Village Boy

The story Village Boy is about the social andfamilial upheavals and confl icts caused by theintroduction, in the early 20th century, by a groupof Christian missionaries, of Western culturaltraditions among an erstwhile peaceful and selfsufficient agricultural sedentary people. Thesecultural incursions led to the annihilation of thepeoples native traditions and cultures, includingthose of Kachiya and Mbwarhatha(circumcision andgrind room- the only place where on a daily basisyoung men could meet and fl irt with young womenin the evenings) which were the sole socialization instruments of the tribe. Thefulcrums of our culture and traditions that have sustained us for all these yearscan now no longer hold, commented the tribal elder, Tapchi, to a boyhood friend,Aji, fi ve years after the coming of the missionaries; everything is different andin a sorry chaos!This breakdowns led to the mass exodus of the youth to the distant emerging citiesof Kano, Jos, Kaduna ,and, yes, even Lagos. These new immigrants, however,faced steep competition for jobs both from the citys residents and from othermigrants who had converged on the cities from all corners of the countryside.Their meager education forced them into menial jobs, such as house boys orstore clerks; few were able to secure even low-level government jobs.The social confl ict and upheaval was partially resolved, to some minimallyacceptable levels, by the regular annual visits of those who had left the land,bringing with them gifts of tea, sugar, bread, and items of clothing which weregenerously and lavishly shared with relatives and neighbours. Some few whohad made it, in the city even came with their own mettika (cars).But things are not always as gloomy as is refl ected in the lives of Madu, Dalla,and, to some extent, Hassana in the stories that follow. Some of the tribesmigrant sons and daughters to the cities (like Madu in the story) took to politicsand became active, relevant and prominent during the early years of self-ruleand eventual Independence. Education has been, and continues to be, thesocial instrument of mobility for the children of the migrants and for those whoremained on the land, as for example, Dalla. They can now be found in all sectorsof the Nigerian society, as educators, business men, politicians and high cadrecivil servants.