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| market sqaure |
By Prince Kelly Udebhulu.
I am a native of Urohi village, Esan West Local Government of Edo State, Nigeria. I left the shore of Nigeria for a better life in Europe some years ago but the zeal, anxiousness and thoughts to visit my village surrounded my daily life before I gained resident permit that enable me to visit home these days. To see my country, my home and my family after years was priceless. Especially there was a place of interest I had in mind to visit when I get back to Nigeria. It was my birthplace, called Urohi. Anyone who knows what it means to be close to nature would appreciate the ingredients Urohi is made of.
While in Europe, I remember my mother used to boil concoction whenever I had headache, fever and some other types of health issue. She held me astride and pumped me full of it! She said the concoction of lemon grass and dongoyaro leaves is good for curing malaria fever and general body lassitude. This almost give me in to normal illness often as I feel the oyinbo (white)`s medicine will not heal as ours in the village!
Finally, the trip back to Nigeria emerged from the handiwork of Almighty God. Nigeria here I come! From Lagos via Ore in Ondo State and Benin by-pass, I arrived at the junction of Urohi road at Ekpoma city ( Headquarter of Esan West LG) towards the evening.
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| A Comfortable Villager |
The green trees and crops along the road to the village encircled the Jungle, encapsulating its history. The trees and crops for the seven words of the seven patriarchs, each green tree symbolizing a word of a patriarch: Love for others as for yourself, Unity for strength and power, Service to one another, Truth for reliance, Discipline for good nature, Understanding for tolerance, and Obedience for peace and progress. These were the unfaltering principles of existence that were imparted upon the natives of Urohi (of which I am one) that life as a gift is a connection, an extension, a bond, an unstated promise of looking out for one another. To live life to the fullest, you must be kind to one another for whatever affects the native of one world, affects the native of the other world. "Distance is immaterial,".
The bright moon and glinting stars being visible against the pale sky, cast Urohi village into a luminous play ground and I thought within myself, my birthplace is beautiful.
Ohh! I shuddered to think, what would be anyone's excuse if asked to live in such a calming and serene society. I failed once in my life to realize that wealth has different faces. The wealth that comes from the inside and spread unto the horizon cannot be found in such a place like the hustling and bustling mechanical, fast paced, no-rest cities of the Europe. It is here, my own very birthplace, where people touch, see, feel, taste and hear nature.
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| Pineapples |
I remember when I was young especially my primary school days since the primary school was adjacent to the village market. The market square, a vast area of land situated in the begining of Eguare (village), where the monarch palace is found. As I turned into the footpath that ran straight into the market, I saw rows of bamboo-made stands that market women and men displayed their wares and stuffs with. Farm products like pineapples and yams would be stacked on one another to form small pyramids while sellers called for buyers with such melodic lines as: "come, buy my pineapples. This pineapple is sweet, hurry before the pyramid falls". I quickly recalled how, following mother to this market especially after school hours then, I had seen a lot of people selling and buying, first disagreeing to the point of fighting and then with common understanding, agreed to a price. What a marvelous trading activities in our village market!!!
...to be continued
By Prince Kelly Udebhulu
You can tweet to @princekelly75
Skype: princekellyudebhulu
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