By Muhammad Garba
I don’t like jumping into the bandwagon. I always want to be unique. You may call me stylish, but in my own way. I love seeing pictures of people hiking the rocks of Jos and those elsewhere. I detached myself from participating because I don’t see anything special in climbing rocks and getting down exhausted.
On the second day of the new decade, 2nd January, 2020, my oath was desecrated. I woke up in the wee hours of that day. The hazy, dusty and fogy all in their prime, making the weather 7 0 Celsius. This is not Jos where I can continue sleeping until the sun rise. It’s Gindiri, my hometown and the hometown of my ancestors who left Gobir to settle there centuries ago.
Gindiri, a town located in the heart of Mangu local government area of the Plateau State is a household name within and without the borders of the State. It’s a home to the famous Pyem people, though the language is on the verge of extinction, Hausa is now their lingua franca.
It was 6:30 am, my cousins whom we slept in the same room got ready for the hike what they had earlier termed ‘#GindiriHikeIt’ on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp groups. I don’t want to be left behind at home, lonely. I washed my face, combed my unkempt afro and wore all that is necessary.
Few minutes after our arrival, a procession kicked up to the historical Dutsen Lamba. The giant rock that could be seen from anywhere in the town stood on outskirts of Gindiri had some superstitious belief attributed to it. That should be left as a topic of another day.
The Convener of the event, Bilal Aliyu said the aim of the hike is to preach peaceful coexistence among followers of different faiths. Another message preached during the hike is that of drug abuse and its effects. Some participants held banners with ‘Say no to drug abuse’ and ‘Shun Drug Abuse’ boldly inscripted on them.
Members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were also deployed to make the outing secured and fortunately, they succeeded.
Amidst the security measures taken, a co-convener of the hike, Mushin Ishaq who was in a white customized T-shirt and a raffia hat held a microphone cautioning hikers on how to climb the rock due to the dangers attached to it.
On the other hand, an old Peugeot truck was equipped with a generator to supply power to the amplifiers and speakers mounted on it, with the DJ joyously making the trek and hike lively.
Today, going to place without taking pictures is akin to not going at all. I think, yours sincerely and his fellow hikers hold this notion too. Everyone join their family members, relatives, friends beloved ones and other hikers to capture the moment into their Canon cameras, iPhones and android phones.
While the fun lasted, without paying a dime, I alongside fellow hikers got a bottle of water either that of energy drink.
A look at the number of the youth that turned out is enough to make one believe that crucial messages like that of peaceful co-existence and drug abuse can be passed through such programmes that target the youth, who make the large population of the victims of the plagues of conflicts and drugs abuse.
The takeways from the Gindiri hike will continue to resonate among the participants and I say, ‘what a memorable way to start the year!’
