Emeka Ikebuasi: Customs, Nigeria, Political Unrest, Stories, Refugee
Title
Emeka Ikebuasi: Customs, Nigeria, Political Unrest, Stories, Refugee
Subject
Life History: Cork; Ireland; Nigeria;
Description
Emeka Ikebuasi from Nigeria describes the harrowing political events which led to his family coming to Cork as refugees. He talks, in depth, of his village upbringing in Nigeria and highlights village ceremonies, the telling of stories, witch doctors and holiday customs.
Emeka was born in Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria, Africa. There were ten children in his family. The first two children came from his father’s first marriage.
Emeka describes the village he grew up in as clustered, with neighbours living just a few metres from each other. They didn’t have toys but played street games like football and rolling tyres. They sang songs as the community gathered in the moonlight and the children played hide and seek. Their grandmother told them stories that carried moral themes.
Emeka’s paternal grandfather was a tribal leader. Emeka recalls the story of his grandfather’s death: how someone with a grievance got a witch doctor to put a curse on him.
Emeka talks about how African weddings are more traditional; how the families come together to prepare the food and palm wine and how certain dishes must be there for the wedding to be regarded as a proper wedding. The actual ceremony is the father of the bride presenting a glass of wine to his daughter who gives it to her future husband.
Children received small gifts of money and clothes at Christmas. They might witness the slaughter of a goat or chicken for the meal. Festivities could last for three days.
The family fled Kaduna in 2000 because of religious wars between Christians and Muslims and the introduction of Sharia Law. Their home was burnt down and the family circle moved to safety to other African states. Emeka describes the horror of people being murdered and corpses lying on the street for days.
Emeka came to Ireland in 2002 after his business was destroyed in riots and his family was under threat. He describes coming to Cork via Dublin and staying in Glounthaune until he set up home in Carrigaline.
There are a number of African shops and restaurants and Emeka describes all the different African states that are represented in Cork: How they all speak broken English to understand each other.
The Cork Inter-Cultural Group was set up to help change negative perceptions of minority groups. Emeka outlines its many activities for children and adults and discusses the social and cultural gatherings he has been involved in. He comments on the care and support he received from Cork people.
Emeka reflects on how safe Cork is and how he can wake up and ‘find his head where he left it’.
Note; This interview was conducted as part of the Cork 2005 Project
Emeka was born in Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria, Africa. There were ten children in his family. The first two children came from his father’s first marriage.
Emeka describes the village he grew up in as clustered, with neighbours living just a few metres from each other. They didn’t have toys but played street games like football and rolling tyres. They sang songs as the community gathered in the moonlight and the children played hide and seek. Their grandmother told them stories that carried moral themes.
Emeka’s paternal grandfather was a tribal leader. Emeka recalls the story of his grandfather’s death: how someone with a grievance got a witch doctor to put a curse on him.
Emeka talks about how African weddings are more traditional; how the families come together to prepare the food and palm wine and how certain dishes must be there for the wedding to be regarded as a proper wedding. The actual ceremony is the father of the bride presenting a glass of wine to his daughter who gives it to her future husband.
Children received small gifts of money and clothes at Christmas. They might witness the slaughter of a goat or chicken for the meal. Festivities could last for three days.
The family fled Kaduna in 2000 because of religious wars between Christians and Muslims and the introduction of Sharia Law. Their home was burnt down and the family circle moved to safety to other African states. Emeka describes the horror of people being murdered and corpses lying on the street for days.
Emeka came to Ireland in 2002 after his business was destroyed in riots and his family was under threat. He describes coming to Cork via Dublin and staying in Glounthaune until he set up home in Carrigaline.
There are a number of African shops and restaurants and Emeka describes all the different African states that are represented in Cork: How they all speak broken English to understand each other.
The Cork Inter-Cultural Group was set up to help change negative perceptions of minority groups. Emeka outlines its many activities for children and adults and discusses the social and cultural gatherings he has been involved in. He comments on the care and support he received from Cork people.
Emeka reflects on how safe Cork is and how he can wake up and ‘find his head where he left it’.
Note; This interview was conducted as part of the Cork 2005 Project
Date
27 October 2004
Identifier
CFP_SR00342_ikebuasi_2004
Coverage
Cork; Ireland; Nigeria; 1990s - 2000s;
Relation
Cork 2005 Collection Catalogue Numbers:
CFP_SR00329_mccarthy_2004;
CFP_SR00330_odriscoll_2004;
CFP_SR00331_claffey_2004;
CFP_SR00332_hanover_2004;
CFP_SR00333_desplanques_2004;
CFP_SR00334_bale_2004;
CFP_SR00335_sheridan_1996;
CFP_SR00336_steiner-scott_2004;
CFP_SR00337_rot_2004;
CFP_SR00338_stafford_2004;
CFP_SR00339_odonoghue_2004;
CFP_SR00340_hawkins_2004;
CFP_SR00341_ocarroll_2004;
CFP_SR00342_ikebuasi_2004;
CFP_SR00343_ogeallabhain_2004;
CFP_SR00344_geaney_2004;
CFP_SR00345_wulff_2004;
CFP_SR00346_abdoulbaneeva_2004;
CFP_SR00347_gunes_2004;
CFP_SR00348_fourie_2004;
CFP_SR00349_henderson_2004;
CFP_SR00350_valdman_2004;
CFP_SR00351_carmody_2004;
CFP_SR00352_osullivan_2004;
CFP_SR00353_mahknanov_2004;
CFP_SR00354_oflynn_2004;
CFP_SR00355_akhter_2004;
CFP_SR00356_walker_2004;
CFP_SR00357_kelleher_2004;
CFP_SR00358_manresa_2004;
CFP_SR00359_wimpenny_2005;
CFP_SR00360_skotarczak_2005;
CFP_SR00361_vermeulen_2005;
CFP_SR00362_owen_2005;
CFP_SR00363_dsouza_2005;
CFP_SR00364_setter_2005;
CFP_SR00365_obrien_2005;
CFP_SR00366_botan_2005:
CFP_SR00329_mccarthy_2004;
CFP_SR00330_odriscoll_2004;
CFP_SR00331_claffey_2004;
CFP_SR00332_hanover_2004;
CFP_SR00333_desplanques_2004;
CFP_SR00334_bale_2004;
CFP_SR00335_sheridan_1996;
CFP_SR00336_steiner-scott_2004;
CFP_SR00337_rot_2004;
CFP_SR00338_stafford_2004;
CFP_SR00339_odonoghue_2004;
CFP_SR00340_hawkins_2004;
CFP_SR00341_ocarroll_2004;
CFP_SR00342_ikebuasi_2004;
CFP_SR00343_ogeallabhain_2004;
CFP_SR00344_geaney_2004;
CFP_SR00345_wulff_2004;
CFP_SR00346_abdoulbaneeva_2004;
CFP_SR00347_gunes_2004;
CFP_SR00348_fourie_2004;
CFP_SR00349_henderson_2004;
CFP_SR00350_valdman_2004;
CFP_SR00351_carmody_2004;
CFP_SR00352_osullivan_2004;
CFP_SR00353_mahknanov_2004;
CFP_SR00354_oflynn_2004;
CFP_SR00355_akhter_2004;
CFP_SR00356_walker_2004;
CFP_SR00357_kelleher_2004;
CFP_SR00358_manresa_2004;
CFP_SR00359_wimpenny_2005;
CFP_SR00360_skotarczak_2005;
CFP_SR00361_vermeulen_2005;
CFP_SR00362_owen_2005;
CFP_SR00363_dsouza_2005;
CFP_SR00364_setter_2005;
CFP_SR00365_obrien_2005;
CFP_SR00366_botan_2005:
Published Material:
‘How’s it Goin’, Boy? radio series (six thirty-minute episodes, broadcast 2005 and available on the Cork Folklore Project website)
O'Carroll, Clíona for the Cork Northside Folklore Project (2006) How's it goin', boy? Dublin: Nonsuch Publishing.
Source
Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive
Language
English
Type
Sound
Format
1 .wav File
Interviewee
Interviewer
Duration
116m 30s
Location
Carraigaline
Original Format
MiniDisc
Bit Rate/Frequency
16bit / 44.1kHz
Transcription
The following is a short extract from the interview transcript, copyright of the Cork Folklore Project. If you wish to access further archival material please contact CFP, folklorearchive@gmail.com
F Q: Was it then that you left Nigeria?
E I: No. I left in two-thousand and two because, when I moved out of Kaduna, I had to stay over in the university campus —which is the Montebello University— where my Internet café… I was running the Internet café. So, that was where the business was… I shot home from Kaduna in the mornings over there to Zaria, and the close of the business for the day. I also shot over… go over back to Kaduna. So while I moved my family, I rented a house in Zaria —which was the university community, the city where the university is—. So, in two-thousand and two… There has been a sustained process whereby the Muslim students usually win the student annual elections; they have always held all the positions: the president, the secretary, finance… all the positions they take over. And… when I came in, I started running the Internet café. I had good patrons… I was getting good patrons because often internet cafés… well, I was doing well and I had good people working with me —and working for me—. But on that time we now sort of had you know, meetings. There was meetings you know, church groups, but meetings amongst the students who were Christians at least… the kind of getting together to be together and talking about matters that affects Christians in the campus. So, it happened that in one of the… within those times we now floated a fellowship and, at that fellowship, it was when we started… I also introduced ideas about how to really, you know, offset the imbalance and the idea was, at least, to be more involved… the students getting more involved —at least getting into good positions— so that that would actually change the imbalance or the status quo. Then, I promised them to provide the assistance needed —well, financially the way that I can—: the posters, I undertook the posters; I sponsored one of the students, a Christian. I saw to it that, you know, the students got good following for him, doing a bit of… kind of, good publicity. And that actually was able to… the votes tilted when the election came: it was in favour of this Christian boy, and he got elected. When the Muslims —as soon as that— saw that they had actually lost grounds, they objected and attacked the voting group, some of them who were Christians… came down on the students. And it was widely reported in the papers and in the media because about fifty students got killed and some hospitalised; a lot of girls were raped, Christian girls were raped and some had serious injuries, you know, fatal injuries and were admitted in hospitals. They came down my end, but I was lucky to get a tip-off one of the Muslim boys who usually patronised me and he said his conscience tells him that he wouldn’t be happy if he allows me fall into their hands. So he forewarned me that, at this time, this is what is going to happen; I shouldn’t come out to the business —to the internet café—; I must leave that city at once because the whole target is that, if they get to me —and that boy who won—, automatically they have broken our base. So, when they got to the internet café, we were locked, you know, we were closed. And they tattered the place because it was me always using their container —a forty feet container, two forty feet and a twenty feet container— so it was all mashed together but I was paying for the long space to the school authorities. So I got the masts, [because usually we don’t have easy connection, so we build a hundred and twenty feet masts so we can get the line of connection into the… between the radio that I am using and the base station that supplies connectivity]. So, some of them climbed up to the masts, brought down the radio —you know, because usually we use the radio on the mast— and the antenna, destroying it; he hacked the keys out from the locks, went in there; virtually ransacked the whole place; took off computers and… they did so many things and the authorities, the law enforcement were nowhere. A lot of us called out… a lot of the students —Christian students who ran to safety— called out to the police and nobody came!
F Q: Was it then that you left Nigeria?
E I: No. I left in two-thousand and two because, when I moved out of Kaduna, I had to stay over in the university campus —which is the Montebello University— where my Internet café… I was running the Internet café. So, that was where the business was… I shot home from Kaduna in the mornings over there to Zaria, and the close of the business for the day. I also shot over… go over back to Kaduna. So while I moved my family, I rented a house in Zaria —which was the university community, the city where the university is—. So, in two-thousand and two… There has been a sustained process whereby the Muslim students usually win the student annual elections; they have always held all the positions: the president, the secretary, finance… all the positions they take over. And… when I came in, I started running the Internet café. I had good patrons… I was getting good patrons because often internet cafés… well, I was doing well and I had good people working with me —and working for me—. But on that time we now sort of had you know, meetings. There was meetings you know, church groups, but meetings amongst the students who were Christians at least… the kind of getting together to be together and talking about matters that affects Christians in the campus. So, it happened that in one of the… within those times we now floated a fellowship and, at that fellowship, it was when we started… I also introduced ideas about how to really, you know, offset the imbalance and the idea was, at least, to be more involved… the students getting more involved —at least getting into good positions— so that that would actually change the imbalance or the status quo. Then, I promised them to provide the assistance needed —well, financially the way that I can—: the posters, I undertook the posters; I sponsored one of the students, a Christian. I saw to it that, you know, the students got good following for him, doing a bit of… kind of, good publicity. And that actually was able to… the votes tilted when the election came: it was in favour of this Christian boy, and he got elected. When the Muslims —as soon as that— saw that they had actually lost grounds, they objected and attacked the voting group, some of them who were Christians… came down on the students. And it was widely reported in the papers and in the media because about fifty students got killed and some hospitalised; a lot of girls were raped, Christian girls were raped and some had serious injuries, you know, fatal injuries and were admitted in hospitals. They came down my end, but I was lucky to get a tip-off one of the Muslim boys who usually patronised me and he said his conscience tells him that he wouldn’t be happy if he allows me fall into their hands. So he forewarned me that, at this time, this is what is going to happen; I shouldn’t come out to the business —to the internet café—; I must leave that city at once because the whole target is that, if they get to me —and that boy who won—, automatically they have broken our base. So, when they got to the internet café, we were locked, you know, we were closed. And they tattered the place because it was me always using their container —a forty feet container, two forty feet and a twenty feet container— so it was all mashed together but I was paying for the long space to the school authorities. So I got the masts, [because usually we don’t have easy connection, so we build a hundred and twenty feet masts so we can get the line of connection into the… between the radio that I am using and the base station that supplies connectivity]. So, some of them climbed up to the masts, brought down the radio —you know, because usually we use the radio on the mast— and the antenna, destroying it; he hacked the keys out from the locks, went in there; virtually ransacked the whole place; took off computers and… they did so many things and the authorities, the law enforcement were nowhere. A lot of us called out… a lot of the students —Christian students who ran to safety— called out to the police and nobody came!
Collection
Citation
Cork Folklore Project, “Emeka Ikebuasi: Customs, Nigeria, Political Unrest, Stories, Refugee,” accessed April 18, 2024, https://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/30.