Kaduna, the place to fish on a calabash

calabash fishing, never without my umbrella in the rainy season

Kaduna is the largest city, roughly 2 million inhabitants, after Kano. It is essentially a trading hub for agricultural products. In the past there was a bit of industry. Peugeot had a factory up until a few years back. As a result there was a french international school, which still exists but has ceased to teach french at all.
It is two and half hour drive north of Abuja. A very smooth road at the moment which stretches past the Aso Rock where the presidential palace is located.
But road is not the only way to come to Kaduna. There is a small airport served by a few airlines, punctuality aside. And there is also a railway and rumours of a high-speed train between Abuja and Kaduna.

Kaduna State House of Assembly

It has a renown university as a result of Kaduna's position as the capital of the north of Nigeria for a large part of the 20th century.
The city is also crossed by the Kaduna river where fishermen traditionally go fishing floating on the back of a huge calabash.
The city has very few landmarks besides a colonial building which was serving as the center of the british administration, it was created for Lord Lugard. It is now called the Kaduna State House of Assembly. There also a a large hotel from the 70s with arts and craft.

cleaning locally carved calabashes

Kaduna has a museum under renovation at the moment (timing is unclear) and at the back a few craftsmen working silver and other metals. An old man is designing small stylized animals.
Kaduna has a large muslim population but christians are well represented too.

the workshop of the small metal animals

Comments

Benin City, at the heart of the Benin Kingdom and its great past

Benin City's popular fashion Benin City is one of the largest cities in Nigeria. It is the capital of Edo state. It probably shines less than it used to a few centuries ago when it was a powerful and advanced kingdom, lauded for its administrative and military strengths by the first Europeans who came to trade in the 15th century. Nowadays modern Europeans hear more about Benin City because Edo's gangs export girls for prostitution and compete with the mafia in Sicily on some markets. Traces of the past are very present, for instance the Oba's palace is still surrounded by a large mud wall. The city has sprawled in all directions. Trading buildings, administration buildings are among the tallest, most of them worn out by time, dusty winters and strong rainy seasons. Large avenues are running through the city, but as soon as one leave them to adjacent roads, potholes and dirt roads slow down navigation. Easier for motorbikes. Market areas are usually buzzing with peopl...

tanker for sale

tanker for sale As in Singapore, many ships are crowding the horizon on the sea along the Atlantic coast of Lagos. These are patiently waiting for their turn to come to unload or load their containers in the harbour of Apapa or Tincan Island. Most of them come and go after have completed their duty. But unlike Singapore some are just staying longer than expected, by design or by accident. Hence the coast is littered by ship wrecks which are rusting away and sinking in the sand progressively so that, in the end, they are no longer visible. once a great ship Stories point out human error as a reason for the ship's beaching. The captain went to see his girlfriends and the ship drifted ashore... seriously? More probable is that these ships are either beyond repair or the company owning her in financial trouble and therefore the ship is abandoned. from raw material to recycling One of them was a complete tanker standing ominously on the sand at the e...

The Ogiamien family in Benin City: about wood and history

Roland Ogiamien in his wood-carving workshop Wood Roland Ogiamien is a renown wood carver. He is now retired in his home town of Benin City and is now in his 80s. We met him in his simple workshop, a barn opened on the surrounding greenery. A part of the studio is used to store wood pieces and make sure they are well dried. He is using a collection of german ustensils to carve and polish the wood. He spent most of his career working out of Lagos before relocating to Benin. Roland was explaining that the wood he uses today is different that the one he worked on in his early days. Ebony has become rare and wood carvers have had to switch to other types of wood. Traditional heritage is a large part of his inspiration which he translates on wood with his own particular style, exploring various techniques for the finish of his pieces. Roland Ogiamien and two of his favourite masks History Ogiamien is the name of an important royal family in Benin Kingdom. Towards the end of the ...

Nigeria, the land of plenty

Search This Blog