Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 34
I told my Parents my experience at my new
Office and we all resolved that I leave the
Army for good; after all I have enough
money to move on.
By the end of the second week of my leave,
we all drove down to Esa-odo, I drove in my
Nissan Xterra fully dressed in my Army
uniform, mama and Oga Luke drove her Car
in turns while Baba Dayo drove in his Nissan
path finder, the Kids were with us as they
enter any Car of their choice whenever we
stopped for refreshment or for biological
reasons.
It was in 1991 that I left home when I
visited mama after the depot training. That
was thirteen years back, I was a private
Soldier and we lived in a small mud house.
Today I have come back home in my SUV to
a duplex that was once a mud house!
Mama and Baba Dayo had sneaked out of
the Village in rags with mama going insane
and being abandoned by all to lick her
wounds alone, but this day, she drove into
the Village in the Comfort of her Car, with
three healthy looking Kids and gorgeously
dressed that our People opened their
mouths in awe and reverence.
The popular but Baba Miko poor is now a
force to be reckoned with as he had already
told the whole Village about what God had
done for him in Igbo land and an eye
witness had gone to see and confirmed it to
the Villagers.
We drove straight to my house and the
convoy entered the Compound at exactly
4.00pm. I was impressed by the quality of
the edifice that welcomed me home, the
butterflies where running around inside my
stomach; I took time and walked round the
house as Baba Dayo and Mama coordinated
the off loading of our Vehicles. There was a
Plant in the generator house, there was an
empty Dog house, the grasses were well
mowed and the flowers well trimmed, I took
a look at all of these and the big building
and I wondered if they really belonged to
me or I was in a dream.
There was no light in the Village so we put
on the generator as we put things in place
in the House. Baba Dayo had taken time to
provide the best wooden furnishing in the
house.
I wondered when mama went to sleep that
night because we have hardly settled down
than her sycophantic friends started
pouring in.
I woke up late the next morning, It was the
noise from outside the fence that woke me;
I opened the door of my room and stepped
onto the terrace upstairs to behold the
crowd of Villagers that had come to fetch
water from my house. They started to cheer
at me immediately they saw me; I waved at
them and went back inside the house.
Our case was like the proverbial Igbo saying
that “Onu kwuru njo, ga ekwu mma” “the
mouth that spoke evil shall later speak well”.
The Yoruba’s also said that “Owo epo ni aye
nba eni la, wan o kin la Owo eje” “ it is the
oily palm that the world licks with you, not
the bloodied one” that is to say when the
going is good, many people will be your
friend, but when the going gets tough, they
all run away. Our People have no shame!
They came in their numbers to gossip with
mama, they told different versions of what
each person had said against my family at
different times and places. The women were
busy maligning one another just to gain
mama’s friendship. At the end they all left
with nylon bag containing Rice, salt and
match boxes.
The men were scared of me, they would
rather go to Baba Dayo who had told them
that I was angry with the whole Men in the
village for not rising up to help me when I
needed them most, especially the Kabiesi. It
was made more obvious by the fact that I
refused to go and pay homage to him upon
arrival at the Village.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Mama and Baba Dayo’s traditional marriage
was performed at Mama’s family compound,
the dowry was fully paid up and every item
that needed to be purchased was bought.
Prayers were made and the Spirit of my late
grandfather was appeased forever. I was
avoided by my mother’s family members
because it had been like that while I grew
up in the Village; I had no friends save for
Oga Luke.
The Kabiesi came to my house like
Nicodemus at night some days to my
departure from the Village, he apologized
for his neglect of me and mama, he said he
had no body in the Army to go to with my
case and his Chiefs advised him to stay off
my case so that he does not incur my late
grandfather’s wrath. It takes a man of
honour to apologize especially a king, so I
knelt down in front of him as a mark of
respect and acceptance. He offered to give
me a chieftaincy title to pacify me but I told
him that I was not ready yet.
Very early the next morning he came to my
house and we drove with my Parents to the
piece of land he gave me and retrieved
thirteen years ago, he doubled the portion
and returned it back to me. We all thanked
him and took pictures on the land with him.
Immediately we dropped him off at his
house, Baba Dayo called the Surveyor that
handled my building project to come over to
the house; he came and we instructed him
to get land registered in my name
immediately and get all necessary
documents handy, I then told him to get me
the estimate of what it would cost to plant
Palm fruit seedlings on the whole of the
land, it was about fifteen hectares of land.
I also drove to Ibadan in company of Baba
Dayo and Oga Luke to scout for lands to
establish a farm and where to build a
residential apartment. I had made up my
mind to leave the Army and retire home to
Ibadan with my family. We finally got a thirty
hectare of land along Lagos-Ibadan express
way adjacent to the famous Sat guru
Maharaja Village, I paid three million naira
for the land and I immediately contracted
the building of my farms to an Architect
introduced to us by a friend of Baba Dayo.
He was experienced in designing Farm
houses so I told him how I want the thirty
plots of land divided. I needed portions for
fish pond, Pigs, grass cutter, quills, Ostrich,
Chickens, turkey, goats and sheep’s and I
needed building for farm house as well as
Offices. Baba Dayo, Oga Luke and the
Architect have been to very big farms and
they assured me that together we shall get it
right. I also bought two plots of land for
three hundred thousand naira at Eleyele
town to build a personal house and Office
apartment for my Barrister! With these
machineries in place, I resumed back to duty
after thirty working days leave.
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