1977, The year I finally attained the Big 1-0! (i.e 10 Years-Old). An irrefutable activity inundated year in Nigeria, as "FESTAC '77" The Festival Of Arts And Culture, held in Lagos State, our Country's seat of government at the time, FESTAC 77 would liberally qualify as Nigeria's pre-occupational event of All-Time.
Among the notable highlights of 1977 were; my bright pink, brick hard, sugar iced,10th birthday cake; the establishment of NNPC, and the raid of Fela's "Kalakuta Republic under General Obasanjo's military leadership.
It's 6am in the month of December, though it feels like a 3am assault on my young, sleep deprived eyes. Mum and Dad bundled us and our pre-packed luggage into their wine red, fueled up Volvo 244DL, license plate: "WP 2233".
See you in the New Year, Ibadan, as "EKITI" Urgently "Beckons!
Next stop, 'Osu'; the Atakumosa West local government town, renowned for her culinary expertise in palm oil fried akara balls, embedded with huge chunks of onions, red, hot peppers and dried shrimp. I had my Akara sandwiched in a freshly baked, street hawked white loaf of bread, accompanied by an ice block chilled bottle of Fanta. Now that's brunch at it's very sumptuous and most practical.
Hours later our sleep was interrupted by varied sounds of car horns and Christmas shopping activities at the Erekesan market in Ado-Ekiti. We maneuvered our way through the animated city center, past Anisulowo Supermarket, The Ewi's Palace and Fajuyi park, through the very narrow Iworoko bridge.
Soon enough our tiny hand was cupping the clamped fists of some naturally gorgeous, middle aged women, on their knees with each lady's colorful shawl spread out before them on the bare floor, luring us to "gb'osuba re..". They have come to welcome us with gifts of asala, groundnuts, aadun, agbalumo, oranges, yams, sugar cane etc...
All these took place under the intent gaze of my beautiful grandmother, Mama Saadatu, (Aka) "Eye Aba", the most senior wife of my Grandfather, The Aba Alaworoko; Oba Faturoti "Agbajegoriite" Aladejana, The Alaworoko of Iworoko. The Iyawo Ile's "Family Wives" incessantly serenaded us with our "Oriki": "Okun L'u han mi, ma a sin, Omo Oloyi L'ayere, Omo awihanni Ko Ye ni, Omo agboran Ye o bi OLODUMARE, Omo ekolo mi legbe inu i b'ediye, Omo gbami gbami s'oju mia mia... and so on and so forth. Being most impressed and flattered I searched out my Dad to ensure that they are rewarded handsomely, mainly in cash. "Toyin! Toyin!! Ina n'jo ogiri o sa..." That's the unmistakable, gentle yet assertive voice of my beautiful Aunty Kikelomo, who had arrived Iworoko a day earlier, She worked then at Ibadan's famous Cocoa House. "Aunty Kike!" as we children fondly referenced her, is the youngest of my grandfather's children, She lived with, knew and took care of my grandmother during her younger years. Apparently, as a teenager, Aunty Kike got baptized into Catholicism and acquired the name "Philomena". She came home excitedly to inform Mama Saadatu about her new name which Mama promptly adopted, but erroneously pronounced as "Lomiran", hence Mama's appellation; "Eye Lomiran".
Once the sun set, on the 24th, all activities shifted to Monsigniour Oguntuyi's ranch, my Grand Uncle who was also Ekiti's first Catholic Priest. We called him "Father". His huge quadrangle became a make shift outdoor movie theatre, where the children, all dressed in "and co" i.e. Similarly fabricated outfits.
We along eith the towns folks all converged on Father's compound to watch the "Nativity Story" on a projector screen, made of black, thick fabric, flanked by a pair of blue colored cylinder, gas lamps. Hhhmmnnn...Na wa for those "Three Kings" all the way from the "Orient". JESUS Is LORD! Aftet the movie we all celebrated JESUS' Birth with our lit up "Bisco's", (Sparklers) . For me the festivities could never be fully complemented without the literal 'Sugar High' of goody goody, malted milk biscuit, lollipops, Nico sweet, bazooka joe chewing gum, buttermint and toffee all which I had procured at discounted prices earlier in the
day from Iworoko's vibrant Christmas market.
The day after Christmas, I went to "Oko Cocoa" (Cocoa Plantation) with Baba Karimu, my Uncle who for reasons known solely to him felt we were from out of town and therefore welcomed us rousingly in contrived English grammar, which is usually accompanied by his outstretched right hand, and went as thus: "Ello! Ello! to me to you, you hear me!" We would respond by shaking Uncle's hand, going on our knees or 'males prostrated', saying; "E Kaaro, or E Kasan Sir." Good morning or Good afternoon Sir.
Baba Karimu was dressed in a brief, dated Ankara Danshiki, with a sizeable basket that loosely housed an ojaagba i.e. 'A Machete' trapped in his underarm. I tagged along on the 3 or 4 mile trek as my not too tall, slightly bow legged Uncle Karimu strode with a stately gait ahead of me to his expansive cocoa plantation/forest. As we weaved through the narrow path, my Uncle would intermittently reiterate the following warning; "Rora o, mo je pakute mo se re o!" i.e "be careful don't get caught in a trap". My apprehension of potential danger almost drowned the novelty of the field trip.
Clearly, the plantation was quite densely forested, but Really! who could miss those traps? I 'encountered' a couple of them, and they looked like huge! rusty automobile tire jacks. All that to trap bush meat? Wow! I briefly mused over them as actual human traps. My heart😳skipped a bit. Lol!. With practiced precision, machete firmly in hand, my Uncle split open a cocoa pod. Reliving my first taste of the creamy, cluster of cocoa fruits; refreshing! zesty! sweet! EKITI Is blessed by GOD with awesome natural and intellectual resources.
Welcome to Ikogosi-Ekiti", the road sign read, just about noon. Iworoko to Ikogosi is roughly 50 kilometres apart. This serene, wooded and hilly, Ekiti West local government Town is home to the enigmatic Ikogosi Warm Springs, which ranks way high on my list of The 7 wonders of the world. According to "Logbaby"; "What is mysterious about the Ikogosi Warm Spring is the fact that, flowing side by side the warm spring, and another spring, a cold one. According to experts, it is a geological wonder to have such occurrence out of the same rock formation and this Ekiti flagship tourist destination is said to be the only one of its kind discovered Anywhere in the World. The warm and cold springs of Ikogosi originate from a close proximity, come to a meeting point, and flow onward together with each spring retaining its thermal identity. It represents another uniqueness and is the first of such occurrence in the world. The warm spring has a temperature of up to 70oC at the source and 37oC after meeting the cold spring. The meeting point of the warm and cold springs is a unique attraction to tourists.
The springs sprout out and flow with a constant temperature and volume up to 150 litres/seconds from morning till night, at all seasons, all-year round. The whole environment of the spring has been deliberately left untampered with, for eco-tourism appeal while the source of the warm spring has been provided with a viewing structure for easy spotting by tourists. Strangely also, there is a tree and a palm growing from the same source at the meeting point area of the warm and cold springs. A wonderful work of Mother Nature!"
We spent two unforgettable days in one of the guest suites overlooking the swimming pool. I still recall vividly, me and my sisters' matching, should i say "andco" bright fuschia swimming suits with royal blue stripes on either side, and Daddy holding my baby sister over his shoulders around his neck and floating in the pool. My siblings love swimming but I always maintain the shallow end of Any Pool... My mind just can't bring my body to swim. Really, shouldn't swimming be the sole preserve of "aquatic living things"?
"...Lift up your hearts! Refrain: We lift them up to the LORD. Let us give thanks to The LORD our GOD! Refrain: It is right to give HIM Thanks and Praise! FATHER All Powerful! and Ever Living GOD, we do well Always and Everywhere to give You Thanks and Praise!.....
Facing the altar on my knees, I inadvertently caught a glimpse of my seemingly lopsided, sleepy eyes as they gleamed on the oversized, sterling silver chalice centered over the Crucifix adorned, white table cloth. Those words were from my grand- Uncle; Monsignor Oguntuyi as he officiated the early morning catholic mass, ushering in the new day and the conclusion of our 1977 Christmas holidays. Fare Thee Well! Precious EKITI...IBADAN Beckons.
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