My Niqabee (COMPLETED)

Mallama Maimuna

     For the rest of the day, our class was filled with side talks about the look of our teacher. Majority of us were just getting the rare privilege of seeing her face for the first time.  Today as I reminisce, I can say it was
as sleek as her heart or even more. As a child all I noticed was a scar on her face which really looked nice on her. It took quite some time before the issue of mallama's face died down. I got close to her and we would greet almost everyday even when we do not have her subject. One certain time I was chatting with a friend who was my tribe. We were speaking Nupe language and she interjected. "How could this be? She understood what we were saying", though she was supposed to punish us she only scolded us and warned us to avoid unhealthy discussions. From that day on we did our greetings in Nupe language. She became our guardian in the school and stood for us whenever we got into trouble, she occasionally brought us food, gift items and later asked if there were more of us; her kinsmen. We introduced all those whom we knew to her and she saw to it that we improved academically and morally.

      If I was asked, I referred to her as my Aunt. I got so fond of her that whenever she was absent from school I felt uneasy. The term went smooth and silky all thanks to her backing. We studied to our full potentials and made a lot out of the time we could spend at the Islamiyya. Our results kept getting better when suddenly the unexpected happened. Mallama was frequently missing school. I got so worried and wanted to know what exactly was happening. My curiosity and dilemma grew by the days but I did not have the courage to ask her what was going on. It was not difficult walking up to her due to our familiarity but I always became mute when I got in front of her. On a faithful Monday we met and She was quick to notice my worry; she asked if I had any problems. It was after school, I just told her there was no any problems and dashed home. Tuesday came and she did not show up, same thing on Wednesday. Thursdays and Fridays are weekends on Islamic calendar so the next school day was Saturday. I wished i knew her house so I could just visit and make sure all was good. It was as though something strange was happening and I needed to act fast. My little conscience kept telling me "She is like a mother".

         Saturday finally came, I was not going to Islamiyya. I told them at home that I was going to a class mate's to join in doing our group assignment which he knew better than me. I left home and headed for the Islamiyya which was close to our house. I got there shortly and walked straight to her classroom. The other male teachers were just sitting at the passage wondering what was happening to me. I was late, not in my uniform, looking healthy, no greetings, no excuses and I just walked pass them. I found her reading a book and immediately she noticed me she stood up and reached for me asking what the matter was. I simply replied her saying " it is you, why are you always absent these days?" She gazed at me in amazement for quite some time before replying me. She said it was something at home but she will inform us when things are set. I further asked her "things are set, how?" "At home, what is it with home; what ..?" She cut in and said she was leaving the Islamiyya, and not just the Islamiyya she may be leaving town. She may leave Kaduna! BUT... She is not sure yet.

       The last phrase was not much of a relief. I left her place and headed home straight without saying a word to anyone at the school. At home I told them I wanted to be transferred to another Islamiyya. I told them I kept getting into fights on my way to school because the streets leading to my Islamiyya were occupied by a different sect followers and the kids will always wait ahead when they see me coming to pick a fight with me. My parents didn't think twice and faster than I thought, I was already in another Islamiyya. I did not like the new school but it gave me breathing space. I knew a colleague from the previous school who was a neighbor of Mallama. I met him after a while and asked after her. If I had anticipated his response I would not have even went to him. He told me that she's gone, she left town and he had no idea where she moved to. He only heard that she was pregnant with complications that was why she was frequently absent from school and had to move to where her husband worked.

        An adult will refer to what I felt as "heartbroken", but what did I know? I was just a kid. The bad feeling lingered for long but I eventually moved on. I got admission for secondary education into a boys only school at Zaria, it was a boarding school and I was eager to start a new life away from Kaduna. I was there for only a year and transferred to a military school which was also boarding but mixed. There were no Niqabees and little Religious activities except for Friday prayers and Sunday MSS. At the end of my second year in the mixed school I had finished my Junior Secondary School and was going to have a very long holiday before senior secondary started. I planned to use the time to catch up at Islamiyya and if possible graduate. It had been a long three years without learning anything new and little revision of what I already knew. I enrolled in my first Islamiyya, it was simply to facilitate my graduation so the stay was going to be short. The number of Niqabee teachers and students had surged, they did not interest me as they only reminded me of the first Niqabee I knew; Mallama!

        The graduation day came and just like all life events, it passed. Somewhere along the line my admission letter came in. I was to resume senior secondary school at a Unity School in Sokoto State called Federal Science College. Keeping us within the school premises was a serious challenge so we had the opportunity of sneaking out to town. Sokoto state is the Seat of Caliphate, the headquarters of Islam in Nigeria and a den of Niqabees. Since the primary essence is to cover the face, there was not really any chance of seeing the faces as it was in the case of Mallama.

          A certain guy joined us in the school late in 2007. I was in final year and he was a year behind. News got to me that he was from the boys only school which I attended at Zaria and we became friends. Little did I know that he was part of a puzzle. He was from a well to do family and a hothead. We started going to their house and sometimes returned to school in his car if we still had plan of going back to their house or we just came to do something transient at school. His elder brother was schooling at a military school in Jos and had ran back to sokoto. He was hiding with their friends. Their parents did not know but since they had the same friends, he could not hide from his brother (my friend). The parents later found out from the School at Jos that their son was not in school. They pressured my friend and he revealed where his brother was hiding. When they got to him, he told them he was not going back and if they forced him he will go away to where they can not find him, they told him to stay home and get another school. Since he was now at home it was more easier for us to stay in town, we became even closer with him than with my friend since we were ex-commandos as we called ex students of our military schools. We sometimes used languages only the two of us understood.

        One faithful day it was all school age kids in a car with loud music in their neighborhood which was the Government Reserved Area in Sokoto around the government house and there she was: A Niqabee girl whom we saw dropped from a car that had some other school kids on board. From all indications they just closed from school and they gave her a lift. She was standing beside the road all by herself. There was acute silence as we drove passed her...

             <<<<<to be continued>>>>>