I spent my childhood in Oron. My mum and dad both come from Oron but mum is from the riverside, a village called Esuk Oron while dad comes from Anai Okpo, a village where there are more farms than rivers. As expected of children from a family where the father is the head of the home, we were made to spend most of our childhood in my daddy’s village with only occasional visits to my mum’s village.

I loved spending the holidays in Esuk Oron; there is an all male school in Esuk Oron, the Methodist Boy’s High School.   At the time, the uniform for the students consisted of   white trousers, white shirt, and black tie on matching black sandals. Entrance into the school was tough; you had to be exceptionally smart to make it into the Methodist boy’s high school. I don’t have to say that the boys from that school defined the standard for boys for we girls in the village. We simply fell in and into love with those neat smart boys and they never seemed to notice us mooning over them, they liked to look down their noses at us scraggy and unsophisticated villagers. At times I had to go to extra length to prove to them that daddy and mummy also stayed in the town nearby, but what was the town nearby compared to Lagos and other big cities that produced these boys and sent them to the village?

There is a long river crossing the villages at the back of grand mum’s house. The stretch of ocean leads past Calabar to the Cameroons and beyond.

We always went to the river for a swim. There are two villages by the river so close together; they look more like neighbouring houses than two different villages, habouring people of different cultures. The river derives two names from the two villages. One village is Ude, while the other one is Utin.  The river comes across Ude on the left side past Utin on the right side. The myth about the single flowing stream was that the river in front of Ude harboured a spirit represented by a python, while the river in front of utin harboured a spirit represented by a white crocodile.  The python was believed to be very wicked; we were always warned to be careful while bathing in the river that passes in front of Ude.   The usual practice of children while swimming is to make music by beating the palms on the surface of the water; we were warned strictly against trying that music, the python was known to sometimes be in a very bad mood and when the mood came upon him, he would heartlessly send a swimmer to his or her death. People who played drums with the palms on the water were known to be taken adrift unconsciously and before they knew it, they would find themselves in the deep end of the river without knowing how they got there or how to swim back

The crocodile on the hand was reputed to be very benevolent; he was the one who always saved fishermen in danger of drowning. Mum told us a story of how the crocodile saved her own brother, our uncle, Bassey. The incident according to mum happened during the civil war.  Isaac Boro, one army general, had entered Esuk Oron and given an order that no fisherman should be found near the sea. The order persisted for months and uncle Bassey not having enough food for the family and being a very stubborn man dared Isaac Boro and went out to sea on a very quiet and ominous night. He caught more fish that day than he had ever done in his entire life but on his way back he encountered Isaac Boro who after beating him to the point of death tied the boat to his own speed boat, drove it to the high seas after drilling holes into the canoe. Uncle Bassey would have drowned if not for the crocodile. What the animal reportedly did was to throw him continuously for seven times until he got to a shallow ground. A search party conducted all night found him close to the shore tapped by weed having been mercifully washed ashore by waves or by another miracle.

Robot  Villager

# 1 I spent my childhood in Oron. My mum and dad both come from Oron but mum is from the rivers...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 07.03.2008 18:08

emj  Villager

# 2 Hmmm........nice goings and story u've got there Anne Oboho, hope that was just a Preview/Prelude ....:eek::p PS>>>>>>>when are you going to complete your Temp Visa process at the VTT...BTW, they are still waiting for you, ur file is in the CPO's Office:) Have a good weekend>>>>>>>>>. Posted by emj| 07.03.2008 19:48

Dimaanu  Villager

# 3 I loved spending the holidays in Esuk Oron; there is an all male school in Esuk Oron, the Methodist Boy’s High School... We simply fell in and into love with those neat smart boys and they never seemed to notice us mooning over them, they liked to look down their noses at us scraggy and unsophisticated villagers. At times I had to go to extra length to prove to them that daddy and mummy also stayed in the town nearby, but what was the town nearby compared to Lagos and other big cities that produced these boys and sent them to the village? Anne, The above quote is a story within a story. Oya, gist us the details of your dealings with the neat smart boys from Lagos. Weekend Martini.:D Posted by Dimaanu| 07.03.2008 21:37

uchebush  Villager

# 4 Chei! Is this the end of the story? Just when I was getting started... Ok. So we've seen chapter 1. It's sweet. Could you please let us have chapter 2? And make it fast; otherwise I will go to Oron and see the rest of the story for myself. Sensual words, great story. I thank you. Posted by uchebush| 08.03.2008 01:17

aringaranso  Villager

# 5 Good write-up Anne, Hope you keep the "series" running. Posted by aringaranso| 08.03.2008 09:59

Bode_Boluz  Villager

# 6 A nice Nostalgic Journey... We could do with more of these... I only got to go to my ancestral village in the now Ogun State at Xmas and New Year... Not enough time to get the best out of the atmosphere and environment. I however did enjoy the serene tranquility of village life after all the seasonal folks have left... During the school break in 1977 for FESTAC 77 with my younger brother and Grand Father... Ahhh it was Glorious... Though in hind sight I do regret not actively seeing the hive of activities for the Festival. But I did get valuable time with my Grand Father and Brother... Posted by Bode_Boluz| 08.03.2008 10:11

aguabata  Villager

# 7 Is this fiction or true story but whatever it is , gimme more. The writer obviously has a beautiful mind i hope she keeeps it flowing this way. THX Posted by aguabata| 09.03.2008 14:09