Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Azubike True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa
    Azubike True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa
    Azubike True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa
    Ebook93 pages1 hour

    Azubike True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa

    By Lawrence Igwegbe

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Azubike started to do most home chores; washing of plates, sweeping of rooms and compound and a host of others when his peers don’t even think of those chores. At the age of seven, he could be said to be in the same business his parents were into. He would resume in the palm-oil mill at 3.30am, leave at 6.30 am to home where he had to go to two rounds of water fetching from a stream over a mile away from home. Most mornings, in addition, he would have to cook and pound ‘akpu’ fufu that a family of eight would eat, then eat his own before trotting off to school over three miles away. Most of the time, he would arrive at school late and so receive the appropriate treatment for that. When he comes back from school he had to fetch as much as 150 to 250 liters of water from a stream over one and half miles from the oil mill for his parents’ business, get goat food for close to fifty goats and sheep, fetch another 60 liters of water for home use every day and in addition get fire wood for both his parents’ business and for home use everyday. Thereafter, he returns back to the oil mill to help his parents out on their business and most time leave the oil mill by 9 to 9.30 Pm to go home and cook and eat and has only from 10 to 10.30 Pm to read his book and sleep. He then wakes up at 3.30am to head to oil mill once again! Despite all this , Azubike was still one of the best in his school and proceeded to college-graduation and amazingly had time for leisure- Tale of a typical African village boy! It is true.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLawrence Igwegbe
    Release dateMar 11, 2017
    ISBN9781370134373
    Azubike True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa
    Author

    Lawrence Igwegbe

    Igwegbe Lawrence was born in Aba, an important commercial and Industrial city South East of Nigeria. He was educated at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka with a bachelor’s degree in Pure Mathematics. Though Igwegbe Lawrence is an accomplished Insurance sales and management strategist, he has published amongst others, “Insurance Policy, Buyers’ Intelligence” in Nigeria, “The Nigeria Question, The Inevitable Clash with the Cabals”. “Niger Delta, Agonies of Igbos and other Nationalities”, in USA. Igwegbe Lawrence is happily married with children and at present lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

    Related to Azubike True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa

    Related ebooks

    Relationships For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Jun 30, 2023

      I WAS curious about getting into a submarine when I had to do it way back in 2005. I was sent to Mauritius to do a travel story for the women’s magazine I was working for at the time and had no idea what to expect. It took about two hours to go down

      6 min read

    • Article

      Atinuke

      Oct 6, 2020

      Atinuke
      4 min read

    • Article

      Island Life!

      Aug 1, 2022

      Island Life!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Through My Eyes

      Aug 20, 2021

      Through My Eyes
      10 min read

    • Article

      Hello!

      May 28, 2021

      Hello!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Dec 1, 2023

      LIKE, comment, subscribe – these three words have become commonplace as we find ourselves in a world increasingly dominated by social media. With the rise of influencer culture, content creators are everywhere and they’re punting everything – food, b

      6 min read

    • Article

      Meet Aseel Tayah

      Dec 2, 2021

      Meet Aseel Tayah
      8 min read

    • Article

      Celebrating Women In Agriculture

      Aug 11, 2023

      After my grandfather was retrenched in his mid-50s, he used his pension payout to buy a farm in the Karoo near Uniondale, where he farmed ostriches, goats and sheep. He didn't know much about farming when he began, and this was exacerbated with the o

      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Jan 3, 2020

      I APPLAUD all the people who are well off who reach out to the needy. But I worry that – although they give out of the goodness of their hearts – they may not end up uplifting the needy people they’re hoping to help. Giving a food parcel to someone i

      3 min read

    • Article

      Chido Govera Cultivates Hope

      Feb 7, 2019

      Chido Govera Cultivates Hope
      17 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Sep 18, 2020

      It’s very easy to judge when you don’t have all the facts. I do feel however, in Ellen DeGeneres’ case, that her fame has gone to her head (YOU, 3 September) and she’s now learnt the bitter lesson that pride comes before a fall. She should genuinely

      4 min read

    • Article

      Editor’s Letter

      Apr 18, 2024

      Editor’s Letter
      2 min read

    • Article

      Mya-Rose Craig

      Jun 30, 2022

      Mya-Rose Craig
      2 min read

    • Article

      Cool Dads: Tough Times Edition

      Jul 3, 2022

      Cool Dads: Tough Times Edition
      7 min read

    • Article

      Origin Story

      Aug 27, 2021

      Origin Story
      10 min read

    • Article

      School Of The Desert

      Sep 8, 2021

      School Of The Desert
      7 min read

    • Article

      Supporting ROLE

      Sep 8, 2019

      Supporting ROLE
      8 min read

    • Article

      Mending Broken Young Lives

      Nov 21, 2020

      LINDA Mbatha rubs his eyes with his knuckles. “It’s been rough,” he says, speaking about the rigours of lock-down in Alexandra township – literally within sight of Sandton City and the richest square mile in Africa. It’s 10.30 on a Tuesday morning. H

      4 min read

    • Article

      Children’s Ground

      Dec 10, 2020

      Children’s Ground
      8 min read

    • Article

      Mabu Mabu

      Jun 3, 2021

      Mabu Mabu
      8 min read

    • Article

      School Of The Desert

      Sep 8, 2021

      School Of The Desert
      7 min read

    • Article

      Food For Thought On Hunger Issue

      May 22, 2021

      AS A humanitarian, there are certain days of importance that are powerful moments for reflection, a realignment of where we are and where we ought to be, a moment to drive awareness and education on some of the most pressing issues of our time. On Fr

      3 min read

    • Article

      Food For Thought On Hunger Issue

      May 22, 2021

      AS A humanitarian, there are certain days of importance that are powerful moments for reflection, a realignment of where we are and where we ought to be, a moment to drive awareness and education on some of the most pressing issues of our time. On Fr

      3 min read

    • Article

      Food For Thought On Hunger Issue

      May 22, 2021

      AS A humanitarian, there are certain days of importance that are powerful moments for reflection, a realignment of where we are and where we ought to be, a moment to drive awareness and education on some of the most pressing issues of our time. On Fr

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Azubike True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Azubike True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa - Lawrence Igwegbe

      Azubike

      True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa

       Igwegbe Lawrence Emeka

      Foreword

      AZUBIKE

      True Tales, of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa

       Have you ever read that in many African villages, households, eek out living on less than $5 per day!? Have you ever imagined that it was so difficult to even make the $5 and that as little as the $5 was that all hands were on deck to make it!? I mean father, mother and all children! Now if parents and all their children had to do so much in those African villages where they had to survive on $5 per day you can now sum up the quantity of effort that had to be put in for some households to make $10 to $20 per day! Do you know that some households have to put in as much as 14 to 16 hours of serious labor every day to stay slightly above poverty- line and perhaps hope to afford the luxury of giving education of a kind to the children? The parents in those African villages simply have so much to do to stay away from poverty line that without the support of their children and wards they would practically tear themselves apart with work! While in the advanced civilizations, governments are alive to their responsibilities and would most likely not clean off their country’s treasury into perpetually licking personal pockets, so they could afford to talk and legislate against the so-called ‘Child Labor’ because there were really no need for child labor in those countries but isn’t it amazing and ironic that here in Africa where most governments are to say the least highly irresponsible and are even responsible for the total spread of poverty in their respective countries by their frequent looting of their nations’ treasuries and who perhaps treat the fact that many households eek out their lives on just $2 as mere statistics would turn around and join leaders of advanced nations to talk and legislate shamelessly about ‘child labor’! Even the advanced civilizations, let us not forget so fast that some 60,000 to 80,000 days ago when so much labor was required to keep plantations producing at largest capacity in the new-found land of America couldn’t recognize which labor was child labor or adult labor to the low point of enslaving, a whole continent not even for survival but for creation of wealth for themselves. By then the citizens of now advanced nations was then talking of inappropriateness of ‘White Labor’! The African village child has so much to do to help the parents and guardians for collective survival. He has no choice than to support the parents and wouldn’t have seen such support as ‘Child labor’ but rightly as an exercise of responsible mentality. However, this meant that the African village child has little or no time to read his book but read his book he must if he hopes to beat poverty and the shadows of creeping ignorance. So despite the fact that the African village child has little amount of time to put into his studies but he is going to sit in the same examination with African city children and others elsewhere in advanced nations that have so much time to themselves and surprisingly sometimes do better than the African city children! Azubike… is a true tale of a responsible, obedient, struggling and excelling teenage African Village child that would bring to your reading desk, the tale; of industry, resilience, doggedness, studiousness, accountability, adventure, excellence and surprisingly even fun! It is a tribute to several millions of struggling African village children.

      Dedications

      This work is specially, dedicated to the memories of the following:

      Ndidi Elily, my sister-in-law, who died as she was being delivered of her first child. Adio Ndii.

      The work is also dedicated to my late Dad and Mom, Mazi Raphael Iheatu Igwegbe and Mrs. Lilian Oriaku Igwegbe. I am grateful.

      And

      Ima-Obong Okon Effiong my niece.

      The work is also dedicated to these wonderful friends of mine:

      Majek Ehimen Onobun

      Mazi Chuks Ekpunobi (Nwachinamelu)

      Capt. Nwana Obioha

      Finally this work is dedicated to millions of African children that have no choice at all than to tow the path of responsibility by helping their parents to do some of the so much the parents have to do to keep body and soul together; and at the same time put enough effort to read their books and compete with other children that are far less busy but most importantly rekindle the hope of ever getting out of the poverty circle!

      Azubike True Tales of a Teenager’s Village Life in Africa

      By Igwegbe Lawrence Emeka

      Published by Igwegbe Lawrence Emeka

      At Smashwords

      Copyright 2017 Igwegbe Lawrence Emeka

      Though this narration is a true story but all characters used in the narration including places do not exist or are used fictitious.

      Table of Content

      Foreword

      Dedication

      Part 1 Birth and Early Child Hood Development

      Part 2 Education, Resourcefulness, and rugged Resilience

      Part 3 Fun adventure and Mischief!

      About The Author

      Other Books by the Author

       Part 1

      Birth and Early Child Hood Development

       My father as an African was more customary to pick a second wife or even a third wife even though all he had may be just a few acres of land or even much less but I was lucky, my dad had only my Mom as his wife so I do not have to face the challenge of competition among half brothers and sisters and step mother but that also meant missing the few advantages of a polygamous family especially having a lot of half brothers and sisters that would teach other peers some lessons if they chose to play bully on me. Though I had an elder brother and sister, they were not often available as they were older than me. You may wonder why. I just mentioned that one thing an African village man may do is to get himself as many wives as possible, the second thing an African village man may most likely do is to have so many children from one single wife. Sometime the woman may give birth to as many as twelve to fifteen children. In some villages when a woman is able to give birth to such an outrageous number of children, the husband, in celebration would kill a goat in honor of the woman, (igbu ewu ukwu)! The woman is often given the waist part of the goat as a mark of honor. Even when it is crystal clear in the mind of the husband that considering all his resources, he just can’t possibly effectively feed such large number of children let alone educating them. However, he hopes that a miracle may happen when the responsibility of educating the children calls. When this hoped miracle didn’t occur the African village man is simply not worried; he marries off most of the girl children even before they are midway into the secondary school! Most of the African village men would want to give good education to their first-born child; where this is not possible or that resources are too low, the most brilliant male child would get more attention educationally and the rest of the male children sent off to learn any kind of trade or handiwork before they even finish secondary school! The view of the African village man as regard the number of children can best be summed up with this local saying: Nwakaego meaning that number of children are far more important than heaps of money! It is God that brings children An African man is of the view that it is not within his control nor is it desirable to regulate as regard the number of children he has. He is of the view that it is God alone that determines the number of children anyone has or if one should even have children in the first case. So my father just like so many others made my mother put to bed eleven times but out of the eleven only six survived. My Mom just like many other African village women, while pregnant did not go for any anti-natal. There were no nearby hospitals and even when there were it is doubtful if they would eagerly attend because there were what was called dispensary but most women from our village mostly ignored their

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1