I’m going to be a hero
I’m going go Lend a voice to them
I’m going to document the sights and sounds of their harsh reality, their struggles, hardship, and chaos. The very intentional chaos that has built stumbling blocks between them and development, between them and non-northerners and also their issues with westernization.

That was my mission! The moment I finally let go of the negativity reports and feedback I got, regards my plans to explore North. They need help! They must need help.
People need to hear their voices.

Would you blame me for having this kinda thought of trying to go have the first-hand experience and change the existing negativity narratives?

I was shocked, amazed and angry all at this same time. “But this was not what I heard or read, this is a different story,” I thought to myself.

The North you don’t know!
The north you don’t know is peaceful, easy-going, welcoming and nice, beautiful and magnificent, different from the other walls of cities I’ve known or seen.

The North you don’t know!
Are happy people living their daily lives by upholding their culture with a bright smile, with their radio held on their wheelbarrows as they go about making their daily bread.

Their women are beautiful, graciously dressed, ready to help before you ask, looking elegant in their hijabs and long socks.

The North you don’t know!

Their children are free, happy and cute. They mostly play around in their panties, some are on the street helping their families, going to the farm.

The north you don’t know!

On the daily, working hard to serve as the food basket of the nation( rice, pepper, onions, meat etc) yet the rest of Nigeria is busily outcasting them. What a shame!

I forgot about my mission, the nonsense voice I was hoping to be, the help I was hoping to render.
They don’t need me to save them, I need them to save me, from all the negativities I’ve been fed, from all the news that had made me scared over the years and neglected them.
I need them to save me so I can save the rest through them,

All I have heard is bomb blast that had destroyed and ripped some of their wealth, homes and happiness, herdsmen that have killed some fathers and rendered the home useless without a head figure.

All I’ve heard is of chaos, disaster and how unsafe it is for a non-northerner who doesn’t understand their language or isn’t familiar with their culture to dwell among them.

The north has gone through different chaotic phases due to insurgencies which undoubtedly has led to massive killings and kidnappings…yet they seem to be the happiest people ever contrary to what I had imagined.

The North is not frightened, they have accepted their fates and they’ve learned to live to be happy, they are brave and fearless, they are made of thick skin and their experiences have made them choose happiness over resentment.

The North you don’t know!

The north you don’t know doesn’t need you to save them, they need you to see them.
To embrace them, to visit them, to come to live with them, to eat and dine with them.
Because this is the only way to truly know them and help change the narrative.
Changing the narrative by telling others about how peaceful they made you feel, how homely it was while your visitation lasted..only this way will non-northerners be able to break down the fearful walls we’ve built for years.

Only this way, will investors find it a good ground to make investments, foster growth and create opportunities.

The north you don’t know!
Is the one you’ll never know until you choose to know…

The North you don’t know is the one you will never know,untill you choose to know- Alarinka2019

I hope you guys had an amazing time reading and viewing today, thank you for returning.see you next week

Alarinka cares