One’s homestead is a place that is one’s home or one’s place of origin
or birth. A homestead should, hence, not become unfamiliar to any of its
members, no matter how long the one has stayed away from it. But it does
happen sometimes that one’s homestead can become very unfamiliar. In
1978 or so, the Ikom-Obudu Highway was massively reconstructed and
broadened and, I suppose, tarred either for the first time since its
construction through forced labour in the 1920s, or tarred again for the
first time in several decades. Some of the persons whose villages line
the over 100 kilometre road and who had been away from their homesteads
before the massive reconstruction often found it difficult to locate
their villages on the reconstructed road. There were regular quarrels
between commercial drivers and commuters on the road as a result of such
commuters missing their villages and realizing this only after the
vehicle had taken them some two or three villages farther than theirs.

A similar experience was replicated in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom
State, following the massive reconstruction that took place in the area
in the wake of the return to civilian rule. The popular old Uyo Circus,
for example, was heavily touched. First, a roundabout was constructed at
the old Circus, and then subsequently the Circus area was expanded and
renamed Uyo Plaza. The Plaza has become the hub from which all major
roads leading into, or leading out of, Uyo meet. Consequently, it is now
a beehive of activities of all sorts today. When it was reconstructed –
with a fountain, flowers and wonderful pavements – it was an amazing
site to behold and it remained so very beautiful for some while before
the usual Nigerian character of poor maintenance culture and attitude of
no-man’s land happened to it and the glamour dimmed. It however
substantially regained its erstwhile beauty temporarily only during the
coronavirus lockdown when it was relieved of the weight of huge crowds
who were forced indoors by government to save their lives from the
virus. Yes, the Plaza recovered its glamour once more, but only for a
while, for the period of the lockdown. But the massive reconstruction
that had taken place in Akwa Ibom State, especially in Uyo, yielded a
familiar expression which became something of a slogan, “If not for my
sense of geography, I would have missed my way!” This became the common
saying in the media, at public events and gatherings by comedians and
masters of ceremony and by friends whenever they met. Of course, the
governors, particularly Obong Victor Attah and his uncommon successor,
Chief Godswill Akpabio, loved the statement, which had the tinge of
commendation of their efforts.

And this was my personal experience today when I returned to Facebook
over a year from here. I returned to find so much at this playground,
this homestead that if not for my sense of geography, I wouldn’t have
recognised my wall here! The place has become so very unfamiliar. I
looked at the wall, and if our government and my dear father’s passing
hadn’t almost exhausted my stock of tears I would have wept for my
failure to do the needful that urgently and crucially needed to be done
here. How, for instance, can I explain the fact that my birthday was
celebrated here so lavishly in my absence and I wasn’t a part of it? So
much happened here and I missed it all. I missed the usual fun, the
warmth that steels me against every oddity in my life. I feel really
sorry for all this.

In the first place, I’m not usually a birthday-conscious person, but
always someone or some organization or something reminds me, sometimes
when it’s a bit late in the day. This year, and indeed for over one
year, I’ve had a slight challenge which resulted from excessive
stressing of the body. The suggested remedy was less sitting, more rest,
more vegetables and fruits and more physical exercises if the body was
not to expire altogether. Of course, we all know those usual
prescriptions which bring another kind of ache to the pocket, a
prescription of aristocratic menu for one so efficiently and effectively
pauperized by the blind, unrepentant Nigerian governments. But the
doctors always prescribe what we must eat, just like a beautiful lady
displaying her nudity before a eunuch. Well, a bit of the stress was
also a hangover from the burial of my late father, Pa Stephen Ushie
Ukpang (also Okpang/Ukpong). Somehow it took a happy toll on me. So, to
all the wonderful souls who were active here and kept the homestead
going; who kept dusting and cleaning it every day; who celebrated my
birthday and wept with me when the Patriarch went the way of all flesh,
I say thank you and God bless you all. As for your words of wonder and
goodwill, I will read every bit and take special note.

Today I’ve returned to the homestead – even if as a fugitive – because
I’ve rested and the covid-19 has invented some little time for me.
Besides, I’ve also discovered that my nation, the nation into which I
was born, which had been my home, my homestead, is no longer the same.
So much has gone wrong in my days of absence from here. Covid-19 came
and claimed some persons, including our own Abba Kyari and I missed the
company of everyone here. It’s more consoling to weep together, each
watching the steady stepping down of tears from the other’s eyes down
the face, than to weep alone, as if in covid-19 isolation. So, I’ve
returned here so we all can weep together. When I see your tears and you
see mine, there’s always that feeling that one isn’t alone, and it’s the
feeling that often drives one’s thoughts away from suicide, including
the other better option of killing oneself instead of committing
suicide! (Familiar, isn’t it?). So, I’m back to the homestead even if
the place now looks unfamiliar, even if I’m going to miss the
community’s dance steps for a while here before my steps fall in line
with the rhythm once more. I’m here so we weep together. I’ve retained a
tiny quantity of tears both from my father’s passing and from the
whipping and weal from the government’s rod of a cane. I thank you all
once more and I wish you a glorious welcome to the new week and new day.
And, in the spirit of the season, remember to stay safe.

Joseph A. Ushie,
University of Uyo.