Contests - My Town and Civilization by @benton3

Hello friends, nice day to you all. I believe our week is going as planned. This contest with the topic My Town and Civilization hosted by this great community is a beautiful one which deserves every one's attention. More especially because irrespective of the city we live in, we all came from one village or the other.

It is time to showcase both the former and present beauty or attraction of our hometowns.

What are some of the histories of your town before civilization?

I come from a town called Nbawsi town. This town is made up of 5 different communities of which I came from one of them. The town and its people are known for their hospitality, stand for truth and great warriors in the old days.

It is among the first towns to see development right in my country due to where it is situated even during the colonial era. It was opportuned to have the rail line pass through it as early as 1946 and this brought about her becoming a great trade route.

In those days and which I saw some too, it is a market place for palm kernels, red oil, cassava stems and tubers and many other cash crops. In fact it was a perfect place for trading of all sorts of goods, brought into the area. Due to this trade route, western masters established their colonies their and so many other visitors both from Nigeria and beyond resided in the village.

This brought about rapid development of the area very early. My village had telephone network, you know those ancient types that you dial like a circle. had a good water board system with nice drinking water, steady power supply, etc. Infact, it was among the first developed towns in my state even before Aba came to be known.

My village are also known to stand for justice. Old transport companies we know in Nigeria like We-we motors, the Young Shall Grow, Chisco, all started from my hometown. However due to overstepping their boundaries, they were asked to leave the town, we my people could not tolerate their excesses. That was how they relocated their businesses to Aba. I am grateful this happened.

We don't tolerate laziness too. Thieves are dealth with. They will be stripped naked, the leaf of a tree that scratches will be hung around their neck, will be told to carry a big mortar on their head, while children will play songs for them and they dance to it, moving around the whole village. This is usually enough to dissuade such a person from continuing in the act of stealing.

We are also known for making delicious tasty dishes during ceremonies. For instance, we have the Achara and Molded Egusi soup with ukazi leaf. Hmmm, I am Just salivating right now. It is a soup you would not want to miss.

We also do not tolerate incestuous relationship. All the families from my village came from a particular man. So despite the generations that have passed. I cannot marry anyone from my village. It is regarded as in Incestuous relationship. Any man and woman caught doing so are banished from the village.

There are so many other things but I will not be able to write them all out here.

Do the people of your town still keep some of the old practices.

Gratefully, some of the practices done those days are still practiced. The non-marriage law for indigenes is still practiced, so if a suitor says he is from my local government, we dig deeper to ensure the person is not from my village to avoid embarrassment in the future.

The new yam festival is still being done but not with the same pomp and pegeantry with which it is done in those days.

The Achara soup is still a delicacy prepared during any important occasion till date. Guest and visitors are thrilled with this.

From history or as a witness, what are the things you miss about the old practices before civilization?

The fact that the village is not serving as a trade route is something I miss sincerely. The number of foreigners who stays there have reduced drastically due to that singular factor.

The way judgement is passed when something wrong is done is another practice I missed. The punishment will be metted out in such a way that the wrongdoer will definitely regret his or her action. Unlike what is obtainable now that people do wrong and get away with it without remorse.

Do you prefer the changes civilization has brought to your town or vice versa.

Well there is a saying that everything have both an advantage and disadvantage. To an extent, there are some advantages to the changes experienced. Considering that the entire world is developing at a fast rate, it is good to make adjustment to move along with the tech space.

In my place too, I have seen the infrastructures we had earlier on become history, like good pipe borne water, good roads are no more available. Even the rail system is in a deplorable and pitiable condition, thus affecting the economy of my village.

Despite some of these deficiencies, there is no place like home. It is still the only place I go to and have excessive peace of mind.

Conclusion

Thank you @steem4nigeria for such a wonderful contest. It has just helped me remember some of the nice practices carried out 8n my hometown. Civilization be it as it may, my hometown still remains the safest place for me.

I invite @madilyn02, @eliany and @benson6 to join in this contest.