The Ezego family.
A prominent family in the eastern part of Nigeria. They lived in wealth and harmony. Rich in numbers, intellectuals and assets. A unique family indeed as their name implies (KING OF MONEY).
The two heads of the families, High Chief Marius Ezego and High Chief Frank Ezego born to the great yam farmer Late High Chief Ogbueshi Ezego ||.
The Ezego family compound was sited very close to the town hall, it was in the centre of the village, The compound was a large one containing 12, 6 bedroom bungalows.
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The two families which had a total number of 20 members, all lived with their growing families in that same compound, This large piece of land had been given to their great grandfather as a gift, when he won the towns annual ijelle wrestling match back in his time.
The obi stood in the middle of the compound. It was one of the most important building in the compound, the only building built out of mud and tatched roofs, this was where the whole family gathered to celebrate, pray and hold meetings.
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The whole family would occasionally gather here to have their evening meal, discuss and tell stories.
There was no fence built in and out of the compound, this was a strict instruction Late High Chief Obueshi Ezego gave to his two sons before he passed on to the great beyond, the whole compound had to be accessible to every member of the family at all times.
The two heads of the family, taught their children to walk in the way of Peace, tolerance and co-existence. This was a virtue that existed and rained over them all through their time.
Until calamity struck.
The two heads of the family fell seriously ill at the same time. They where taken to the hospital but their cases seemed to get worse as the days ran by. Nothing could be done.
Now gone and after five years of mourning, life for the rest of the family members had to continue.
As the richest and most famous family in their village and clan, they where envied by their neighbors.
The two late chiefs didn't die of natural causes, their enemies where really up to something this time.
A charm had been buried in the obi of the Ezego family compound, a month before the death of the two fathers. It was buried there by Mr ozodi, a business tycoon who had traded with the family in the past.
He had great hatred and jealousy for the family. He wanted that land all to himself.
The charm had been prepared and given to him by an evil and notorious native doctor in the village, the native doctor had instructed Mr Ozodi where, when and how to bury the charm in the Ezego's compound.
He told him that the charm was meant to cause havoc, conflict and confusion in the family, and once planted cannot be stopped, even though it is removed from the earth by anyone.
Mr Ozodi was sure to get his trophy this time.
Years later, The charm had already caused so much trouble and conflict in the compound. Their was division amongst the Ezego family.
The sons of the family had disobeyed their late fathers and built a tall fence around the compound, they also separated the two families, with a big fence, the fence demarcated the compound into two, excluding the obi from the two new compounds, it was abandoned and never used for years.
Some year later, some members of the family had already moved out of the compound to the city, as their was too much disagreement and conflict.
This great family was finally on its knees and about to crumble.
Until one night.
The eldest son of the family, Mr Famous Ezego was strolling round the compound, when he decided to go to the abandoned obi in the middle of the compound.
When he got there he noticed how untidy and unkept the place was and he decided to clean it up, he swept, packed and threw all the dirt away before he retired for the night.
That night he slept peacefully till midnight.
He was sitting in the obi drinking palm wine with his fathers, they discussed and made merry.
Then suddenly he saw a strange man with a cutlass digging the ground in front of them , he didn't recognize him but he had a feeling he knew the person. They just watched him as he dug the earth and buried a strange looking charm, wrapped around a red cloth. When he was done he got up and made his way out of the compound silently.
Mr Famous then asked his fathers what just happened. They explained to him and told him who the strange man was, and why he did what he just did.
Mr Famous's heart melted out of fear, "So this was the reason behind all the calamities that had befallen the family all through this year's" He thought.
He asked his fathers if there was any remedy to the problem and they both told him that there was only one way out.
All the fences built around and in the compound had to be destroyed, returning the compound to its old state. And then a seven day Feast and celebration had to be conducted, where all the family members had to eat together on the same table happily in the obi for seven days.
After this was done, the evil charm and its planter would be destroyed. At that moment Mr Famous woke up from his dream.
That morning he called a family meeting, and explained his dream to everybody. Something had to be done immediately.
In two days everyone had to return home for the feast. The fences where immediately destroyed and the compound was back to normal.
Five cows where used for this great feast.
Every evening for the next seven days, everybody would gather in the obi and feast. They all ate and told stories.
On the seventh day, the whole family gathered in the obi for the last feast, but this time something strange happened.
While they ate, they heard strange sounds coming from the ground, it was as if something was trying to get out of the earth. They just ate and retired to the night.
That night Mr Famous the eldest son had another dream and this time, he saw his two late fathers in the obi digging out the charm. They got it out and threw it away.
Peace and Harmony had finally come to stay.
The end
