IGHO GOES TO FARM

When the plane finally landed in Warri airport, Igho felt relieved and picked up his bag from the overhead locker and headed for the arrivals terminal. Outside, he looked at the car park. It was not that big. A thick forest surrounded it on all sides. It was as though the airport and the car park had been dropped into the middle of the forest. All bush, he said to himself.

See what carelessness has done to you, Igho, he said to himself under his breath. He hesitated a bit as he looked around. Then he saw his uncle. Uncle Utomudo saw him at the same time. He gave a broad smile. But Igho only had a half smile and walked quickly to him. Utomudo folded him in his embrace.

"Digwo, Uncle Utomudo!" Igho said in greeting.

"Vre doooh! You have grown so big!" his uncle ruffled his head and laughed. "What does my sister feed you with these days?"

"Uncle, how is my cousin, Onome?" Igho asked. They were together the last time he visited Ozoro.

"Oh, Onome is fine. She is in the car, expecting you."

In the car, Igho and Onome exchanged pleasantries. Igho liked his cousin. She was nice and explained a lot of things to him. Igho was always fascinated at how she knew so much about so many things. Igho also told her many things about how a lot of things were done in Lagos.

Igho and Onome chatted all the way to Ozoro. They took time to read almost all the road signs they saw and the names of the towns they pa.s.sed. So, from Warri through Agbarho to Ugh.e.l.li, Iyede, Emevor, Otor-Owhe, Akiowhe, Isoko Roundabout and then to Ozoro they chatted as they travelled and asked many questions, too.

But Igho was also angry that there were so many military checkpoints on the road. He observed that the soldiers just loitered about and didn"t actually check any of the vehicles. They wore bored look in their faces and just waved vehicles along. But the queues at the checkpoints were long. A checkpoint greeted them soon after leaving the airport. There was another one after Efurun roundabout, and then another before Agharho and then two more before they arrived Ugh.e.l.li.

Suddenly, Igho said he was depressed. Onome wanted to know why.
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"Well, because everywhere we"ve pa.s.sed from Warri till now looks the same," "there"s nothing interesting to see. There is too much dirt and ugliness on the roadsides, and many potholes everywhere. In Europe or America, you can tell one town or city from another from the way they are planned. But all the towns look the same in Nigeria—ugly and dirty! My Math teacher once said Nigerians are bad planners. I think I agree with him. Only a few estates in Lagos are planned and look tidy."

"Daddy said people in government are responsible for it. He said they are there for the money they can steal and not the work they should do," Onome said. "Isn"t that what you said, Daddy?"

"Yes, dear!" Uncle Utomudo said. "That is why we are not as developed as America and countries in Europe even though we have more money than most of them."

"But why are we like that, Uncle? Why can"t we plan our towns and cities properly?"

"Igho, I have been asking myself the same questions, too!" he said. "But I think we are bad managers. We hope young ones like two of you will make the difference when you become adults and leaders someday!"

"So, Daddy, are you saying you and other adults have failed? Is that what you are saying?"

"I"m afraid, yes, dear. We have failed all of us. We have failed young people like you the more because we have done nothing good to point to. And you know what is worse, we have not provided you good example to follow!"

They drove on in silence as they took the turning from the East-West that leads to Port Harcourt to the Ugh.e.l.li-Asaba Road that goes through Isoko to Ndokwa, Ogwashi-Ukwu and then Asaba. The road was worse on this stretch as the construction that started many years ago had been abandoned. The old patch of the road still being used was badly worn; the second lane was yet to receive attention. It was a struggle pa.s.sing through the road; Igho pitied the poor car as it made its way through it.

From Iyede junction through Emevor to Owhe and Aki-Owhe to Isoko Roundabout, it was the same. Uncle Utomudo had to slow down many times to avoid oncoming cars and negotiate the many gullies right in the middle of the road. They turned left and faced Ozoro after Isoko Roundabout until they arrived.

* * *

THEY connected Ozoro from Notre Dame College Road, popularly called NDC Road, a famous secondary school in the town, which Uncle Utomudo attended. He drove slowly and pointed out a few interesting places to them, but they were all schools. After they left NDC Road behind, they got to the Anglican Grammar School, which used to be an all-girls secondary school; Igho said it was his mother"s former school. Back then it was called Anglican Girls Grammar School (AGGS). But things have since changed, Uncle Utomudo explained.

Then they got to Amawhe Primary School, which shared the same fence with the old Ozoro Polytechnic, which was closed down years ago before the new Delta State Polytechnic along Ugh.e.l.li-Asaba Road was established. Then Ekwerigbe Primary School, Utomudo"s former school also, came into view. Opposite Ekwerigbe is the old Nigerian Telecommunications Company or NITEL, with its tall mast that rises into the sky.

"Does it still work, Uncle? Igho asked.

"No, not at all," Uncle Utomudo replied. "It stopped working a long time ago, before Global System of Mobile or GSM arrived Nigeria."

"Then why is the mast still standing?" he asked.

"I don"t know," Uncle Utomudo replied.

"Is it not dangerous?"

"Well, it has been standing like this since the 1980s when it was built!"

"That is a long time ago, Daddy," Onome observed.

"Yes, it is."

They drove on a little while and Ozoro communal shrine, Eri-Okpe, and its ma.s.sive trees and surrounding groove came into view. Onome and Igho still remembered what they had been told about the shrine and its ancient trees that have stood there for centuries. It stood right in the centre of town; it is seen as the soul of the community. Its custodians, the Inuru family, took care of the shrine on behalf of the entire community, especially during its festival and other important events like the coronation of a new king.

A short distance away from Eri-Okpe is Ala Square, where all the five quarters of Ozoro—Uruto, Urude, Erovie, Etevie and Oriamudhu - meet. Standing at the centre on a raised platform is the golden statue of Opute, the found father of Ozoro. Igho and Onome stared at the statue from the car window and imagined what it was to found a town.

"So, where is his wife?" Onome asked.

"Who is his wife?" Igho asked.

"Ozoro is his wife!" Utomudo said.

"Where is she?" Onome persisted.

"Well," Utomudo began, "there is no statue for her, I"m afraid!"

"But why?"

"I don"t know," Utomudo replied.

"Well Daddy, that is not fair, is it?"

"That maybe so," he said. "I don"t know why. Maybe n.o.body remembers how she looked like."

The twosome fell silent, as they regarded the solitary statue. Uncle Utomudo made a right turn by the roundabout and then turned into Idheze Road on Erovie Quarter, and drove on for a little while before turning left into Iyeliunu Street and then left again into Odoko, their family compound.

They alighted from the car and several relatives, who had not gone to farm or market, came out to welcome them. Igho and Onome were city children and they instantly became the centre of admiration. They were both excited. However, Nigeria, the grand-uncle they had come to see, was said to have fallen down from a palm tree a few days before and had been taken to a healer"s home at Of.a.gbe. With such sad news, Uncle Utomudo then decided there was no need to stay on much longer.

After pleasant exchanges with everyone, he quickly got the two into the car and they drove off to Ibedeni. They came out through Ala Square again, circled round it and turned right onto Mission Road, which also leads to Oleh. There was nothing remarkable to see on the road except ca.s.sava farms and uncultivated lands and many houses at various stages of construction. St. Joseph College, the old teachers" training college, had been turned into another purpose by its Catholic Church owners. The main market is to the left, with its makeshift stalls. A new market though was being built to replace the unplanned one.

They drove on for some five minutes and then they arrived at Oleh and quickly pa.s.sed through Ogbemudia Road and made a left turn at Inyaga night market into Irri Road and town proper. A stranger would not know if he had left Oleh behind and had entered Irri; the two communities have since merged at the borders and become inseparable like twins or children and play.

Uncle Utomudo quickly drove through the town and faced Oyede town. On both sides of the road, Igho and Onome starred at the vast land of browning gra.s.s that allowed the eyes to see far into the distance undisturbed, with just a few short trees in sight. Uncle Utomudo explained that it was a low land that flooded during the raining season, which has managed to prevent big trees or a thick forest to grow in it. He couldn"t quite explain how that happened. But he said since he was a boy, he had not seen any trees or forest grow on that low gra.s.sland; it was how he met it. They could see that sand was being mined on the vast gra.s.sland, as large tipper trucks came out loaded with white sand, the type used for the construction of buildings and roads.

They soon pa.s.sed Oyede and got to Bethel village, which is not different from Oyede except that it is much smaller. But they looked the same. Not far off, they got to Ada and then to Ivrogbo which is on the bank of Ase Creek, but they took a right turn midway into the town and headed for Ibedeni, their final destination.