| DANGER AT DUSK. |
In the humid, oppressive heat of the Lagos roads in mid-afternoon, a convoy of two Peugeot wagon cars slowly but surely made its way through the exhausting traffic jams for which Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, had become world-famous. In the cars was the whole household of Dr. Madu Daukoru, a retired geologist � my father. Now, Nigerian families are known to be quite large indeed. And ours was no exception. It had taken two large wagons to take us on our journey much to Madu�s dismay. He had hoped to save some money on the trip by taking the public buses but his wife, Mrs. Mabel Daukoru would have none of it. She was going to take everything with her or nothing at all. Adding to the large population taking the ten-hour trip from the residence in Lagos to Port Harcourt, and further on to the village, Mabel had opted to take as much of everything as space would allow � and space didn�t allow much room for the kind of luggage she wished to carry. So, in desperation, she distributed some of the leftover pieces of luggage to each member of the traveling party. Thus accomplished, the plump, fair woman settled into her seat in one of the wagons with much panting and perspiration, which she quelled with a cool soft drink and a worn handkerchief. In all, the house comprised of the mother and father of the home: Mabel and Madu; the children: Wani, the eldest son, Kimi, the only daughter, Oikio, the youngest son and myself; my maternal uncles: Kojo and Joshua; and two house helps. Madu, tall, dark and lean with oddly shaped calves, was a reserved man. Never was he quick to anger. But when provoked beyond his limits, he would blaze with fierce fury, just like the flames that consumed dry firewood in the dry season. A brilliant mind on any IQ test, he had retired three years earlier from his job as General Manager of Exploration. �I am getting older everyday�these gray hairs are not for nothing�, he had explained just after his retirement when Wani inquired. However, this did not remove any doubts from our minds as to the real motive for his rather sudden retirement � we believed father was taking us all to the village because he was about to be made an alabo (chief). Our suspicions were heightened when Oikio, my younger brother, stumbled upon the great chieftaincy coral beads in father�s closet. �They were like big, smooth, pink pebbles�, he revealed after a little bribery of cookies. We were all anxious to see what awaited our arrival in Nembe. Mabel, my mother, was above all, a housewife. With unbelievable abilities in the kitchen, she could sober any man with her catering. She was very organized � even to the point of pedantry sometimes. But she was a devoted mother and was always concerned about the welfare of her children. My elder brother, Wani was slender, of average height and bi-spectacled. Calm and calculative, he was much like father. My elder sister, Kimi was much more vocal. Dark and quite short, I teased her on numerous occasions by calling her a �smurf�. Oikio was the youngest. He was an ebullient and pestering little boy. Many a time, one was prevented from smacking him silly because he held mother�s affections. My uncles Kojo and Joshua were very much alike. Both men were extremely pompous and bragged as if it were second nature. In spite of their similarities, Kojo had a prominent stutter and was quite older than Joshua � his frail frame could testify to that. Every member of the Madu household had risen at six a.m. and gotten ready for the long trip to the village, Nembe. Naturally, my mother was the one who split us into two groups of five. My father already had decided to stay in one car and so Mabel, chose to stay in the other car with us, children. So, father was in the other car with my uncles, Kojo and Joshua and the two house helps. It was in this setting that my mother was most frightening. She always seemed to be so pumped up by the occasion of travel. It excited her and in many ways, was her passion. She barked and yelled at any sloppy soldier and dished out multiple instructions in seconds. Her stout, rotund physique was never an impediment to her admirable organizational skills. That morning seemed to be a typical travel morning for Mabel � busy and exciting. For the rest of us �soldiers�, those kinds of mornings are always occasions on which to receive fresh tongue lashing � mornings to be forgotten quickly. For some reason though, there was this memorable feeling about this trip�something not quite obvious - not yet. * * * � Selegha Michael Daukoru 2001. |
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