My Kogi Experience

Hey guys,

It's been a while. Hope you're doing well. How has August been?

I just returned from my village Ejegbo in Ankpa local government of Kogi state. I went for my grandpa's burial. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect or if I'd survive. Alas!!!!! Here I am! 

The last time I was home was in 2000 for an uncle's wedding and I was back in 2019 for a burial of my grandfather I hadn't seen in 10 years (we talked on the phone a lottttt). 

Grandpa was 103 years and a retired soldier. He had 15 kids and 20 something grandkids (I tried counting). He was very strong and agile. This man still drove himself around even till the day he passed. May God grant him eternal rest. 

I've broken down my experience into segments. Let's get right into it.

1. Lokoja/Ajaokuta road. Nothing much to say here except that Kogi state indegenes need to sit down and talk with the governor about the death trap that is the Lokoja - Ajaokuta road. Also, if you're pregnant, avoid that road completely. Incase you missed it earlier, avoid that road if you're pregnant.

2. The environment. *singing* The land is green. Beautiful scenery. Very green, cool, fresh. However, the red sand is spoiler. My favourite part about the environment is that there are no mosquitoes. Yup!!! You heard me right. Not one single mosquito in the 10 days I was there. No not one.

3. The people. The people are warm to a reasonable extent. The communal living is top notch (duh..). Everyone knows everyone (and their business of cos), everyone is wary of everyone. Everyone suspects everyone (which is ironic because they all seem to get along).

4. The culture. This is where I received the most shock. So many things I saw and heard that left me gobsmacked. 

A. You don't eat cow meat at any funeral at all (home or abroad) if one or both your parents are dead and you didn't kill a cow for them. While we're here on this cow issue, if you kill a cow for one of your parents and not the other, you best not eat any meat at any funeral. 

B. After the internment, there's a whole new "burial" that's done again and this has to be done on a certain market day. 

C. There's a private ceremony (not compulsory) where family members find out the debtors of the deceased, people he/she owes, current state of all their properties and final words all from the deceased. Yeah, you read right. The dead tells the family errthing. Yup! Basically, an audio will. Fear Igala people. 

5. Electricity. 3 new transformers, not 1 single voltage of power. Not even low voltage. Not even "candle NEPA" nothing!!! Had to be solar or gen. 

In all, the funeral went well and my stay was quite interesting but I'm super glad to be back home. I met all my cousins (except the 4 I met in 2000 when they were babies ) for the first time. Hopefully, it's not another 19 years before we see each other again. 

I got a lot of "so you don't know me?" "so you don't remember me?" "so you can speak igala" "why didn't you bring your husband" basic questions you'd expect at such family gatherings. 

I didn't tour at all (because the bed really needed me and I couldn't say no). I however made one trip into town for some palmwine 😉. The palmwine was so watered down, felt like I was drinking water with a dash of colour. I later gathered that I went to the wrong source. 

There you have it, my trip to the village. I'm not sure I want to go there anytime soon mainly because of power issue but it's not as bad as I feared initially.

How often do you visit your village?