I've always been a young lad that stays far from home and this adventurous movement of mine started from when I was 9 years old. I have been spending at least, 9 months away from home each year since my 9th birthday but each time l find my way back to my hometown usually presents a new normal to me.
It's either l'm faced with an addition of something new to the already existing norms in the town or l will be informed of something that was subtracted from our usual way of life.
Some call it change
Some say that we are evolving
Others say that we are developing
In all, Ogidi is a town that is located in Anambra state which is in the South Eastern part of Nigeria. The town itself have really changed alot from what it used to be some decades ago and l'm sure that l will be seeing more changes there once l complete my one year national service and travel back home in few weeks to come.
It is also a town that my parents have been living in since when they were teenagers so, l will be giving you a good blend of folktales from their lips and my lifetime experience which will help to iron out the series of changes that have happened in Ogidi.
How Ogidi have changed since the younger age of my parents till today
Some of these are seen as a positive change while some are nothing to write home about so, get ready to feed your eyes and mind.
- DEITIES: In the late 80s, Ogidi was well known for the way they uphold their cultural beliefs and also for the popular deity (python) which they all treated as a god.
Stories have it that anyone that kills a python in Ogidi will host a burial ceremony for it just like how it would have been done for a human corpse. The person will also have to do some purification in a shrine/river else, the deity will take his life and that of his current and upcoming generation.
Many people reading this will probably see it as a folktale but these people do not take it lightly. I have also seen them on several occasions when they are pampering and caressing pythons.
This Current trend
This particular culture is the type that is no longer as outspoken as it used to be because the Ogidi that used to be populated by the indigens is now filled with a mixture of people from other tribes of Nigeria. The python is also not as visible as it used to be in the past.
- INFRASTRUCTURES: Just like many other place in Nigeria and in different parts of the world, Ogidi have also experience some level of infrastructural development. According to my parents, most of the bushes that were used as a hunting ground for antelope 😋 and rabbit are no longer in existence at the moment while most of the empty lands are now occupied with buildings.
Below is a taste of what l'm saying 👇
1980s
That looks pretty acient so, l will allow you to paint mental pictures of what their medium of transportation would have been like.
They also faced a very interesting level of development since then till date.
Anyone that is comparing the two pictures may still say that Ogidi experienced an epileptic growth but l know that some people will think otherwise so, you can comment your opinion below.
There have also been other series of changes that can be noticed about Ogidi but not all these changes can be seen as a positive change.
They include;
- Misuse of some cultural practices in order to make life uncomfortable to people. This is majorly focused on some masquerade festivals that are still being organized.
The youths that put on the costume (🤐) usually use the opportunity to hunt down the female folks and give them some lashes of their cane. In most cases, this leaves an eternal injury on the skin of their victims.
- Cultism and their endless threat to the society: The Ogidi that I knew while growing up was completely free from any act of cultism but the current Ogidi that I'm hearing it's stories is filled with endless bloodshed for no just cause.
I hope that the negative changes that l'm seeing and hearing of would be totally stopped so that my hometown would be a safe place for all.
Thanks For Not Missing Any Full-stop Or Comma
This is my entry to a contest organised by Hive Cross Culture! community. Today is already the deadline but you can still CLICK HERE to be more informed about this contest and the community.
All unsourced images were take and edited by me using my phone camera.