My Mega Village

Back in my day, the church compound didn’t have the one storey building the nursery and primary School pupils occupies now. Office hall for those seeing the priest every Tuesday used to stand there and a tree the church Bell was mounted on used to stand by its left too. Now, both are gone and the building covers everywhere. 

Even our sleeping quarters then is covered by the school building too. Four of us then that helps the priest used to sleep there, and the priest at the main building.

There were six rooms of which we occupied two, now, all are gone.

The priest building remained as it was. Not renovated, only a drab of paint was used on it. I am referring to the parish I spent three of my six years of primary education at. Saint Johns parish Agidi. 

Certain things and places has special position in the psych of people, well, this Agidi town was that thing in my life. I came to the town when I have started somehow to know my left from my right in the world. I was in year two primary level and the year was 1980.

Looking back now, I rated those years and places I trod upon as my happiest days with special found memories. Maybe, you might be thinking that I am referring to one staggering mega city in my country, NO. At least, not to you. It is my Mega Village or country side as it is referred to as in some countries.

It isn’t even that mega when compared to other towns surrounding it in Eastern region where I came from. But in my estimation then and even now, it was and still is.

Like I have hinted, it was that period that I started knowing my left from right somehow. I can go and come then to any part of the town on my own without declaring myself lost.

The town has only six villages and the church was situated at the center of the town which bears the name Etiti, meaning center. It is funny how my people name things. What is at the beginning bears head and the one at the center bears center. Like I have said, to compare to other towns with about 21 to 22 villages in them, my Mega town is really small.

But one thing with this my Mega Village with others surrounding it is that, as small as it is, it has powerful individuals. Infect, one of the richest man in that local government as of then was from that town.

Then, I actually don’t know how educated some of those powerful individuals were then, but I think I had small knowledge of how rich and powerful some was. 

One that was into transportation business then resides at Enugu the old capital of Eastern region. He used to send his fleet of newly acquired buses to the village each time he bought them before any thing would be written on them. Plain white buses.

Like i said earlier, the church were I live was at the center, sitting at the kitchen wall there would give you clear view of the major road. In one of those my sitting occasions, I witnessed the man buses making their journey back from wherever to the man village as usual.

I started counting. I counted to 38 but that number, I don’t trust considering how fucked up I was in the head then. I will count up to 17 and forgot what supposed to follow and count 15 and before I could correct myself, about 7 or 8 buses has passed. To avoid exaggeration, let peg the number at 50.

Emm, I believe I have told you about the man and little I knew of him then. If you are from Western or Asian world, you would understand far better what it meant for someone to have such money only few years after civil war for you are good at wars. Well, three years war ended ten year before the day this event took place and Eastern region was battle ground. But, this is not part of the story proper.

It was pure economic miracle of the century then from the Eastern region of Nigeria. When some refers to some Asian nation’s as tigers or China as economic wonder, I laugh. Well, they judge from information available to them. I believe those attributes should go to the Biafrans from Eastern Nigeria considering their race, age as a nation and their educational level, above all what they were subjected to during the war.

Imagine it took the winners three decades to catch-up with the people they defeated in war. It was a thing of fear, shame and envy. A man you defeated in war buying up your land after only three years?

It is one of the reasons some regions here still questions their sanity.

Well, let not digress so deep into that history for it is still making some people to turn red somewhere around their cheeks.

The transporter name is prince okorie and he is a Catholic. So on my capacity as the father’s boy, I was privileged on more than few occasions to visit the man house and I must confess that I was mesmerized.

Flowers of every color was competing with themselves in a competition I wasn’t privy to then. Well taken care of. They circled three storey mansion the man had then. One of it’s kind in the whole local government area.

Then, the priest I stays with was in charge of three towns due to the policy of the Catholic Church then. It was like: if you want a priest, produce one.

It was meant to force the parents to push their wards into seminary schools. 

One Tuesday morning, as we, priest and I was driving to one of those towns under his parish for morning mass, we was overtaking by Peugeot 404 with three guys inside. They blocked our route and two rushed out brandishing guns:

“ Father, come down” they ordered.

We don’t even hesitate to obey the order. Infect, I was the first to jump down, i never came down, I jumped. Two entered our Peugeot 504 and they took off carrying all the mass officiating paraphernalia with them. 

It was about two hours later that the secondary School students going to school saw what they recognized as belongings to the church and brought them to the school whom in turn sent them to the church where we sat receiving condolences from the faithfuls who rushed on hearing the news.

When news of the incident got to the ears of prince okorie in far away Enugu city, within four days, brand new Peugeot 504 was sent to the priest. Are you beginning to get the depth of the man's wealth and what he was made of inside? What would have taken other towns about continuous two years of contribution to purchase another one took a man four days to deliver alone.

So, this February when I saw myself again in the town and the church compounds for the first time after leaving in 1983, I was mesmerized once again, this time around by number of the mansions that lined the route leading to the church. I could not believe how transformation can enter most people’s lives so fast like that. Mud houses didn’t turn to just houses, they turned into mansions within decades. Everywhere changed including the market place.

My Mega Village truly has turned into quasi mega town.