Celebrating Our Source.

Good day everyone, welcome to my blog.

Omi Adio is one of the developing communities in our town. The inhabitants of the community are not more than fifty so everyone knows themselves and a strange face or visitors can be easily recognised.

Omi Adio was actually a farm settlement in her early days before the missionaries brought education to us. Now, the majority of the dwellers of Omi have one or two children who are learned living and working in big cities like Port-harcourt, Aba and Lagos.

My father is one of the few learned people in Omi Adio. Despite his exposure and maturity, my father never forgot where he came from. He makes sure to take us to Omi Adio in August of every year to attend the traditional egungun festival.

Baami as we fondly call him at home will take his time to teach us the bata dance. We take the dancing class with him every Sunday morning. While teaching us the bata dance, baami would say raise your shoulder up as if there is boil under your armpits, raise your left legs as if you are trying to avoid stepping on a torn, then swing your body from the front to the back and from right to left side.

The rehearsals are usually good bounding movements with baami and his children. I remember the last time we travelled to Omi Adio before I left for school, baami had insisted that I take part in the bata dance along with people of my age grade. After the dance, Bayo, my village friend, was so surprised that he would not stop asking questions about how I got to know how to do the bata dance.

Tomi, I learnt that life in the city can be so busy that family members don't get to see themselves everyday, how are you able to learn the bata dance, do you have a dance instructor or you attend a music school were few out of the numerous questions he asked. To complete communication channel I responded to his questions

It is true, people in the city are busy people but families can still see themselves no matter how busy they might be if they have a family schedule they work with. If one member of the family is not available, they can easily talk on the phone either through call or chat. I learnt the bata dance from baami, he teaches us the dance every Sunday morning and no, I do not attend music school

Baami taught us the dance because he wants us to be able to do things the way it is being done where we originated from. Baami will always say no matter where you go, your home will always be yours. Simply put, baami does not want us to forget our source

When i was done talking, Bayo said to me Tomi, your father is a very thoughtful man fir teaching his children about his origin and source even when it seems inconvenient, i will emulate such when i grow up and have a family. As he spoke i felt proud of my father and was happy to be birthed by him.

Thank you for reading, i am @elizy