri”
of Kafanchan respectively, said that “latter-day settlers
corrupted Fantswam to Kafanchan.” He rued that this
epithet was subsequently popularized by the colonial authorities
that later ruled Nigeria’s Northern Protectorate.
Interestingly, what we know as Kafanchan today might well
have ended up as “Kabanchan,” had that spelling
by one colonial master, Harold D. Gunn, stuck. The Agwam Kafanchan
observed that his town is not the only victim of such misnomer.
He cited similar examples on pages 80 and 81 of Harold D.
Gunn’s book, “Pagan People of the Central area
of Northern Nigeria,” which reveal that the proper epithet
of Kaje, Kagoro and Kaninkon is actually Bajju, Aegorok and
Ninkyop respectively.
Snippets of Fantswam Culture
The Fantswam are now predominantly Christians but Mallam Didam
said the aborigines of this part of the world were conscious
of the existence of an omnipotent and Almighty God or “Gwam-tazwa,”
a sort of “King of Heaven,” long before Christian
missionaries set foot here. However, aside their “Gwam-tazwa,”
the Fantswam also worshipped “Aboi,” a sanctity
deity those days. It was this veneration of “Aboi”
that gave rise to a local rite of passage, whereby all male
adolescents aged 14 and above were initiated into “Aboi”
Society.
The Fantswam also feature interesting dynamics in their funerary
tradition. Burial of the remains of a deceased, whether young
or old, was immediate upon passage in ancient Kafanchan. Nowadays,
however, the body of a late senior citizen can be kept for
about three days, so that survivors of the late one, living
faraway could be informed.
This delay also enables the bereaved to prepare to fete the
community, for the transition of anybody considered to have
lived to the fabled ripe old age, calls for celebration among
the Fantswam. On the other hand, Fantswam tradition insists
on immediate interment of the body of a dead youth, especially
a child. That way, the period of mourning would be very short,
consequently lessening the grief of the bereaved and the entire
community.
Like other aborigines of Southern Kaduna, the people of Kafanchan
also keep pet dogs. Interestingly, contrary to their garrulous
mien at night, some of these canines, which spot features
of European pedigree, appear quite indifferent to callers
at the home of their owners in the daytime. Fantswam culture
is so rich, even a summary won’t fit in here. Their
food and drinks are exceptional, not to talk of the locals
hospitality. God willing, we shall bring some elements of
these to you soon.
The last interview
A heavy downpour had washed Kafanchan the previous night but
now, as we walked toward the story building home of Alhaji
Abdulsalam Ibrahim along Funtua Street, the sky hung blue
and almost cloudless. It was almost difficult to imagine that
it rained elephants and hippos less than 12 hours ago. Such
was the muse that rankled in my mind, after I learned that
Alhaji Abdulsalam Ibrahim, Oba of Yoruba in Kafanchan, had
passed on barely six weeks after I met the amiable “Baba.”
When we met Alhaji Ibrahim in Kafanchan on September 5, nothing
could have led us to imagine one was never going to see him
again. The senior citizen was comfortably nestled in a settee
and enjoying a chat with his elder sister on the other side
of the room, when we were ushered in.
Both siblings looked hale and hearty. Although their father
hailed from the Kwara town of Offa, Alhaji Ibrahim was born
in Kafanchan in 1939. In 1977, Ibrahim was enthroned Oba of
Yoruba in that land of his birth. Alhaji Ibrahim said Kafanchan
is very good, safe and the aborigines are very hospitable.
Little wonder then that he chose his first wife, Hajiya Fatimata,
from this Hausa-speaking northern settlement.
However, Pa Ibrahim had also married another wife and had
many children. Oba Ibrahim had also told us that the majority
of Yoruba people resident in Kafanchan hail from Ogbomoso,
Ibadan and Offa.
After some 30 minutes chatting with the oba, we had left,
hoping to see him again; on subsequent visits but sad to say
that this shall never be on this planet. The news came like
the fabled bolt from the blue.
On the night of Wednesday October 4, I noticed three missed
calls on my phone. All the calls came from Mr. Akinwoye Abdul-Raouf,
District Public Relations Officer of the NRC. Mr. Abdul-Raouf
had graciously led us to the homes of the Eze Ndi-Igbo, Eze
Charles Chima Okoli and the then Oba of Yoruba, Alhaji Ibrahim
during our mission to Kafanchan.
Unfortunately none of my attempts to return Abdul-Raouf’s
call yielded fruit. The following morning, I dialed the man’s
number and pronto his phone was ringing. But after a while,
with no one taking the call, the line tripped.
I redialed and it was the same frustrating experience as before,
so I gave up. About 20 minutes later, Abdul-Raouf called to
say he was unable to take my calls because he and many others
were at a “Fidau,” the Islamic 8th day prayer
for the dead. “And pray, who was no more,” we
queried.
Abdul-Raouf said that was why for many days, he had also been
trying to reach me: Alhaji Abdulsalam Ibrahim, Oba of Yoruba
in Kafanchan for 29 years, had passed on. He died on Thursday
September 28th, 2006.
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