{"product_id":"9781467850360","title":"The Village Boy","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe story “Village Boy” is about the social and\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003efamilial upheavals and confl icts caused by the\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eintroduction, in the early 20th century, by a group\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eof Christian missionaries, of Western cultural\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003etraditions among an erstwhile peaceful and selfsuffi\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ecient agricultural sedentary people. These\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ecultural incursions led to the annihilation of the\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003epeople’s native traditions and cultures, including\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ethose of Kachiya and Mbwarhatha(circumcision and\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003egrind room- the only place where on a daily basis\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eyoung men could meet and fl irt with young women\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ein the evenings) which were the sole socialization instruments of the tribe. “The\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003efulcrums of our culture and traditions that have sustained us for all these years\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ecan now no longer hold”, commented the tribal elder, Tapchi, to a boyhood friend,\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAji, fi ve years after the coming of the missionaries; “everything is different and\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ein a sorry chaos!”\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis breakdowns led to the mass exodus of the youth to the distant emerging cities\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eof Kano, Jos, Kaduna ,and, yes, even Lagos. These new immigrants, however,\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003efaced steep competition for jobs both from the city’s residents and from other\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003emigrants who had converged on the cities from all corners of the countryside.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTheir meager education forced them into menial jobs, such as house boys or\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003estore clerks; few were able to secure even low-level government jobs.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe social confl ict and upheaval was partially resolved, to some minimally\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eacceptable levels, by the regular annual visits of those who had left the ‘land’,\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ebringing with them gifts of tea, sugar, bread, and items of clothing which were\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003egenerously and lavishly shared with relatives and neighbours. Some few who\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ehad “made it,” in the city even came with their own mettika (cars).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBut things are not always as gloomy as is refl ected in the lives of Madu, Dalla,\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eand, to some extent, Hassana in the stories that follow. Some of the tribe’s\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003emigrant sons and daughters to the cities (like Madu in the story) took to politics\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eand became active, relevant and prominent during the early years of self-rule\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eand eventual Independence. Education has been, and continues to be, the\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003esocial instrument of mobility for the children of the migrants and for those who\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eremained on the land, as for example, Dalla. They can now be found in all sectors\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eof the Nigerian society, as educators, business men, politicians and high cadre\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ecivil servants.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"AuthorHouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47141347950832,"sku":"9781467850360","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781467850360_p0.jpg?v=1763694607","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781467850360","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}