PENGUIN DANCE IN PATEGI AS MAKANTAN GETS MARRIED.

By Ikrama I. Hassan,

University College Hospital, Ibadan. 

When the invitation card came and it was from Makanta, I knew it was a wedding I must attend. For one, Makanta had been an excellent friend dating back to medical school and secondly, the name of the town where the wedding was to take place Patigi, instantly reminded one of the legendry Usman Baba Pategi, of the ‘Samanja’ fame. And so it was that we took off on a journey that was as smooth as the weather was pleasant. Beautiful sceneries of the Kwara countryside and the hilarity of our conversations made an otherwise long journey seemed short. We arrived the town a few minutes after the wedding fatiha, missing it by whiskers. We arrived about the time the Kwara state governor was leaving the venue, but the emir’s palace was filled up with so large a crowd a pin dropped there would have to land on someone. The Pategi people trooped in multitudes, dressed in colorful costumes which depicted their rich and multicolored custom to welcome their guests and felicitate with their King who was giving out his daughter’s hand in marriage to our friend Makanta. 

The Pategi town was small and simple, but in this its rustic feature lies its allure. Several new and modern structures were erupting in the periphery of the town while the inner town glowed with various hues of traditional architecture portraying its long and rich history. And at the very center of the town, stood the majestic Etsu Patigi’s palace in its awe- inspiring splendor. A huge central mosque with a complex architecture was built close to the palace. After going round the mosque twice and we could not figure out the entrance, we quietly moved to a smaller mosque close by for our prayers! A somewhat busy market also stood on the other side of the place. All roads in Patigi seemed to lead to the Etsu’ palace. To complete the beautiful picture, a large river, the River Kaduna, coming from the Kaduna plains flowed noiselessly through the eastern fringes of the town to join the River Niger to continue on the southward journey to the Atlantic. 

For the two days we were there, there was a continuum of different activities that seemed inexhaustible. You would watch one and take your leave to eat or sleep and come back to meet another one going on. It was a wedding like no any other! We went for a program down the course of the Pategi river on a journey that initially seemed to eternity. We crossed two bridges, two rivers and two villages to reach an island-like spot where we spent hours of pure merriment. The people were so friendly and obviously happy to see us visiting their ‘Island’. A canoe paddled by a friendly young man with a smattering English ferried people across the water. While the young man flapped the paddle alternating from let to right, deftly navigating the canoe in the waters, one of the passengers would be scooping water from inside the canoe back into the river. It was surreal and thrilling. We then settled down to the real activity and at a point we all wished it could just go on and on. We ate and drank as we watched the river flowing unhurriedly on the last lap of its journey to join the River Niger. The couple then walked to the center of the arena and danced to a melodous Nupe music blaring from a CD. We formed a circle round the couple and also danced the Nupe dance. The Nupe dance was simple and uncomplicated. We gyrated little to the left and little to the right. We genuflected and moved some steps forward and a few backward. We danced a reversed penguin dance and it was beautiful. Around us in the river, fishes were jumping and somersaulting intermittently and I thought there were straining to watch our dance!

Then it was time to leave. We pestered our host to take us go see Samanja! We can’t come to Pategi and fail to see the Legend. He explained that Samanja did not stay in Pategi but Kaduna and that he himself was a nephew of the Samanja. “Wow! Then we need your autograph!” we all chorused. We left Pategi thoroughly refreshed and happy. Happy married life Dr Mustapha Makanta.

Robot  # 1 | 21.05.2009 01:32

PENGUIN DANCE IN PATEGI AS MAKANTAN GETS MARRIED. By Ikrama I. Hassan, University College Hospital, Ibadan. When the invitation card came and it was from Makanta, I knew it was a wedding I must attend. For one, Makanta had been an excellent friend dating back to medical school and secondly, the name of the town where the wedding was to take place Patigi, instantly reminded one of the legendry Usman Baba Pategi, of the ‘Samanja’ fame. And so it was that we took off on a journey that was as smooth as the weather was pleasant. Beautiful sceneries of the Kwara countryside and the hilarity of our conversations made an otherwise long journey seemed short. We arrived the town a few minutes after the wedding fatiha, missing it by whiskers. We arrived about the time the Kwara state governor was leaving the venue, but the emir’s palace was filled up with so large a crowd a pin dropped there would have to land on someone. The Pategi peo...Read the full article.