My Village Life You Know.

A Comfortable Villager

By Prince Kelly O. Udebhulu.

"Community in Nigeria still works. The village is arguably the most stable and cohesive unit in Nigerian society. Villagers render adorable assistance more than city dwellers. Villagers do  produce crop of yams one year and give half of them away to relatives and friends instead of reaping the profits. That is the beauty of my village"

There is this long open area in the middle of the village with compounds located on each side. The trees (orange, guava and mango) in the middle of this strip serve as gathering spots for villagers. In the late afternoon under the shade of the trees, men often extend visits at leisure time especially when crops harvest gives smiles and works in the farm minimized while women rest on the wood bench or on woven mats admiring the beauty of the village life harmoniously.

Pounding is a constant activity by the women in the village  as most foods (Eba, pounded yam, etc) are eaten usually for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Rice is luxury! I do have  complains with my mother on pounding activity as I fake sickness and other flimsy excuses to escape pounding acts. Everyday I would wake up and fall asleep to the sounds of pounding in the yard. All these are  attempts to escape the pounding acts  because I lack the enough strength but my dear mother knows my tricks and envelop me with motherly reasons why I must manage to do the pounding.

If you are living in the compound, then you become a family member and you contribute to the compound upliftment upon your capacity and desist from anything that will bring disrepute to the compound.  There is this constant influx and movement of family members because the families are so large. There is the added element of polygamy as well. At times, we sum up courage to ask the elderly relatives on how everyone was related? Answers are always encouraging towards unity.

At night, not only are people constantly interacting with other people outside, but also with animals (chickens, goats, sheep), which are constantly roaming around. Early morning appointments are met with the village clock alarm system: cock crows!!!

...to be continued

By Prince Kelly Udebhulu
You can tweet to @princekelly75
Skype: princekellyudebhulu