Jos as I knew it...
Jos or J-town as others know it, was known to be a town which welcomed lots of visitors from neighboring towns, states, other parts of Nigeria, and people from all over the world. The weather was one of the main attractions for the foreigners; as well as the serenity and the winding Plateaus... Jos was beautiful; very beautiful.
I used to love going to Jos as a kid. To me, Jos was like artwork with lots and lots of bright flowers and rocks and potato chips..(who doesn't love chips?) I always believed in my mind that everything would be alright once I was in Jos and that nothing could ever go wrong. I was always happy in Jos. I live in Abuja but I attended both primary and secondary schools in Jos. I went to Kent Academy in Miango, then I went to Hillcrest.
The first time Jos experienced its issues, I was still in Kent Academy and we were kind of far from the main areas that were affected. On my way back home (Abuja), we were stopped so many times by soldiers. There were even amour tanks roaming about the main streets of Jos. Jos was not safe anymore! Then people started killing other people and places kept getting burned down.
Recently, on a family trip to Jos, we went with the expectations of having flawless, amazing fun. After like 20 police stops we made it to Bacardi (not sure if its a bar or a club) the first day was cool, but we had to go back there again the next day because it was the safest place to be, and other places were burned down or not in the 'safe zone' or so they explained.
Below are some of the pictures we took...don't wanna use the really bad internet pics (of the Jos crisis) that are been circulated around. So these are pics of me back in the day and some from the road trip.
Back in the day/ The Good..
Jos or J-town as others know it, was known to be a town which welcomed lots of visitors from neighboring towns, states, other parts of Nigeria, and people from all over the world. The weather was one of the main attractions for the foreigners; as well as the serenity and the winding Plateaus... Jos was beautiful; very beautiful.
I used to love going to Jos as a kid. To me, Jos was like artwork with lots and lots of bright flowers and rocks and potato chips..(who doesn't love chips?) I always believed in my mind that everything would be alright once I was in Jos and that nothing could ever go wrong. I was always happy in Jos. I live in Abuja but I attended both primary and secondary schools in Jos. I went to Kent Academy in Miango, then I went to Hillcrest.
The first time Jos experienced its issues, I was still in Kent Academy and we were kind of far from the main areas that were affected. On my way back home (Abuja), we were stopped so many times by soldiers. There were even amour tanks roaming about the main streets of Jos. Jos was not safe anymore! Then people started killing other people and places kept getting burned down.
Recently, on a family trip to Jos, we went with the expectations of having flawless, amazing fun. After like 20 police stops we made it to Bacardi (not sure if its a bar or a club) the first day was cool, but we had to go back there again the next day because it was the safest place to be, and other places were burned down or not in the 'safe zone' or so they explained.
Below are some of the pictures we took...don't wanna use the really bad internet pics (of the Jos crisis) that are been circulated around. So these are pics of me back in the day and some from the road trip.
Back in the day/ The Good..
Me (second left, first row) in Kent Academy Chapel
Me (first right, second row) in Hillcrest Baskteball Team
Pouring water on the team captain after the last game of the season
Linda and I in Bacardi..
At Barcardi
Linda Dancing
Yours truly...hehe
Plate of potato chips, liver sauce, egg and ketchup (I love ketchup)
The rocks... at Hill Station
Linda and Emmanuel (our brother)
Now...The Bad..
Burnt down buildings at Anglo Jos
more burned down buildings
and even more burned down buildings....
a soldier parading the streets
Jos needs our prayers.
We all need to come together and pray for Jos so it can go back to the way it used to be. Lots of people have died and the death rate keeps increasing everyday.
We might not be able to do much, but one thing we can do is pray, so the violence will be put to an end and Jos will be restored.
