MY ADVANTAGE AS THE LAST CHILD
Being the last child also connotes that I had less house chores to do at the time. My older siblings were there to do them. My father was a man of the farm,so not until I was five or six did I start to follow him to the farm.
Mama might not afford the luxury of delicacies, but the local supply of snails, little games, and edible fungi (olu) always made her food special to a child like me who had been trained from birth to be contented with what you were given: no query, no comparison with any other. In fact, you dared not be covetous over anything. Playing round the village was a common thing with other children of that age group who had not started schooling or whose parents either could not afford it or did not believe it. Moonlight stories enriched the ready tender heart to learn and to explore.
The vegetation around my village was a thorough tropical rain forest, so densely packed that rain falling on the canopy could take as long as two to three minutes to reach the ground. Thus, fresh breadfruits and english nuts (@pz Oyinbo) could be available during the season.
Hunting for snails, small games and fishing in the stream were part of my early life. My older brother served as a link to these ventures.
The raining season had its own effect on the villagers. I could vividly remember my father calling on God to save his house from storm on such occasions. It could be extremely cold such times, especially during the May to August downpour.
Walking bare-footed was not a big deal. From childhood to my teenage years, I wore no shoes. From the earliest consciousness, the church bell was fascinating. Going to church, there was orderliness. The songs would always make a soul-searching and drawings to God. Then, from my toddler stage, the fear of God was instilled in me at home, around the village and the church. Then, it was a taboo to work on Sunday or go on a journey.
I cherished and loved my village environment though not civilized; simple but thoroughly natural.
Some of my older village mates with whom we played together then were Brother Olajumoke Makinde, now a retired educationist, Brother Isaac Olusola Fadiran, nowa prophet, “Anti” Adesoye Fadiran, and Susanah Adufe Alayande, also a retired educationist.