The Jerry Can

Relaxing under a tree shade, I recalled how one of my daughters, Mubinatu Ahmad, once took pity on me and promised to buy me a new jerry can with which to fetch them water when she grew up. 

It was in the early 1990s after I had just joined Katsina State Television, KTTV, as a Current Affairs Officer, having transferred my service from Katsina State Ministry of Education as a class teacher from Government Day Secondary School, GDSS, Malumfashi, Katsina State. 

I had managed to rent a two-bedroom apartment at Ɓatagarawa Low-cost Housing Estate at under two thousand naira per annum for my seven member family. Water was then scarce in the estate as we got no water from the taps for days on ends. We had to wait for water tankers from Katsina metropolis that distributed water to parts of the estate a few days a week. 

Another source of water we relied on at the time was from a tap at the third gate of Hassan Usman Polytechnic, Katsina, which was about a kilometer away from the estate towards Katsina metropolis. I was fortunate enough to own a Suzuki 100 Motorcycle, on which I tied a 50 liter jerry can with which to fetch the water. Everyday, I toiled to fill a drum in my house for my family before going to the office. 

Sometimes, I lent the motorcycle and the jerry can to my friend, Kabir Abdullahi Abasaya, to fetch the water for his family. The first time I gave him, I pleaded with him to be very carefully with the jerry can, saying, "If this jerry can falls down and bursts, I'll be cooked!" My friend and I often recall those exact words with nostalgia and laugh very hard! 

It was probably this hard work that my daughter, Mubinatu Ahmad, who was just about four years old then took pity on me and said, "Baba, when I grow up and become rich, I'll buy you a new jerry can!" 

She then hugged her mother and said, "And Mama, I'll buy you a new husband!" 🤣🤣🤣

This drew lots of laughter from us which we still recall and laugh over...