Etsu Nupe and his enduring love for golf
Some years back and while serving in the Nigeria Army as a general in charge of armoury in Maiduguri, Brigadier General Yahaya Abubakar one morning looked out from his vast quarters and could see the mass land confronting him, stretching right to the road leading to Chad, he knew he would have to do something about the land that was lying in utter waste.
The general thought of the game of golf which he idly picked up at the Kaduna golf and quickly went to work to build a golf course in Maiduguri.
He was really on it as holes were charted out, trees planted to line the fairways and tee boxes built. If you go to Maiduguri today you will see these traces of what could have been full blown 18-hole course.
The General was indeed putting finishing touches to the course when he was called upon to move home to Bida and take over the stool of his late father. He moved over and became the Etsu Nupe. Those who admired his golf courage felt it was over with him and the golf game he held with such passion, but it was not so.
Upon mounting the throne, the General now Etsu made it clear he would need a golf course in his emirate and it would have to be provided without any delay.
The Etsu quickly asked for a grand plan for full blown 18-hole course to be drawn and he went to work, personally supervising most parts of the construction.
Long after the course was built, the Etsu is still holding on to the grand architectural design of that lush serene course. Anytime a visitor comes around to have a look at the course, trust the Etsu, he will first hand you the architectural paper work and will ask you to study this first before venturing into the course.
Basking in joys he could have standard course in his domain, the Etsu will always menton: when a good site for the course was located, I loved it too and we moved to work. But I must tell you I paid for every piece of land that made up that course. I paid to the last kobo. I did not lord it over anyone. I paid but someday it will be to the glory of the Emirate. This will be my legacy.