THE SOCIETY
The Cultural life of Edoma is an amalgam of both his Social and Religious life. Culture is the identity of a people and properly locates an individual in the globe hence such things as mode of dressing, food and language (even diction) are indices of a man’s culture. Few ingredients of culture are inherited genetically while the greater portion is acquired and influenced by the environment especially during the development stages of an individual.
The period of his birth, is also significant in his cultural development because at this time, the Ulelu culture had not been adulterated either by other Ulelu settlers or by the white man’s political and economic adventurers. The young Edoma grew up with midst of typical Ulelu family and community, with the pure red hot blood flowing in his veins and acquiring comprehensively, the cues and ingredients of Ulelu societal norms and customs. For example, Edoma, learnt early in life to respect the family head, who enjoyed the entitlement of the palm wine that is given to ‘family head’ on the Market day; the special parts of meat like gizzards, liver etc that are reserved for the first male child in the family, he imbibed the taboos of the land such as; a man should not level the ancestral boundaries of the land which are usually shown by ridge-like mounds and landmark trees, which should not be cut down. He learnt and recognized the administrative units of the village. He learnt early in life and practiced traditional presentation of kolanut in village gatherings according to the respective ages, garnishing his speech with relevant parables, idioms and anecdotes that are conditions precedent to indoctrinating into the fold of age group.
The above introduction provides a glimpse of the society of this enigmatic phenom. His life time which ran from 6:00pm on a Sunday in 1830 was filled with events and experiences that provided confirmation to everyone who was acquainted with him that he was an extraordinary gem sent by the heavens to walk among men.
Unfortunately, the card was stacked against him from infancy. While he was still a child, it was his responsibility to feed his father whose hands were paralysed from sickness. Thus, he would not come to the table when food was served until he had finished feeding his Dad. Consequently, on many occasions, the meal was almost gone by the time he joined in. the last born of his mother in a polygamous home, his mother was worried on her deathbed about his survival due to his young age. When his Mom finally passed, it was conspicuous that his real tribulation had begun!
Due to lack of sponsorship, this brilliant individual dropped out of school after completing only Standard two. Every of his individual effort and consultation with other prospective financial sources for the furtherance of his education beyond that meagre level proved abortive. Some of his classmates, who held him to a high esteem for being at the top one percent of his class, would later become renowned personalities in government. Certainly, learning that Edoma only attained that level of educational qualification must be a shocker to those who were fortunate to interact with him. In his prime, he could easily pass for a School Certificate holder.
In retrospect, the events that culminated in his dropping out of school were blessing in disguise because they would be an eye opener that taught him not to build his hope on any mortal but to trust only in God. Assuredly, it was in these infelicitous conditions that God had planned to manifest himself mightily in him if only he could depend on him.
As a Christian, he was energetically involved in his local church. He also showed active participation in community service to the best of his ability. Blessed with an uncommon retentive memory and enviable organizational acumen, he was a storehouse of vital information in the community. People came to him from his village and its environs to retrieve dates of birth of individuals as well as dates of occurrences of past important events. In fact, because of his uprightness, intelligence and possession of a beautiful penmanship which many artists would struggle to beat, he was always called upon to write agreement records on various subject matters of high importance. A selfless individual that recognized the importance of education, he drafted the petition which resulted in the establishment of his village’s primary school.
According to the manner he requested of God, he met and married the bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, Agnes. She became his closest ally, who stood by him with absolute love and loyalty through thick and thin, constant disappointments, miscarriages and endless storms. She played a key role in the actualization of his destiny. She would bear witness to most of the stories told of this man.
