Hafsatu Bebi A story about identity and loss by Fatima Bala
The narrative of Hafsatu Bebi is a dual-perspective epic that traverses decades, exploring the themes of identity, loss, and the profound weight of family secrets. It shifts between the burgeoning romance and subsequent trauma of the young Ibrahim Gaya and Zuwaira in the late 1990s and the contemporary life of their daughter, Hafsatu “Bebi” Gaya, a successful designer in Abuja whose life is upended by a DNA test and the discovery of a biological bond she never expected. Part One: The Origins in Kaduna (1998) The story begins in Kaduna in 1998, during an Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike that has sent Ibrahim Gaya, a fourth-year medical student at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, to live with his older brother, Ya Isa. Ibrahim first notices Zuwaira in the shared compound where Isa lives. She is a “tiny frame” drying clothes by a well, performing chores with a quiet, emotionless diligence. Ibrahim is immediately captivated by her, observing her through the “haphazardly tied yellow scarf” that reveals her jet-black hair and deep brown eyes. Zuwaira’s life is defined by servitude and tragedy. An orphan who lost her parents and younger sister in a horrific commercial bus accident two years …