Jos, the capital of Plateau State is named after the Jos Plateau which is located near the center of the country and is home to the ancient Nok culture. It is known for its wonderfully temperate climate, amazing landscape, great diversity and was once one of the most important tourist destinations in the country. Over the last decade or so, there has been a great decline in tourism, a mass exodus of its inhabitants and dwindling numbers in investments etc. due religious clashes that have caused tension and instilled fears in the people who remain.The sights were hard to take in, the roads were dusty and you could see the strife , you could read the hardship in the eyes of the people, still smiling but weary, still hopeful but tired. The streets were littered with small table setups selling various things, mostly potatoes and yams, there were also mobile (on foot..that is) vendors selling more vegetable but nothing like the selections in the streets of Lagos. Things were obviously tough but even so, it is my home and I had to be there to really see this for myself.
On the first night, we spent time trying to take in the house, settle in and feel comfortable in a place who's appearance had dramatically changed since I was last there. I felt an eerie calm but also remained quite uneasy with the space, so reminiscent of my childhood, my mind flashed between great memories and the present, emptiness, almost impersonal air of the time. It was hard to swallow, especially being there with my husband and kids (my mum and younger sister as well). We stayed up quite late and talked about the past and looked through old photos, eventually retiring into at daybreak.
The next morning, we woke up to a nice day, we spent the morning exploring the compound, walking around reminiscing about the places I used to play and sit and spend time as a child, it was nice to reconcile my thoughts and feeling towards this house, it amazing how much the "place" which seemed so ordinary as a child is actually uniquely intertwined in the person I have become. My cousin and his two daughters drove in from Abuja that afternoon, as did my aunt and other cousin as we awaited the rest of the family to arrive. The kids immediately became best friends and started playing like we had when we were their size many years ago, it was like we had come full circle yet not much had changed but much had been lost.
We ventured out into town to get lunch which turned out to be quite a challenge, we initially thought we'd go to Plateau hotel but when we got there and walked in it was deserted and dark! very disappointing as it used to be a pretty happening spot back then. We also tried to go to Hill Station hotel but there wasn't really anything going on there, we eventually got to a place called Avis which was supposed to be fairly decent serving traditional Nigerian food but as we all got out of the cars to walk in we were stopped by a guard who wanted us to leave all our personal belongings in a lock box before entering, certainly that did not sit well with any of us. We bypassed him eventually him and got in to eat. We also went shopping in town for some drinks and snacks for later.
That evening was a wonderful mix of celebration, meetings of family members new and old, conversation, laughter and it was like old times..almost. The anxiety faded and I was able to truly appreciate my home once again. We broke bread with a large group of extended family members who stopped in excitedly to visit us and had lots of suya and homemade massa. It was a really good night.
The next morning, we awoke bright and early, had breakfast and prepared to leave for Langtang.
