Audio 1: Nasiru narrates his journey to Harouba to the author, Umar Yandaki, in Hausa.
Nasiru: Once we begin to enter the Sahara, honestly, there is no town or settlement along the way. It is just the Sahara. If something goes wrong, if the driver encounters a problem or gets confused, you can easily get lost. Because I knew people who have gotten lost there for as long as a week. Eventually, they came across some Nigerien personnel, who showed them the way. By then, they had run out of everything they had. They suffered terribly. The slightest mistake can lead travellers into serious problems. Honestly, it is extremely difficult. Traveling in that vehicle is really hard. There is a lot of hardship, truly.
Audio 2: Nasiru narrates his journey to Harouba to the author, Umar Yandaki, in Hausa.
Nasiru: Honestly, there are no documents that we obtained. We didn’t get any documents. Once we reached Konni, the only documents we had were the ones in our pockets. It was basically just about money; you would be asked for papers you didn’t have, and the only solution was paying money. And once we left Abala, all that remained was the Sahara that we had to cross. There was no road, not even a proper track like the ones vehicles normally use. It was just the kind of vehicles transporting us; they were the only ones that passed through there. There were no officials stationed along the route, except for Nigerien personnel who patrol the Sahara. None of us carried even a national ID card. Wherever you meet the personnel, they would simply ask whether you had a card. If you didn’t have one, you had to pay money. And if someone didn’t have the money, sometimes they would be sent back.
Audio 3: Nasiru speaks about the importance of community in Harouba to the author, Umar Yandaki, in Hausa.
Nasiru: Honestly, most people who come here already know someone here. It is very difficult to find someone who arrives without knowing anybody. If a person doesn’t know anyone, they will have a very hard time. It is a place where everyone looks after their own interests, and people generally don’t concern themselves with others. Even getting a job is not something that anyone can do. You have to be known and vouched for by others. Nobody will entrust you with their property if they don’t know what kind of person you are. This is a place where gold is traded. You could take gold worth millions of naira from here and hide it in your hand or pocket without anyone knowing. So, if you see someone who has been given work here, in most cases, that person is already known to them. It is not a matter of simply seeing someone looking for work and hiring them. Anyone you see who has come here usually has a relative, a friend, or someone from their area who knows them and can vouch for them.
Audio 4: Nasiru speaks about the Hausa community in Harouba to the author, Umar Yandaki, in Hausa.
Nasiru: Honestly, I can’t say exactly how many Hausa people are here. Even just the people from Gusau who are here number in the thousands, not to mention the others from Kano and Maiduguri, and elsewhere. At the time we came here, in the vehicle, there were even people from Ghana and Chad. There are many different ethnicities and languages here. There are also soldiers who have fled their posts (in Nigeria) and come here to work. There are lawyers as well. You find all sorts of different people here.
Audio 5: Nasiru speaks about work and social life in Harouba in Hausa.
Nasiru: The work has a fixed amount, because they usually assign us a truck of sand to work on. If you complete one truck, you get paid the amount for one; if you complete two, three, or four, you are paid accordingly. Each truck is paid at 200 of the local currency; one jikka. So, however many trucks you complete, that is what you are paid for. They give you your full payment; there is no cheating or anything like that. As for prayer, when it is time for prayers, you can go and pray. Nobody prevents you. If you have a lot of work to do, you can go and set aside some time for it and then finish the work so that it doesn’t pile up. But if you have enough time, you can work for a while, stop, and take a short rest before continuing. As for food, some people buy ingredients and take them home to cook. Others go out to eat; there are restaurants here and men who run food businesses. There are places for ordinary people like us, and there are also places for people with more money.
Audio 6: Nasiru, in Hausa, describes the shock and stigma of being Nigerian in Harouba.
Nasiru: You know, in life, once you go out into the world, you inevitably encounter all kinds of things. Other people’s lives are not the same as yours, and their religious practices are not the same as yours. You will see things, and everyone has their own way of thinking and doing things. That’s how it is here. Most of these white Tuareg people (the terrorists) have absolutely no regard for human life. None whatsoever. Especially when it comes to us Hausa people. For example, if you tell them you are from Zamfara, they will really humiliate you. Honestly, they will treat you very badly because they think our people are difficult and stubborn. Once they hear that you are from Zamfara, they simply assume you are a bandit.
Audio 7: Nasiru’s voice note to the author, Umar Yandaki, in Hausa, about missing his family.
Nasiru: Peace be upon you, Malam Umar. How are you this afternoon? How are things going with work? Malam Umar, you know that in life, no matter how comfortable a person may be, they would always prefer to be close to their family. Whenever I think about them, the feeling is difficult to cope with. But there is not much one can do, because one is hustling to make a living. Wherever there is an opportunity to earn, that is what helps you maintain your family’s dignity and keep things going. You have to earn something so that you can give them what they need. Even if you stay at home with your family, if you have nothing, then everything becomes meaningless. No matter how much you miss them because you are not close to them, you simply have to be patient, go and find something, and bring it back to them; wherever that may be, regardless of how difficult or challenging it is.
Because even if you stay with them and show them affection while everyone is going hungry, you can see that affection alone will not solve the problem. But honestly, that is life. Whenever I think about my family, I become emotional. Because everyone trying to make a living would want God to give them an opportunity to be able to earn where their family live so that when they return home after the day’s work, they can be there with their family. For now, I just keep reminding myself that no matter how difficult things become, God willing, there will be relief ahead. We only pray that Allah continues to protect our dignity and provide for us. May Allah make things work out for us⎈
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