Category Archives: Discussion
The lost generation — Nioro Kabada
Do you have a photo of your grand parents? This is the question I kept asking to adults in Nioro but 90 percent or 9 out of 10 adults asked responded in the negative – of course one can simply see why. Photography and Kabadaa in the early 1950s and decades later was something of […]
The lost generation
Do you have a photo of your grand parents? This is the question I kept asking to adults in Nioro but 90 percent or 9 out of 10 adults asked responded in the negative – of course one can simply see why. Photography and Kabadaa in the early 1950s and decades later was something of an imagination. A generation is lost, the gallant soldiers that founded Nioro only a few of them can be referred to in a photograph. When you ask an elderly person to describe the rest there is a great deal of stories but such descriptions are hard to imagine.
Hence the need to employ some scientific means to help preserve the images of these god parents similar to the kind of portraits and images that can be found in history books. For example I recently found an image of Sheik Umar Footee Taal. One can still look at such images and consolidate their imagination about an icon.
I am confident something could be done even school going age could be tasked to mimic such images. Just thinking out loud right now. Let me have your views
The Community Contribution to Dara Educaton what is your reflection?
The Nioro Jattaba village like most villages had always had very effective Quranic teaching and learning centers locally called Dara (Duuda). These centers could be found in various compounds across the length and breadth of the village. For example, In Sareh Naereh there were two Daras; one in the late Ba Alhagie Ebrima Solo’s compound and the other in the late Mama Sambey’s compound. In Bedda, there were two; a Dara in Daboe Kolley’s compound and a Dara in Mama Alpha’s compound. In Languyeh there was a Dara in Ba Chabba’s compound. In Sowe Kunda, there was a Dara in the late Imam Ba Chanando’s. For most of us if not all us these Daras were our first learning institutions and we learnt the Quran.
The point am trying to make here is for us to reflect back on how the Dara operated for decades in Nioro and beyond. Let us focus on how the whole community including the parents cooperated and supported the cause of these Daras. In my view the Dara was one of the most successful model that worked for Nioro – the evidence are widespread.
I hereby urge everyone to reflect very carefully on how the Dara setting works? How every member of the village including the stranger in the village for example the ‘Ndummo’ (seasonal) farmer contributed meaningfully in ensuring the Dara worked and for decades everyone who completed or exit the Dara system benefited significantly.
Hopefully, this reflection might be instrumental by carrying it further with the view of reviving the current Daras education including the school in the village that is seemingly missing or lacking the focus and contribution the Daras benefited from the community in the 80s or earlier. What is your reflection?
Summary needed
Our information gathering initiative has so far gathered some substantial amount of information that could be summarised in a document and be easily used to whom it may concerned. In a fashion that would not require a visitor to go through all the web pages for the posts to know about Nioro. Then we can have this summary under the History Page to be downloadable.
May I suggest that some of our members who have experience in freelance journalism; the likes of Modika Y. Bah , Bubacarr J. Sowe and Ebrima L. Bah to lead this process of summarising the history so far written. In a similar note, we are very encouraged by the efforts of the contributors in particular; Ba Alasan and Ba Musa in going this length to enlighten us about the history of Nioro. I I think there is more to be told
alkalol
Bubacarr Sowe
kibarugisarre
Nioro Kabada 