Raimi Kayode who claimed to have left his Igboho hometown in Osun State in search of greener pastures in Kaduna State, is homeless, jobless and mentally challenged.
Do you know Raimi Kayode of Ile Onimosa Igboho in Oyo State who migrated to Kaduna in 1987, or any of his relatives? A newspaper vendor, Ayodele Obaloko, in Jos Road, Kaduna has some news: Kayode who has been untraceable for many years is alive but has unfortunately lost his mind.
Kayode is a popular face at L1 and L2 Ahmadu Bello Way where he has made a home for himself in front of some shops. Many people called him an Islamic cleric as he had a reputation for offering buoyant Islamic prayers for all who seek his help. During the day, apart from offering prayers for prospective clients who pay him a token, he sits offering unsolicited advice to the government. He had an opinion on almost every subject including security, economy, infrastructure, etc.
Kayode is destitute and a nuisance who has been mentally ill for many years. On Jos Road with a large Yoruba immigrant population, he is regarded as a cleric of sorts with special powers for effective prayers. For others who do not believe in his supernatural talents, he is simply a mad man.
The first impression on seeing Kayode did not betray his illness, he is dark with tribal marks which age filled into his cheeks and age has done a good job of hiding. He has a full beard and moustache part of which has gone grey and bloodshot eyes.
He wore a cheap green lace traditional outfit which was tolerably clean, however, if one looked closely, one would see that underneath, he was wearing another lace. His hands are clean and his fingernails are neatly trimmed. On his two wrists he wore two different watches which surprisingly tell the correct time. He had a light brown cap on his head, a pair of bathroom slippers and carried a sack.
The content of the sack betrayed him as a vagabond, there were several empty packaged water sachets, a rotten corn cob, a small jotter filled with gibberish, a Techno mobile phone, prayer rosary, pliers, screw driver, a tape rule, body cream and money in different denominations. But the most important article in the bag is a blue overall with a bag belonging to “Welding Association of Nigeria, Igboho branch, zone A.”
The journey to insanity
No one could remember exactly when Kayode went mad or anything about his antecedents before the unfortunate illness; the farthest people could tell about his history is only one year ago when he suddenly showed up at Jos Road vendor stand and became friends with a certain Muda who is a newspaper vendor.
“He was a friend of Muda; whenever he came around he would buy Alaroye newspaper, he would offer prayers for people and they would give him money. When he is hungry, he would use part of the money they paid him to buy food. He has never given anybody any problem, we don’t know anything about his background except what he said himself that he came from Igboho,” Obaloko said.
It was not difficult to get words out of the loquacious Kayode who willingly answered every question even though only few of them could be relied upon. “My name is Raimi Kayode and I am 91 years old, I came from Ile Onimosa in Igboho in 1987 to Kaduna to work,” he began.
Kayode claimed to have been a vegetable oil seller in his home town and an apprentice to a welder before relocating to Kaduna.
That was where the sense in his narration ended. He claimed to be 91 years old but that must be absolutely incorrect because from his looks he would be in his early 50s.
Despite the inadequacies in his story, Kayode remembers addresses well. For Instance, he said robbers broke into his shop at No 3, Ago Sanusi Road by Tudun Wada, he remembers too that he took his tools to one Iya Ijebu in Barkinwa Express by Sanusi Road.
The Yoruba community in Jos road considers him as one of their own who should be helped. In December 2015, the Islamic group, Ansarudeen volunteered to return him to his hometown. But before plans could be formalised, Kayode was attacked by a group of suspected robbers while he slept on the front lawn of the building. They stole his bag and whatever money they could find on him.
There is no record of Kayode’s family or friends in Kaduna. In the past, according to Obaloko, he had told him about his children in Igboho.
Would he like to return to Igboho? At first he looked lost as if he didn’t understand the question, then said in a sorrowful voice, “I can’t go because I don’t have a job there.” When he was assured of a job once he gets to Igboho he changed the narrative and claimed to have recently returned from Igboho on August 7, 2016.
Many of the traders appeal that his people should come forward to collect and rehabilitate him as he has become a nuisance to the Yoruba community in Kaduna.
“If there is anyone who knows his family, they should please come forward and help him, there is no way we can trace them but we are appealing to them to come and claim him and care for him,” Obaloko said
No comments:
Post a Comment