Kilankwa, a relatively peaceful community, is among several communities situated along the Abuja-Lokoja highway in Kwali Area Council of the FCT. It is less than 2 kilometres drive through a dusty road from the main road. The hospitality of the residents is second to none as they welcome strangers with open arms and grinning smiles.
Though the community head was said to have gone to farm, which is the major occupation of the local people, some residents were on the ground to explain to Aso Chronicle the traditions of the community, among which is the consequence that awaits the residents should they fail to entertain visitors to the area.
“If a stranger comes into the village and refuses to sit down, he would be compelled to do so because there are women who will want to get married. So, the stranger must sit because of the women that would still get married,” buttressed Adamu Haruna, a resident who spoke on behalf of the village head.
Haruna said that the residents attached great importance to this myth as nobody dares to do otherwise, considering the consequences of the action to the girls. Though he could not tell such consequence has ever befallen on the community, he said: “It is not ideal for a stranger to come without being entertained, which is how it has been done since I was born. If you refuse to sit, that means you are a bad person, how will you say you will not sit down? That means you have a bad intention.”
The stance of the residents enhances their openness to strangers, but should such stranger declines the entertainment offered by the residents, Abdulazeez Idris, another resident, was quick to add that the residents would do nothing and neither would they tell such a person to leave the community but would devise means of calming the stranger to take a seat.
“But the way we will approach you, you will come down and sit. Should you refuse to be entertained, then we will know the way you come is not a good thing but if you eventually sit then, you must say something very good.”
Idris while saying how entertaining stranger has been helpful to the residents, explained that whoever came to the community to fight or cause trouble was calmed by the warm welcome of the residents.
“If such person with an ulterior motive is entertained, then, he will be calmed and we can fashion means of resolving the crisis amicably, but if you do not entertain such a person, nobody would know what he has planned to do,” he said.
The daughter of the village head, Hajara Saliu, who is still single, said entertaining strangers has been part of her since childhood because, as she pointed, she wants to get married.
Hajara added that residents attach great importance to the myth and, as such, strangers are assured of a warm welcome, a seat and water to drink.
Other families visited by Aso Chronicle showed the same enthusiasm at the sight of strangers with all of them opening their arms to welcome our reporter into their homes. The level of hospitality exhibited by the residents explains just how they are bound to their culture.
Adamu Haruna, while stating other cultural ways of the residents, said some sections of the residents still bury the dead in a ‘tomb-like’ fashion in which the ground is dug and spaces provided for about seven people. The tomb, he added, serves as family’s burial ground and dead relatives are buried there.
“The hole would be made in an L-shape, and could be within the family’s compound or even in their rooms, depending on preferences. The hole after the burial of a family member is covered with concrete which could be broken when burying other dead relatives ,” Haruna explained.
“This method of burial is however not pronounced in the community as people now bury the dead according to their religion’s tenets, but there are families that still do it and these tombs are everywhere in the community,” Abdulazeez Idris added.
Idris while explaining how the village got its name said, the name means snake. He said it was coined when some residents many years ago were trying to share a python they caught while hunting. “When they caught the python, they were many and never knew what to do with the python so they decided to share it among themselves. So, it was during this process that the place which they shared, was named, which happened to be where we are now,” he said.
The residents highlighted the challenges of the community to include absence of secondary school. The nearest secondary schools are located at Gwagwalada and Kwali and, as such, residents trek while those that are well-to-do take a motorcycle. The trek according to Haruna takes about one hour.
He said the situation is not encouraging the residents to go to school, calling on the authorities of the Kwali Area Council to assist the community by building a school there.
“We need secondary school, and we have enough land for that purpose should the government decides to build one in the community. We are appealing to them to help us in this respect,” Haruna said.
Also, the primary school in the community, according to Haruna, needs to be fenced in order the make the environment more conducive for learning.
The community of about 1,000 inhabitants, according to Adamu Haruna, consist of predominantly peasant farmers.
He said the community has been a haven for civil servants, who own farmlands in the locality. “Lots of ‘big men’ have farmlands in the community,” he said.
While commending the government on the e-wallet scheme, he pleaded that the amount of fertilisers to be distributed to the community should be increased.
“We do get fertilisers from the government, we have been to Kwali for the registration, we obtained, filled and submitted the form. We got the alert, went to Kwali, paid, and got the fertilisers,” he said.
