In my growing up days; I recall vividly how my father built his first country home through ‘communal cooperative effort’. It was fun. It started on a Saturday morning in the eighties. As early as 6 a.m, I saw community men trickling into our compound. Each one had one farm too or another. Some had shovels, rakes, diggers, buckets, baskets and many too numerous to mention. By the time it was 7 a.m, there was a standard crowd of community men in the compound. I was wondering what they were up to. My fear was, however, allayed as they all greeted my father warmly on arrival and exchanged pleasantries amongst themselves. I noticed also that my mother rose very early in the company of two other women and had been driven to the market by an uncle in my dad’s Peugeot 404 pickup van which was his major achievement in his years in the Military. It was clear to me where they went after they arrived with food items among others. By 8 a.m, my dad had led the men with their work tools to a prime parcel of land some meters away from the family compound. At this point, I was already set out for my Entrance Examination appointment into Government College; so I left in company of an uncle who was then a teacher in a community school
I returned from my Entrance Examination at about 5 pm and I was amazed to see a seven bedroom bungalow standing on window level. The rooms were broad and the settee was continental in size. I was excited. The exercise was a carnival. The men that worked were already feasting in the company of the other elders of the community who had come to felicitate with my dad for the feat. I found my way to where my old man was seated and I asked him how he was going to pay for all of the work done considering the number of people that were available to work. He said the payment was in kind and not in cash. He, in fact, said they actually came to repay him as he had done same for each and every one of them. He further informed me that the next circle was starting the next Tuesday and this would continue till the house was completed. To me; I looked forward with great expectation to the day the ‘Community Cooperators’ would come again to repay my dad with raising the 7 bedroom bungalow to the next level. This communal effort continued till the house was roofed and we moved into our new home with excitement and celebrations.
As we grew older, my old man insisted that the structure must not be demolished when we wanted something more modern. He allotted lands to any of us ready to build and only allowed turnaround renovations from time to time on the ‘communal ‘structure. The latest of such renovations was Four years ago when papa turned 95 years and was christened the ‘Odionwele’ (the oldest man) of my community. The house is almost a modern structure via several innovative renovations. What amazes me most about this structure is the sturdiness of the walls. You try to bury a nail in the wall to hang a Calendar or Photo Frame; such nail must be tornado nail; otherwise, you should be ready for some hard times with the wall.
…to be continued
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