“Your name is Garuba? Garuba. Are you a Muslim?” “No sir, I’m not” “How come? Your name is Garuba and you’re from the North. You should be a Muslim” I took a deep breath as I figured this was going to be yet another long explanation session. I just had a similar situation with the teacher who took the last period. I’m sure my other names would have been jealous of this my surname. It got the attention of people all the time. I didn’t even get to choose my own nickname in secondary school; it was automatic. ‘Garus’, ‘Garus baba’, and ‘Garusman’ were the top three. And I thought it was going to stop after my secondary school days. I was wrong. The name ‘Garuba’ has never ceased to generate the same questions it did back then.
That name has now become more of a socialising tool for me, an apt ice breaker in many situations. When I introduce myself as Adedamola Garuba, people tend to forget the Adedamola and pick up on the Garuba. Then they’ll ask the usual questions: Are you a Muslim? Are you from the North? Some don’t even ask, they simply assume. I used to be a Muslim and there was nothing dramatic about my conversion. I was still young when it happened and I didn’t have much say in it. I’m from Kwara State, Ilorin precisely. And I guess that makes me a Northerner. I really don’t know. That part of my story has never been a simple one.
The recent spate of terrorist attacks even makes it harder to admit being a northerner and/or Muslim nowadays. It’s saddening when those from this part of the nation and/or religious divide have been stereotyped as terrorist and violent people. My grandmother is an Alhaja, I have a lot of Muslim relatives and friends and I make bold to say there’s no iota of violence or terrorism in these people. But then, my relatives and friends only represent a minuscule in the larger population. Still it would be unfair to judge people based on the geographical location of their place of birth or religious belief. Few days ago some 486 men where detained as suspected terrorists. Why? Because they are Northerners. When did we get to this point? In a nation where we used to travel and journey as we saw fit, we are now haunted by the very securities meant to protect us. I only wonder what would have happened if I were in one of the buses. How would I explain away the name ‘Adedamola Ismaila Garuba’.
The sooner we realise that we all face a common enemy, the better it would be for us as a nation. This sentiment that is corrupting our judgement will cause us more harm than good. May we never have what happened in Rwanda. I once heard a manager in an organisation suggest that the security guards should be fired because they’re muslim/northerners and as such they pose a threat. Now I pray my name won’t make someone deny me an appointment or juicy deal. I pray my future in-laws will not deny me their daughter because of my background. I long for the day when it wouldn’t matter which part of the nation I am from; when all that would matter is just being a Nigerian.
I refuse, reject, and repudiate any attempt to make me afraid of going about my own business in my nation for the fear of being detained because of my name, tribe, or religion. Shakespeare once said “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Fellow Nigerians, My name is Garuba, and I’m not a terrorist.
@adedamolah on Twitter.
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