My Trip to My Village, Urohi, Esan West LG, Edo State, Nigeria.

Market Square

By Prince Kelly O. 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 enabled 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 remembered 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 are 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) at sunset.

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!

Oh! 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. Urohi my home town!

Pineapples

I remembered when I was young especially my primary school days as the primary school was adjacent to the village market. The market square, a vast area of land situated in the beginning 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!!!

Memory lane:

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 faked 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 lacked the enough strength but my dear mother knew my tricks and enveloped me with motherly reasons why I must managed to do the pounding.

prince kelly visits kinsmen

If you are living in the compound, then you become a family member and you contributed to the compound upliftment upon your capacity and desisted 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 upon 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!

"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"

...to be continued

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