My first ever trip to Kafanchan, Southern Kaduna, last week was an interesting voyage. Kafanchan was (is still sometimes) a flashpoint of religious tension/crisis in the northern parts of Nigeria. When the Southern Kaduna Youths and Students Forum (SKYFON) invited me to their inauguration, I was told that it would be unsafe to go near the area. Kaduna-Abuja road had become the hotbed for kidnappings, killings and frequent confrontations between security agents as well as terrorists and bandits. Traveling to Kafanchan was even worse because the road between Kafanchan and Jere is one of the worst I’ve plied in a while.
However, I discovered to my chagrin that the area had been willfully neglected by the Kaduna state government led Nasir el-rufai. The real reason told by locals is a story for another day. When we arrived Kafanchan, I sought to visit the Matsirga Waterfalls also known as the “Wonderful River” and I began to appreciate the natural environment in Kafanchan. It was an amazing waterfall that captured not just my imagination but fury. I was asking why instead of developing the area as a hub for hydroelectric, global tourism and food production hub, Nigeria’s would rather let it turn into a terrorism hub!
● Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and politician, is the founder of Sahara Reporters.
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