By Nasiru L. Abubakar, who was in Kano.
At the Bayero University Kano (BUK), three Italian students – Silvia, Nunzia and Simona – have been attracting the people’s attention wherever they go, and that is not just because of their light complexion. Their manner of dressing, too, has stood them out in the crowd. The trio is in BUK to study (or at least appreciate) Hausa language, culture and literature for three months courtesy of a scholarship from the Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" (Oriental Studies University of Naples).
And determined to enjoy their stay and make it worthwhile, they have since adopted Hausa names, which the people now address them with. Silvia, who is the eldest of the trio, has adopted Ladidi; Nunzia is being addressed as Lantana while Simona answers Talatu. Though Ladidi, Lantana and Talatu are names given to females born on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, respectively, they do not reflect the birth date of the trio.
Weekly Trust cornered the Italian students during one of their lecture-free moments for a chat and their story was as interesting as it is adventurous.
‘Why we are here’
Nunzia (Lantana) is 24. She hails from Naples, Italy. She was the first person to speak – because, as Simona (Talatu) puts it “she is the most shy.” “We are here primarily to study Hausa language, culture and literature. I studied African languages and now I want to learn Hausa and Kiswahili. For now, I just want to see Africa, to know more about Hausa and Hausa people,” She said, adding that Hausa is simple, even though she is yet to master the language.
Silivia (Ladidi) is 26 and studied at Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" (Oriental Studies University of Naples), and Simona, who is 22 years old, also studied African languages. “I got my degree just last year November 2008, and we are here courtesy of scholarship given to us by our university,” she told Weekly Trust.
The programme, as they told Weekly Trust, will only last for three months, which they considered “a bit inadequate” for them to fully achieve their purpose of being at the Bayero University Kano. “But it is okay, at least we are getting to see the Hausa man and his culture in a way we have never done before,” says Silvia.
Coping with studies
Studying Hausa, the Italian students say, is not as easy as they thought. “The teachers speak in Hausa and we don’t understand most of the things that they say. It is very complicated for us. And they tend to speak fast,” Silvia said. However, she said, they always try to take summary notes, to speak with friends and exchange notebooks with students. And that way, they have been improving.
To make sure they utilise the little time they have for the programme, Simona said they do spend a lot of time in the library. “This is because we don’t have chairs in our room, we have just our bed so we can’t study there. So we like coming to the library because here it is very comfortable. There are a lot of books we can use. We wake up every day by 6am, take our bath, have our breakfast and go to the library or our lessons.”
Simona also said that, “We can attend the lectures of Diploma 1 and 2 and level 1, 2, 3, and 4. The lectures of Diploma 1 and 2, and level 1 and 2 are not easy but we can understand. But level 3 and 4 are too difficult for us to understand because Malam (teacher) just talks in Hausa.”
‘We enjoy Tuwon Shinkafa’
Nunzia (Lantana) said they sometimes cook food by themselves just they go to the canteen sometimes to buy. “But we only eat what we like. For instance, we like Tuwon Shinkafa da miyar taushe; we like Burabusko too, it tastes real good; but we don’t like tuwon dawa; we also don’t enjoy Fura, it feels somehow in the mouth.” As Nunzia was speaking, Silvia and Simona were nodding their heads as if to concur.
Then Simona added, “We also like Indomie noodles; though I know it is not a Hausa food, but we like it a lot. We also eat meat-pie, kosai (bean cake). But we are also cooking some Italian food like potatoes, tomatoes, pasta and so on because we the ingredients are available.
However, Silvia said she will not like to taste ice cream here again due to a terrible experience she once had. I took an ice cream about two weeks ago and I had a stomach upset, maybe because it got thawed – that is not good for an ice cream. May be that was because of power failure at night, which made it to become liquid instead of solid. But I have decided not to take ice cream here again.”
The trio also told Weekly Trust that they are seriously trying to learn how to cook Hausa foods – the ones they like – so that they can cook them for their parents, friends and others when they return to Italy.
‘Staying in Kano, Nigeria’
The Italian students say they are enjoying their stay in Nigeria, both on and off the campus – they have a room at the Ramat Hall, an all-female hostel at the Bayero University Kano. “People here are very kind and gentle. Of course that is not to say we didn’t have any difficulty settling down. You know we came from Europe where you have different kind of dresses, culture and so on. But they are not big problems for me, and I believe for my friends also,” Simona said.
“In Europe,” she continued, “you have very eventful nightlife. However, here we do not see clubs around. All the same, now we are here so we have to like the people here. That is why we have been trying to do some local things like using the dankwali (head tie) and some others. And kadan-kadan (gradually) we hope to do so many things. For now, we mostly dress in our own attire.”
“Then the weather is very hot here. It is definitely not as in Italy. In Italy, we don’t experience this kind of temperature. So, it was a little hard for us. We always need t drink a lot of water. We do miss some Italian foods, which cannot cook here, our families and a little bit of weather. Right now in Italy is the best season – spring. But, it is ok. We like the environment and other things around.
Places visited in Kano
Kano, according to the accounts of the Italian students, is a big city and the people are friendly. They said they want to see a lot of Kano because, “We know that Kano is the ancient city of the Hausa kingdom. We have visited the Kano zoo, the national museum, Gidan Dan Hausa – where we saw both the Hausa and Arabian architecture, Dala Hill and Goron Dutse, Sabongari, Kofar Mata, Kurmi Market, Bompai road and a host of other interesting places,” said Simona, who added that they mostly go out by themselves.
“We like the scene at the market because it is full of colours, smells, people, things and so on,” Silvia chipped in, adding that, “We will also love to see other cities apart from Kano. I think we will go to Sokoto, Abuja, Katsina before we return to Italy. We will also want to see Lagos but it is so far from here. But we want to see Abuja, which is the capital of Nigeria. Three months are really not enough to do all what we want.”
Nunzia said seeing other places outside Kano will give the opportunity to see the differences in the Hausa people’s way of living and broaden their horizon as far as their field of study is concerned.
Another chance
“If I have the chance to come back here after my study, I will take it because I like a lot of this city, this language and this culture. But if I am coming to spend like a year here, I will have to organize myself because I can’t always eat potatoes, tomatoes, I have to find a solution here – so I can have other Italian foods. It is so sad we have to return to Italy at the end of the programme. But, if offered, I will return here as soon as possible,” Silvia said.
As for Simona, it all depends on what happens. “You see I came here courtesy of a scholarship that my university gave me. I cannot stay here by myself because I don’t have a job and here I cannot have the same job of Italy. Again, I don’t know if my father can pay for me because my sister is still studying and my father has to give her money. If somebody can pay for me or if I win another scholarship, I will.”
Nunzia however said that she will have to wait until after the study. “For now, I don’t know exactly what will happen at the end of my study, even though I am enjoying my stay here.”
Can they marry here?
Weekly Trust asked the Italian students whether they will want to marry and remain here. Only Simona volunteered to answer the question as Silvia and Nunzia just laughed it off. Simona said, “I am not in love with anybody here. And if someone proposes to me, it will depend on how I respond to his feelings. If I am positive about the relationship, then it will be possible.”
Simona also told Weekly Trust of how “a small baby” once approached her. “I called him a baby because he was only 18 years old and I am 22. I don’t think he is mature enough to start a relationship,” she said.
‘They are friendly’
Eyinla Tetsoma, one of their Nigerian friends, said the Italian students live as any other student on campus. “They don’t feel they are different from other students. They use the toilets at the hostel like other students, go to students’ canteen etc. They are also free with everybody and they don’t snub anybody.”
Also published in the Weekly Trust newspaper
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