ABU NAKA BY HAFSAT C SOANGI 

"Go inside and bring her out to the car. I sent Adamu to charter it so it can take her, and Inna can accompany her to escort her."
At that exact moment, she burst into tears, protesting, "This match you have made does not fit at all! You of all people know this boy better than anyone. You know full well that he hasn't dropped any of his old habits—in fact, more have been added to what you already knew!"
"I don't know anything about his character; you are the one who claims to know it. Just hand over his wife so she can be taken to him," he replied.
She said, "Well, in that case, honestly, let him come here first so we can make him undergo those modern medical tests to verify his health."
Kawu Gide stood up abruptly and snapped, "Haba, Habiba! Don't ruin my mood. Can't you see people are standing outside waiting? And that place is not close by."
Inna Habiba went inside the house. Saddiqa was sitting down, having her bridal henna adorned, completely oblivious to what was happening outside. When she saw her aunt (Gwaggo) crying, she quickly pushed the henna materials aside, rushed over, and asked, "What happened, Gwaggo?"
Abu said, "Well, if you have anything to say to her, say it now."
"It is pure trouble that Yaya is trying to throw us into, only for him to sit back and watch from the sidelines if it catches up with us. I have never seen—"
Abu swiftly cut her off by grabbing her large, three-yard wrapper hanging nearby, throwing it over Saddiqa to cover her, and taking her by the hand, dragging her outside.
Kawu Gide, who was standing there waiting for them to emerge, put them into the car the moment he saw them. He dismissed the driver, and they set off on their journey.
Nearly three hours into the trip, Saddiqa had not stopped crying. At first, her weeping didn't bother Abu, who was happily scraping her kola nut, tossing pieces into her mouth, and chewing contentedly. Eventually, the crying irritated her, and she scolded Saddiqa. Even when Abu grew tired of scolding, the crying didn't stop, so she resorted to comforting her.
Nothing broke Saddiqa’s heart more than the fact that on the day of her wedding solemnization, her aunt was made to cry; and today, as she was being escorted to her husband's house, she was brought out and left weeping. What joy could a marriage to Yaya Mus’ab possibly bring her?
Abu struck up a conversation with the car driver.
"My goodness, this town is incredibly far."
He replied, "Yes, Baba. Nigeria is a vast country indeed. The Almighty has blessed it with immense natural wealth; our only misfortune is that we haven't been blessed with leaders who have compassion for their citizens."
Abu agreed, saying, "Today's leaders are only interested in their own affairs. True compassion for the common man died with the likes of Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. Everything they did was for the masses. May the Almighty forgive them."
The driver responded, "Amen, Baba."
In the middle of their conversation, Abu turned around to check on Saddiqa because she noticed she had gone silent, only to find that sleep had overtaken her. She told the driver, "Since this one has fallen asleep, let me catch some sleep myself. When it's time for prayer, just park so we can perform it." He replied, "Alright."
At around eleven-thirty at night, they finally entered the town of Ajaokuta. By then, from the elderly Abu to the youthful Saddiqa, everyone was completely exhausted.
Because the driver was an experienced veteran who frequently traveled to Ajaokuta, they didn't struggle to find the neighborhood and the house where Mus’ab lived, thanks to the precise directions and the guide points Kawu Gide had given him.
They stood at the entrance of the house just as Abu commented on a storm that was brewing.
"Is this it, Baba? I think I see the house over there."
She stared toward it and said, "Well, you had better go and knock on their door before this rain breaks loose and pours down heavily."
He said, "Alright."
He stepped out of the car, holding the address card in his hand to double-check. Once he verified the number, he began knocking on the gate until someone came out. However, contrary to his expectations of seeing a man—since Abu had told him during their conversation that she was delivering a wife to her grandson who had grown old without marrying—he saw a woman.
She stood there, dressed in the local fashion of the town.
"Well, I don't speak Hausa, but let me call them; perhaps they understand it, and you can speak with them," the driver told the woman who had come out. Without waiting, he turned back toward his passengers. Abu watched him, not knowing what he had said to her.
He reached the car just as a fierce wind picked up, carrying the spray of oncoming rain.
"You can come out now."
Abu and Saddiqa followed behind him until they stepped onto the veranda of the house, where the woman stood watching them.
"You, Saddiqa, speak English to her and ask where he is!" Abu commanded.
Saddiqa acted as if she hadn't heard, her mind racing back to her aunt's warnings: "I assure you, he is the ultimate womanizer; I dread the day you catch him with another woman!" Her aunt’s words echoed vividly. Instantly, a fresh torrent of tears began to stream down her face.
Tired of waiting for Saddiqa to speak to Jennifer, Abu turned to face her and began communicating through intense hand gestures to explain they were looking for Mus’abu. "I am his grandmother, Abu," she said, pointing to her chest, before pointing to Saddiqa and adding, "And this is his wife. We were told this is his house. Where did he go that I find you inside?"
Even though Jennifer did not speak Hausa, she understood Abu’s frantic gestures perfectly. Instantly, her heart flared with intense, overwhelming jealousy. She was deeply shaken by the sight of Saddiqa. Was this the girl he had married? In her heart, she knew she was old enough to be her mother—and if she were being honest with herself, she knew she had given birth to children older than this girl.
"We came to see Mus’abu," Abu repeated firmly.
"Come in," Jennifer said, stepping back to grant them entry. As they were about to step inside, the driver began bidding them farewell.
Abu asked, "So, will you come back in the morning?"
He replied, "No, I've already been paid fully. I'll make an early start and hit the road back home. May the Almighty bless this union."
She said, "Amen." They said their goodbyes, and he left.
Abu and Saddiqa sat in the exquisitely furnished living room. Abu’s eyes scanned the room rapidly before she quickly whispered to Saddiqa, "There is no doubt this is his house; look at his picture hanging over there."
Saddiqa acted as if she hadn't heard her, thinking to herself, So you've only just noticed.
Abu spoke up again, "Where on earth is Mus’ab?" she asked, seeing Jennifer emerge from a room only to head toward another part of the house.
Jennifer understood the question. She turned around and explained in English, pointing to the wall clock.
"It is twelve-thirty at night. It isn't time for him to return home yet. He is at the club drinking his alcohol. If you are lucky, he might return around three in the morning. If he hooks up with some loose woman there, then he won't be back until tomorrow after he leaves the office."
She then walked into the room she was heading toward. Abu looked at Saddiqa, whose tears were already flowing freely, and asked, "What did she say?"
Saddiqa remained silent and did not respond. Irritated by her silence, Abu snapped, "If you can't even understand this tangled English this woman is speaking, then your Western education has been completely useless! Even I, if I paid close enough attention, could figure out what she's saying. What did she say?"
Saddiqa still refused to answer. Abu scowled and said, "Fine, keep it up. A person is asking you a question, and you sit there in silence, refusing to say a word."
Jennifer returned to the living room carrying a tray containing two roasted chickens, along with two large, long bottles and two porcelain mugs with long handles.
Abu reached out, grabbed a bottle, handed it to Saddiqa, and ordered, "Use your youthful strength to open this watery one; I'll start with that."
Saddiqa looked at the bottle, screamed, and cried, "Drop that bottle, Abu! It's alcohol!"
Panicked, Abu, instead of setting it down gently, threw it away. The bottle struck the glass coffee table in the living room and shattered. Instantly, the pungent stench of alcohol filled the entire space. Saddiqa and Abu bolted outside into the yard, retching and vomiting repeatedly.
They huddled tightly against the wall, shivering under the torrential rain pouring down like water from a heavy waterspout.
After a long while, they spotted car headlights illuminating the house as a vehicle approached. The car pulled up right beside the steps leading up to the veranda and came to a stop.
Mus’ab stepped out of the car with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He hurried up the veranda steps, clearly trying to avoid getting soaked by the rain. A flash of lightning lit up the area, followed immediately by a deafening clap of thunder shaking the earth.
His attention was caught by the huddled figures he spotted shivering in the darkness.
"Who is out there?"
He asked the question just as he reached out and switched on the veranda light that had been left off, illuminating the space. It was Abu, shivering violently from the freezing cold.
He stared at them blankly as if he had never seen them before, gripped by a sudden wave of fear, anxiety, and profound shock. He desperately wished he were merely trapped in a nightmare.
With great effort, he forced his mouth open and asked, "Is that Abu?"
Through chattering teeth, she replied, "Yes. Welcome."
If only he possessed a magical charm to vanish into thin air, or if he could run away and join the row of houses behind them, he would have done so. But there was no escape; they had already seen him, and it was impossible to abandon them in the wretched state he had found them.
He braced himself and said, "Why on earth would you be crouching out here, Abu? Please, stand up and let's go inside the house."
Abu firmly replied, "No."
"Haba Abu, please forgive me."
He leaned down, crouching close to them as he pleaded. The cigarette smoke in his hand combined with the stale stench of the heavy alcohol he had guzzled triggered Saddiqa's nausea, causing her to violently retch and vomit again.
He quickly backed away, tossing the cigarette butt from his hand. He stood up and stepped into the house. Bumping into the shattered alcohol bottle and seeing the chickens on the tray made his heart sink even deeper into panic.
"Don't tell me Jennifer gave them alcohol?!" he asked himself, his body trembling. He rushed into his bedroom. Jennifer was lying completely naked on the bed, wearing nothing but underwear, claiming she was enjoying the breeze.
"Who caused the destruction I just saw in the living room, Jennifer?"
She acted as if she hadn't heard him, lying perfectly still as though she were asleep. It wasn't until he landed a heavy blow on her that she jumped out of bed and sat up.
"I believe it was that old woman."
His body began to shake with rage.
"You offered alcohol to my grandmother to drink, Jennifer?!" He stared at her, consumed by intense grief and anger.
She sneered contemptuously and retorted, "So what? Isn't that what you use to entertain your guests in your house?"
He raised his hand and slapped her across the face, expecting her to take it quietly as she usually did before begging for his forgiveness. Instead, she lunged at him with both hands, grabbing him tightly—she had clearly been waiting for this moment. Enraged, Mus’ab began beating her severely. She screamed and shrieked, unleashing a torrent of profanities, grabbing whatever object her hands could find and hurling it at him to strike him or cause damage.
A violent brawl erupted, and her screams intensified. Outside, Abu and Saddiqa were utterly terrified. Instead of crouching, they stood up, frantically wondering where they could possibly go in the dead of night under a torrential downpour.
Just then, Sani arrived and parked outside the house. He jumped out of his car and rushed inside to break up the fight.
"Good grief, Mus’ab never listens to advice! He went ahead and brought another woman to this lady's house," Sani muttered aloud to himself, though he quickly swallowed his words when he spotted Abu and Saddiqa standing outside.
"Abu! What a surprise! Is it really you at our house? Come, let's go inside the other wing."
She replied, "No. Just go inside and separate them before a murder is committed."
He rushed into the house and emerged a few moments later dragging Jennifer, who was wrapped in nothing but a towel he had thrown over her. He quickly shoved her into the car he came in, drove off, and returned shortly after.
A few minutes later, Mus’ab emerged from the house looking perfectly clean and composed, as though he hadn't just been a central player in that shameful disaster.
"Please come inside, Abu."
"Don't you dare! Don't you ever tell me to step foot into your house again!" she snapped, shivering violently from the cold biting at her bones.
"Alright, let's go so I can find a hotel for you both to get some sleep."
The mention of finding them a hotel made her burst into heavy tears, invoking praises to God. "I am an old woman preparing to meet my end with faith! What business do I have sleeping in a hotel?!"
He instantly realized his massive blunder in saying that and began begging for her forgiveness.
"Then tell me where you want me to take you, Abu. But for the sake of the Almighty, do not say you will sleep out here in this terrible condition."
Moved by his desperate pleading, she finally spoke up and said, "Take us to the Imam's house."
He pondered for a brief moment before replying, "Where we are right now is on the outskirts of town, Abu, and the Imam lives deep within the city center. Please, have patience; the Imam's grandson lives right in this neighborhood. He is a very good man, and he lives here with his family. Let me take you to his house instead."
She agreed, "Alright."
Idris's house was identical in design and structure to Mus’ab’s, as both men were employees at the Steel Rolling Mill. It wasn't far away, and they had enjoyed a long, excellent neighborly relationship.
They had to knock heavily on the door before it was finally opened. The moment Idris saw them, he ushered them into his living room.
"Welcome, come inside." After greeting them, he turned his gaze to Mus’ab.
"Don't tell me we are hosting late-night bridal guests tonight?"
Mus’ab replied, "Yes, it's them."
Idris smiled again. "Is it the senior wife and the new bride?"
"Yes, it's them," Mus’ab answered again. He was merely forcing himself to display false courage; he alone knew the sheer turmoil raging inside his heart.
"Abida, come out! You have late-night bridal guests."
"Oh, dear! Please let her sleep. Just give us a place where we can stretch our legs; our bodies are incredibly stiff and aching," Abu interjected.
Ignoring her protest, Idris went inside and woke his wife, and they emerged together. She was a beautiful, medium-height young woman with a rich, dark-complexioned skin tone and thick, abundant hair. Dressed in her nightwear, she rubbed her eyes, a warm smile spreading across her face at the sight of guests.
"You are very welcome," she said, smiling warmly. "Wow, so the bride chose to make her arrival late at night in the middle of a rainstorm?"
Abu replied, "In a heavy rainstorm indeed! Look at us, completely drenched and messy."
From the room she had just exited, a child began to cry. She quickly went back inside, picked up the baby, and was about to hand him to Idris when Abu reached out and took him, saying, "Ah, so there is a little elder in this house?"
Mus’ab chimed in, "Yes, he is named after the Imam—his name is Umar."
Abu scowled, visibly annoyed that he had dared to insert himself into her conversation.
Abida emerged again, still smiling. "Well, you must be both exhausted and starving. What shall we start with—a bath or some food?"
Abu replied, "Just give us a place to sleep, and we will lay down."
Abida smiled and noted, "It is already four-thirty in the morning. It's better to hold on a bit; once we perform the dawn prayers, you can lie down and rest fully."
"In that case, give us some water so we can bathe, so this poor girl can find some comfort. She has suffered immensely and vomited today until she is completely exhausted and spent. Look at her, they didn't even have the sense to pack her any clothes before bringing her here. They didn't even care what kind of heartbreak and misery she would encounter here—a clear sign of how an unfortunate woman ends up with a terrible husband and plunges into disaster."
Abida looked at her gently and remarked, "But even so, Baba, you look far more exhausted than she does."
Mus’ab, knowing full well that Abu’s biting remarks were aimed entirely at him, told Idris, "Let me step back home for a moment; I'll be right back." Idris replied, "Alright, go safely." Mus’ab quickly hurried out.
Before Saddiqa could even finish her bath, Mus’ab returned. He walked in and handed Idris a plastic shopping bag containing two brand-new, beautifully tailored long gowns made of premium galila fabric, complete with their matching boxes, shawls, underwear, and small earrings.
Idris passed the bag to his wife, who took it into the bathroom to hand to Saddiqa. Saddiqa accepted it with both hands, filled with joy and relief, completely unaware of where the clothes had come from.
As soon as the dawn prayers were concluded, Abida laid out an array of various dishes and drinks before Abu and Saddiqa. She was an exceptionally talented cook, presenting the meal beautifully so that even if a person wasn't hungry, the sheer sight of it would entice them to eat. This was especially true for Abu and Saddiqa, who had endured a grueling journey, arrived on empty stomachs, and spent the night retching.
They ate until they were completely full. Abu even requested that the ceiling fan be turned on. Just then, Abida returned carrying yet another dish to place near Abu. Abu quickly waived her off, saying:
"My dear child, unless you want us to eat until we are physically unable to stand up, you had better leave us be!"
Abida smiled and reassured her, "You won't fail to stand up; there is nothing heavy in what you've eaten."
Abu insisted, "We cannot eat another bite."
A short while later, Abida suggested, "Well then, let's go so you can lie down and get some rest."
Abu firmly replied, "No. At this point, we just want a car to be brought here to pack us up and return us right back to where we came from."
Idris, who had long since realized there was a severe crisis between them and Mus’ab, told her, "Well, please just stretch your legs for a moment while I go arrange a vehicle for you."
She replied, "Alright," out of deep respect for him and his wife's exceptional hospitality.
The moment they laid their heads down, sleep swiftly overtook them, and they became completely oblivious to the world.
Meanwhile, Mus’ab was with Idris, narrating the entire sequence of events without hiding a single detail. Idris looked at him, his face filled with anger and deep regret.
"What on earth does this look like? I have always watched you, constantly baffled by the reckless life you lead, because anyone can see from your appearance that you are a man of noble lineage who comes from a highly respectable home. Yet, you chose to throw yourself into this degenerate, reckless lifestyle! Where is the good in what has happened now? What can you possibly say to this poor young girl?"
They fell into a tense silence. After a while, Idris hissed in frustration and added, "You were blessed with such a pure, respectable young girl; what business do you have running around with these loose women who attach horsehair extensions to their heads?"
Mus’ab sighed deeply, "Uhm! You don't even know the massive battle that had to be fought with my mother before they agreed to give her to me."
Idris hissed again, dropping the subject by calling out to his wife. "Abida!"
She answered, "Na'am! I'm coming right now, just two minutes."
She arrived before the two minutes were up, impeccably groomed, carrying their son who was squirming on her back—a sign that he didn't want to be carried. In her hands, she held a tray of food she had prepared for them and set it down before her husband.
"What if your wrapper unrolls and falls off, Abida?" Idris teased.
"Then he will just have to deal with it," she shot back playfully as she unstrapped the baby to hand him over. Seeing the way her husband was looking at her, she smiled and said, "Alright, I'm sorry." She found a spot to sit down and listened to what he had to say.
"No going into town today," Idris stated.
She smiled, "I know, since we have guests."
He added, "Well, we have a bit of a crisis regarding our guests."
She replied, "I understand. I overheard Abu saying that Aisha's mother was completely right when she warned her that she was merely being dragged into pure trouble; therefore, Abu said she won't leave her trapped in this chaos—she will take her back and return her to her mother."
Mus’ab’s heart sank into his chest yet again. Idris told his wife, "Well, using your wisdom as women, try to find a way to comfort them for us, especially Abu, so she can find it in her heart to be patient."
He reached out and pulled the food tray toward them, and she stood up and went back inside.
At around twelve-thirty in the afternoon, Abu woke up, offering praises to God and stretching. As she opened her eyes, she landed a sharp smack on Saddiqa.
"Get up, you foolish, spineless girl! You've laid there completely relaxed, your mouth wide open sleeping deeply, as though you didn't go to sleep filled with heartbreak!"
Saddiqa groaned, "Oh, Abu! It's as if we didn't fall asleep at the exact same time."
"Get up so we can get ready and leave!"
Saddiqa scrambled out of bed. "Go outside and ask the woman of the house if the car has been brought for us."
She went out and spoke with Abida, who was looking at Saddiqa with immense admiration. "They are right here in the living room; they just walked back in. Let me ask them for you."
Saddiqa replied, "Alright."
She went back into the room to inform Abu, while Abida headed to her husband's living room to convey Abu's inquiry.
Slowly, Mus’ab spoke up and said, "Please call Abu out here for me."
She replied, "Alright," and left.
Idris and Sani greeted Abu respectfully, and she acknowledged them, but she deliberately refused to answer Mus’ab's greeting.
"Haba Abu! Things haven't completely ruined between us, have they? Are we really going to be at odds like this? Aisha is the one who has every right to be furious with me; you should be the one uniting us, scolding us, and resolving our issues so we can live in peace. After all, I am used to hearing you say that marriage is meant to be repaired and preserved, not destroyed."
She swiftly cut him off, snapping, "Not a marriage like yours! You never had any genuine intention of building a home. A man who intends to marry doesn't indulge in the disgusting things you do. Since you've chosen to prioritize your worldly desires over everything else, go right ahead and indulge yourself! But as for Saddiqa, I am taking her straight back to her mother. They were weeping when they were separated, and her mother begged me that if I ever saw things going wrong, I should not leave Saddiqa behind because she could never survive a life with you."
Sani smiled and interjected, "Haba Abu..."
Before he could finish his sentence, she turned on him sharply and barked, "Quiet! Don't you dare say a single word to me! I believe both of you are running a competition in absolute degeneracy. I saw exactly what time you sneaked back into this house last night. Even if a thief returns to his den at that ungodly hour, he is considered a thoroughly corrupt and useless thief!"
Idris chimed in, "That is the absolute truth, Abu. This lifestyle is completely hollow. How can anyone compare loose street women to the pure, respectable women you have raised and given to us?"
Abu was deeply pleased by Idris's perspective. She relaxed and began talking freely with him. She bared her mind completely, narrating everything from the exact day Mus’ab came to her house seeking Saddiqa's hand in marriage, right up to their departure from home yesterday and the shameful disaster their eyes witnessed at his house. She held nothing back, recounting every detail calmly to him.

2. Structural & Character Analysis

Character Dynamics & Plot Progression

• Kawu Gide's Secret Motive: In this segment, Kawu Gide's true colors emerge. In the previous section, Mus'ab wept to him, claiming he was an unloved orphan. Kawu Gide weapons-tested this by orchestrating a hasty, unceremonious forced dispatch of Saddiqa to Mus'ab's house in Ajaokuta, completely bypassing standard cultural protocols (like health screenings) just to rid the family house of the drama.
• The Culture Shock (Ajaokuta vs. The North): The move from the deep traditional North to a heavy industrial town like Ajaokuta (Kogi State) highlights a massive geographical and cultural shift. The presence of Jennifer (a non-Hausa, English-speaking live-in partner) living a completely westernized, naked lifestyle in Mus'ab's house shatters Abu's traditional realities.

• The Parallel Foil (Idris and Abida): Idris and Abida serve as a direct literary foil to Mus'ab and Jennifer. Idris works at the same Steel Rolling Mill and lives in an identical house, yet his home is filled with prayers, a beautifully raised child (named after the Imam), clean food, and a modest, loving wife. This contrast destroys Mus'ab's excuse that his environment or work stress forced him into a life of sin.

  Key Vocabulary & Cultural Terms

  Hausa Term	Literary/Contextual Meaning
  Shatarta	A chartered or fully rented vehicle for a long-distance private trip.
  Gwaggo / Inna Habiba	Maternal or paternal aunt figures who represent the protective, nurturing side of the family.
  Zaninta mai girman yadi uku	A traditional large three-yard wrapper used here to hastily cover a bride in an emergency departure.
  Ajakuta (Ajaokuta)	A major industrial town in Kogi State, Nigeria, famous for its steel complex, representing a secular worker's town far from the conservative oversight of the family.
  Matan bariki	"Women of the barracks" or street women/loose women living a secular, fast-paced life.
  Galila	A very premium, traditional polished cotton or high-grade fabric often gifted to brides.

  3. Thematic Breakdown

  The Conflict of Lifestyles: Institutional Decency vs. "Sharholiya"

  The dialogue between Idris and Mus’ab focuses heavily on the theme of wasted potential. Mus’ab possesses high pedigree (mutum mai asali), yet he chooses sharholiya (frivolous, degenerate living). The narrative uses the smashed bottle of alcohol to physically represent how his vices break the fragile domestic peace of any home he tries to build.

  The Power of Matriarchal Verdict

  Despite the highly patriarchal setting of the society, Abu (the grandmother) holds absolute veto power over the continuation of the marriage. Once she witnesses the moral decay of Mus'ab's household, she actively decides to dismantle the union herself, proving that traditional Hausa matriarchs prioritize a daughter's spiritual and physical safety over preserving a marriage to a wealthy but degenerate relative.