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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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