Hailing Abuja Family United By The Birds!

By Tony Erha

It was on a Saturday morning, when Abuja, Nigeria’s densely populated capital-city, experiences a lull from its noisy activities.

Alas, the city is often criticised by its pioneer developers, that it comes short of a ‘serene’ administrative headquarters intended to swap the congestion and slums of Lagos, the nation’s commercial hub, and former capital.

Though it is fast becoming over-populated and a hurting centre, it is however, worthy of mention that the National Park Service (NPS), a para-military agency of the Federal Government (FG), which overseas several national parks in the country, had carved out from within, a serene and fully protected woodland; a ‘Bird Area’; for conservation.

It is tucked behind the sprawling NPS headquarters, situated on the ever-busy highway leading to the city’s airport, near the city-gate. And it is a woodland, which also houses Animal orphanage in enclosures and others in its semi-free land, secured by expansive perimeter fence. NPS is overseen by Dr. Ibrahim Musa Goni, its Conservator-General.

Conservationists, journalists, diplomats, academics, civil servants, security agents, businessmen, students and others thus, constitute members of the Abuja Bird Club, which congregated to watch the birds, amongst the trees.

This amity between humans and the tree-dwelling creatures, is akin to “With Birds and the People”, a maxim of the BirdLife International, the largest global charity on birds’ conservation

Painstakingly, Birds are studied and watched with the binoculars, like the Astrologers would gaze at the stars in their galaxy!

Shortly after the morning’s ‘cockcrow’, Abuja’s men and women, old and young, were promptly at the NPS’ tree-lot for the business of the day. Being one of the first to be there, this writer had made good a promise earlier made to Hope Usieta, to be an “Early Bird’ to the ‘trees that hawk edible fruits”.

Usieta, like ‘Atiebu’ (Edo language), ‘Saso’, (in Yoruba), is the dutiful ‘Crier Bird’, who summons all to the ‘flock’, Useata, the ‘Shepherd’ of the ‘Abuja Bird Club’, is the Nigeria country’s Executive Director of the Leventis Foundation, as well as a visiting lecturer at the AP Leventis Ornithological Research Institute (APLORI), the first ornithological school in the West Africa sub-region. APLORI is domiciled in the University of Jos, Nigeria

About two decades ago, my path got crossed (and had stuck), when I met Usieta at the Weppa Bird Area in Edo State, Nigeria.

He came on a Bird field-study, whilst I on a media reportage mission, which attracted lavish global spotlights to local and Ringed Migratory Birds, which visit Weppa, Edo State, Nigeria, from natural history museums in Europe and beyond.

And until recently, more of the Migratory Birds (with labeled rings on their legs), still migrate to the area, as recorded and confirmed by the Landessamt fur Umwait Naturschutz und Geologie MV – Beringungszentrale Hiddensee, a Bird ringing nature-museum in Gustrow, Germany, Mr. Christof Herrmann of the institute, had identified some of the Birds traced to Weppa, Nigeria, as the ‘Lesser Spotted Eagle’, including 19 other migratory species..

I rode in the same car to the venue, with Paddy Ezeala, a friend and co-Bird lover for three decades whom I met as Communication Manager of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), a foremost nature conservation charity in the country, which propagates Ornithology.

With NCF and several other global charities, carrying out nature and birds’ awareness has since become our second nature. Now, Ezeala is publisher Development Agenda’, a periodic hard copy and online magazine in English and French, but with a bias for environmental reportage.

Aside other journalists, there were the ‘Paparazzi’, who as Photo Journalists, strived to capture picturesque Bird sights for keep and display.

We couldn’t help but got into a paroxysm of laughter as a young lad, amongst the watchers, inimitably mimicked ‘Paparazzi’ as similar to the mating call of in a bird flock.

Inside the woodland, all had remained silent and restricted from carefree bodily movements. Cell phones, as usual, were either placed on silent modes or switched off.

These done, assurances would be (and were) that watchers could have better views of the birds, who are cautious and easily shy away from prying eyes. Apart from the like of the extroverted Weaver Birds, who closely associate with human dwellings, most others are hermits.

“Birds are active in the morning and evenings, as they readily withdraw to their nests to sleep and rest in daytime”. Ms. Zainab Oiza Adeiza, our guide for the day, informed the new comers in a whizzing-muffled voice, which sounded like the melodious tweets of the birds. Ms. Adeiza, a Lecturer at the Baze University, Abuja, voluntarily gave skillful tips about the Birds and their likelihood, so astonishingly.

In bits, Adeiza, the female expert in Citizens Science, Awareness, Conservation Education and Ecosystem Management/Protection, amidst other revelations, drew connections between the Birds of the NPS Woodlands and those of the trees of the Baze University, a panoramic upland scene viewed from our NPS location.

It is not farfetched that Ms. Adeiza is Co-founder/Coordinator of the Abuja Bird Club, thus a deputy to Dr. Hope Usieta.

On ground to also give pep information was Newton James, the ‘ageless and dutiful officer’, with whom l had done similar bird-watching about two decades ago. It was in the lowland rainforest National Park of Okomu, Edo State, Nigeria

For the over two hour’s straight walk through the mini-park, the lots of Birds and other wildlife encountered, happened to have been more rewarding.

With ‘excitement (though belabored), we negotiated twisted nature paths, twigs, climbers and wet-spots, under the thick-tree-canopy and open skyline of the NPS woodland..

At intervals, we ran into terrestrial faunas like the Duikers and Gazelles, who dashed into the thicker groves, pronto. The binoculars had brought their images very closed, as if the bare hands could touch them.

As we later made our way out of the jungle, a beautiful female Waterbuck had appeared from nowhere, and kept us company. She was said to be photogenic, which was actually proven, when she posed for shots with us, unassisted.

Poor wild creature, who loves human company! Concerted efforts were made to stop her from going into “civilization” with her following us to the exit.

Sometimes, disagreements had ensued (though in low tunes), about the actuality (specie’s category and behavioural) of sighted Birds. Luckily, a large illustrative book (catalogue) on Birds, that Usieta, Adeiza, and His Excellency (HE), the then Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Plomp Wouter, had repeatedly consulted, tended to solve the puzzles.

Interestingly, Mr. Wouter had dazzled all with his vast knowledge of Birds – of the worldwide migratory hues, including those of African provenances!

To give back to the noble Hollander, I reenacted an African folktale, depicting a nasal call of the Hornbill (Pian-pian), who carried on its enormous head, the corpses of his mother and father, where the maggot of the earth wouldn’t devour them. Thereby, he reeled in a laughter, which revealed more of his ‘natural’ goodness.

But, some days after the event, he was reposted to his home country, thus depriving his Abuja’s family of his ornithological expertise and warmness.

Mr. Wouter, in a parting message published in the official WhatsApp interactive forum of the Abuja Bird Club, also recounted that his reposting was going to deny him of the love we had all shared.

Tony ERHA, a foremost itinerant journalist, nature conservationist and lover of Birds, writes from Abuja, Nigeria.