00:05

Q – TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.

My name is Esther, I Came into Wales to study, to do my master’s in project management. I was in 2020 and I finished. I have three kids, they are all here… I have an 8 year old and a I have a 3 year old but I had the 3 year old when I came in here.

00:33

Q – WHAT WAS IT LIKE GROWING UP IN NIGERIA?

Well, from the part I was born, I was born in Kano, that's a northern part of Nigeria and my parents are from Kogi State, they are also categorised as northern central. Umm, growing up, in the northern part of Nigeria we are very reserved, so growing up for me was a reserved environment and very quiet… We play but… the northern part is known to be religious, in terms of being Muslim so it’s hardly to have kids running around or playing unnecessarily because they see that you are going to mostly… training, where classes, to attend them or you are with your parents because OK, I would like to put it this way, in the northern part a man might have married four wives because he's allowed, Muslim is allowed religiously, but all of them are all living in one house and he's the only one that can see his wife… so they’re basically in their house with the children so you can hardly get into them, except the husband coming in to see them. So, growing up is more within your family or you are in school or you are in the Muslim classes or things like that. So it's quite quiet, yeah, I would say, I'll put it that way.

02:17

Q – WHICH PARTS OF NIGERIAN CULTURE ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Well, for us we preach unities so every culture is important in their own ways because the diversity brings everyone together… So for the northern part, we see everyone as one. We want to appreciate the uniqueness of everybody, so we tend not to discriminate, we tend not to be, “oh, it's all about me”, as long as you’re a human being. Say for instance, I'm an Igbo lady, as long as you can speak Hausa, that's from the north, we accept you. Yes, you’re immediately seen as part of us, yeah.

03:00

Q – HOW DOES THE GREETINGS WORK THERE?

Well, if you're going to get into a house, like I said they're Muslim based, I'm not saying this to say that Christians are not, even me as a Christian if I have to enter a property I will start with “Salam, peace be unto this house” you know, so, it's important I also show that I believe in what they believe, so I greet, and in terms of greeting in the Hausa, I just kind of say “Ina kwana, ina gaji ya”, you know, just normal, not categorically interested in how I must be respectful, because Alhaja is older than myself, so I'm prostrating, I’m all on the floor to say I have to pay that respect, no, my respect is me greeting her, you know, so we know we have shown that respect in the first, place, so yeah.

04:01

Q – SO DO YOU HAVE TO GET ON THE FLOOR FOR ELDERS OR ANYTHING?

No, not in terms of the Yoruba, but yeah, there are some northern parts that do that, but not necessarily, no.

04:14

Q – WHAT DO YOU MISS ABOUT NIGERIA?

Yeah, every other person that come here had said that they've had their food supply to them, but for us in the northern parts, you still wouldn't have miyan kuka in this place, you won’t have tuwo in this place... was it this weekend I saw over YouTube how we can do to tuwo rice, tuwo shinkafa, with rice, the normal rice… it’s easier to see all the cultural food here, but you can't see masa, we're still looking for things like masa… we can see them here, they just difficult to get them. So, trust me, growing up with those food and not having them, it's key, it's important to me to say I’ve missed that part as well. [INTERVIEWER – WHAT’s MASA?]. Is made with rice, it’s like a cake, or how do I put it like, I put it this way, rice cake, because if I want to explain how it's done, then you will need me to put some kind of, we need to put some kind of gas here and start demonstrating it here. [INTERVIEWER – WHAT’S MIYAN KUKA?] It’s soup… So what do you call soup now, you call it sauce, isn't it? Yes, sauce, OK, so it’s a sauce, but it’s not sauce, it’s a soup for us [LAUGHTER]. [INTERVIEWER – MADE FROM?] Kuka, is a tree that is planted, it like a vegetable, yes. It’s vegetable base, yeah.

05:54

Q – WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT LIVING IN WALES?

In Wales?... OK, I came to study like I said, and I, my best part of living in Wales was when I moved into the Rhondda Valley, up in Tonypandy. Trust me. It made me feel a bit about Nigeria where, you know, culturally, we know everything that happened in your next door. Someone can just pass and you don't know what has happened. Even if someone is admitted in the hospital it’s a communal thing, it’s the problem of everybody. So we take turn, somebody is either, I'm calling you, “Hello, your home, please, would you stay with them?” Either, by the time that you have brought your food in the hospital, so I miss that part, but when I went to Wales, as soon as I was arriving with my stuff, the people came out. “Oh, are you new here?” My next-door neighbour started helping to move my stuff inside, like OK, this is looking more like Nigeria, right? OK, so day-to-day help, very helpful. Yeah. So, I would say that they are very loving and accommodating and helpful, yeah.

07:12

Q – WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN IN WALES?

That is why we started the cultural group, so we don't miss the Nigeria part. Just, you see the excitement when we met each other, we’re like ‘ooh’, everyone is here and we went back home talking and talking with excitement. You know, it's always very exciting to see us together like this, so that is the reason. We know a lot of people would have missed that part so we started the cultural group. That's ‘The Big Heart International Cultural Group.’

07:42

Q – CAN YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT THE TRADITIONAL DANCE IN YOUR TRIBE?

We're very reserved, like I said. Say, if I want to talk about the marriage in Hausa, say, it’s more like very prayer-related because they come together and the person in charge is praying… it’s very simplified, like, we don't make it loud, we don't dance, we don't sing. We sing but you can really just see that it’s quiet environment, we're not loud, like, people make a party, you must change clothes, you must have uniform, no... And the reason I asked earlier about the other cultural group about their friends, in this case your friends are there with you all through, for instance, I'm going to get married, my friends would just be around me, just to remind me that we are here for you, all right, you're not alone with this. Not just because I want them to be everywhere, cleaning, walking, cooking, no, these are the ones that we also, after the marriage is over, they’re the ones that will take me to my husband’s house, not immediately, not because they finished the prayer that day, I'll be at my husband’s house, no, I will spend it with them and then they will take me to my husband then… And then because it’s religious days, we don't allow that intimacy… you know he has said he wants to marry you, right? You know him, but we don't give room for that intimacy to get close, no, because it must happen in the way it should go traditionally and quietly with prayers, yeah… If you want to talk about where my parents are from then of course, there is lists, you will buy yam, you will do all of that but from where I was born, and that's Kano, no, no.

10:05

Q – IS FOOTBALL AN IMPORTANT PART OF NIGERIAN LIFE?

Yeah, but I'm sorry to say I'm one that doesn't like football. But my boys, my younger son plays for Swansea City. My older son plays also football in Ammanford. He used to play for Ynyshir. I mean, my husband is Man Utd fan, but even when they started the football yesterday, I went straight to my room and it's no business of mine because I don't like football. I'm sorry to say it, but it's just not my thing, kind of.

10:46

Q – ARE MARRIAGES MORE ARRANGED?

Yeah, you would say arranged, yes, I will agree with that because it's important you know who your child is going to and be sure that she will be taking care of. [INTERIVEWER – IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHRISTIAN AND THE MUSLIM WEDDINGS?] Yeah, of course there’s loads and loads and loads of difference between the Christians and the Muslims, but again, in the end what matters to a typical Hausa man is, I can help you, I see you as my family… If say for instance, if a Hausa woman or a man, again I must point to say that, their wives, the Hausas, the wives are well taken care of, you don't necessarily need to work, it’s the responsibility of the man who does all the work, especially because their religion says you need to be protected, so they need to stay at home and be well. If I knocked a Hausa… even if she is my friend, I probably will be seeing her eyes alone. Yes, I probably would. She is completely covered in hijab, completely, but of course I know she's my friend because I saw her to her husband's house, isn't it, so I know she's the one. So, in terms of religion also, they're quite different. Christians do their Christian things, go to church and all that, Muslims also, they do the prayers five times a day and all that… In unity we still see each other as one.

Q – THAT’S THE HAUSA? SO YOU CAN BE CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM AS A HAUSA? ARE TRIBAL THINGS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR RELIGION?

Yes, more important because they they kind of like unity and peace, yeah.

12:47

Farming? Yeah, they like to farm. You say what would be their kind of trade? Farming. From my parents side, that's the north central where my parents are from, we go to farm, my grandpa’s farm, trust me, I didn't like going. [LAUGHTER]. It's up the hill and you, you get to wake up early in the morning and there you are carrying, oh my goodness, I'm going up the hill, whether you like it or not you just have to be part of it. And I didn't like that part at all, it was the horrible part… don't wake me up and get me to start doing that, but again, I have to 'cause that is the family.

13:32

Yeah, fun activity. Yeah, when we are, when it’s the Muslim celebration… when you kill the ram, fry the ram, you want to keep it in your house for months because it's well done… the meat… you will ask a Muslim person, “please where is my ram”, it’s important to share the ram, like get to me… yeah, you are not looking forward to the time they are fasting, ‘cause you don’t want to be a part, you are looking forward to that big one where they are doing the big sallah, so that you can ask your friends, “my ram”, because it is very well done, yeah. So the religion part celebration, and then when it’s the Christian too, their Christmas, oh my goodness, the food! You know, I remember back then, you said, what did I miss as a child right, I remember when my mum, we put the food on my head on a tray, and I would go knock the neighbour’s house, “I brought your food, Merry Christmas.” And the neighbour will give me, you call it trick or treat, when you go for all that neighbour knocking, and you never bring food, yeah, knocking for trick or treat. I carry food on my head and I knocked and I give you the food and you give me money. But here you are knocking my door, you say trick or treat without food in your hand, you’re expecting money… I miss that part, it’s Christmas… I go to that neighbour before because that particular neighbour, she has good things to give, you know, so I miss that part growing up, you know, it’s exciting to see the love, it’s not someone feeling, “Oh no, I don’t eat this food, no.” It’s food, you know, I brought food, and the person can bring as well, there’s always an exchange for food, that celebration part, yes.

ENDS