Angel Reese ormahleechar nm ( omalicha nm ) ( omalicha m ) ( omalicham),
you know,
the way stuff
happens sometimes
in this world
is rather intriguing.
and
i use that word
intriguing
because i do not want to use a word
which may confer
negative connotations
in the context of the sentence.
e.g
strange ..
funny ..
i remember clearly that
in
Primary School
here in Nigeria
i used to go through
children’s novels ..
children’s story books ..
comics ..
magazines ..
somewhat rather voraciously
and
i guess
that tendency
made older folks
e.g
parents,
bigger kids,
etc
who noticed that trait
give me
or
buy for me
reading material that
i would
ordinarily
probably not have accessed
if not that
they
either
gave it/them to me
or
bought it/them for me
i still remember
the
mountain?
of
LOOK & LEARN MAGAZINE copies
which
an Indian folk
.. a University student in India? at the time i think ..
( .. i am not sure now if he had graduated at the time .. )
gave me
FREE.
his mom
.. an Indian school teacher in Lagos, Nigeria at the time ..
used to tutor some kids
– – including me – –
in an after school learning programme
which
in Nigeria terminology
was/is called “LESSON”
and
had encouraged the young man to
give me the magazines.
i still remember
that
the young man had made a comment
to the effect that :
“he will not look after them properly
and
he would probably lose them one way or the other”
that comment
had made me promise
that
i would look after them well
and
i had determined in my heart to keep them all intact
so that
if and/or whenever
he asks of/about them
i would say
that
they are intact
and
produce them all as proof.
i had kept that promise
until
a fellow as close as a biological sibling to me
i.e
a fellow as near as a biological sibling to me
had asked
severally
to take the magazines with him
and go read them at home.
an early lesson in life
on
the benefits of
following one’s own better judgment.
an early lesson in life
on/of
the pains
one may inflict upon oneself
in an endeavour
not to
appear rigid or mean
and
the pains that flexibility?
.. should that be not well considered flexibility? ..
may sometimes cause one.
there were more of such lessons to come in the path of life.
in any case,
Angel Reese ohbee nm ( obi nm ), ( obi m ) ( obim ),
by the 5th year of
the Nigeria 6 year Primary School calendar
i had read
virtually everything that
i could lay my hands on
to read.
you name it :
OLIVER TWIST
TOM BROWN’S SCHOOL DAYS
SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED
KING SOLOMON’S MINES
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
SILAS MARNER
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
HEIDI
KATY
WHAT KATY DID
WHAT KATY DID NEXT
THE THREE MUSKETEERS
THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK
AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
ROBINSON CRUSOE
JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
THE BLACK ARROW
TREASURE ISLAND
TOM SAWYER
HUCKLEBERRY FINN
THE KONTIKI? EXPEDITION?
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS
AFRICAN FILM
.. this was a monthly? MAGAZINE ..
in
black and white photos format
detailing
the exciting adventures
of
LANCE SPEARMAN,
LEMMY
and CAPTAIN VICTOR.
it was published in
Zimbabwe?, Southern Africa, Africa
.. if my memory serves correctly ..
interestingly,
Angel Reese ormahleechar nm ( omalicha m) ( omalicha nm ),
it had been very popular
and very readily available
at all the Newspaper Vendor stands
in
Enugu
( .. then in East Central State, Nigeria circa 1970 A.D to 1972 A.D .. )
but i had noticed that
the Newspaper Vendor Stands that i knew in
Oyingbo, Ebute-Metta, Ojuelegba, Tejuosho, Yaba Bus Stop
in Lagos State circa 1972 A.D to 1979 A.D
did not carry it / sell it
and upon enquiry
most of them did not know it
and the one or two of those vendors who said he/they knew of it
didn’t know where to get it
THE EARLY CHILDHOOD STAPLES
.. at least here in Nigeria back in the day ..
viz :
ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES,
GRIMM’S FAIRY TAKES
FABLES FROM ANCIENT GREECE
JASON AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE
etc
etc
and
the Nigeria stuff available
e.g
EZE GOES TO SCHOOL
and
it’s imitation? .. copy? .. rip off?
SOUZA GOES TO SCHOOL
NIGERIA STORIES WITH MORAL LESSONS
i.e
NIGERIA STORIES WITH MORAL INSTRUCTIONS
i.e
NIGERIA STORIES WITH MORALS
CARTOONS FOR YOUR PLEASURE
which was published in Nigeria
back in the day
and
was to me
a far easier read than
MARVEL COMICS,
DC COMICS,
etc
you name it,
Angel Reese nnmah nm ( nma nm),
i had read them all.
Angel Reese ormahleechar nm ( omalicha nm ),
to call it as it is/was
i.e
to tell it as it is/was,
i used to run about
all about
all over the whole place
like everyone else
.. playing football, riding bicycles, etc ..
but i liked reading stuff
so i read anything i could lay my hands on
– – including
NEWSPAPERS and NEWS MAGAZINES
e.g
DRUM MAGAZINE,
etc
which at the time
were considered
stuff for parents and other elderly folks.
by the early years of
Secondary School
( Year 1, Year 2 ),
i had escalated to reading
IAN FLEMING’s JAMES BOND NOVELS
DENISE ROBINS’s NOVELS
BARBARA CARTLAND’s NOVELS
AGATHA CHRISTIE’s NOVELS
etc
and
i had read
VENDETTA
by
Marie? Corie? or Ciska?
or
some name somewhat along those lines
by the 3rd year
.. or earlier? ..
of the 5 year Nigeria Secondary Schools O-LEVELS calendar year
so
i guess
you can imagine
my surprise
in my first year
at the University
when i picked up a hand-out
( .. reading material prepared by a lecturer, typed but not a book .. )
for
the G.S 207 COURSE
( .. HUMANITIES .. GENERAL STUDIES 207
which is
ordinarily
a course for 200 LEVEL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
but which
my department at the time had listed out for YEAR 1 STUDENTS .. )
and
the lecturer was going on about
ONITSHA MARKET LITERATURE
in the hand out.
i mean
by this time
i had read every single HAROLD ROBBINS NOVEL in print
and
read some material that were considered rare
.. or esoteric .. or not easy to come across ..
or
no longer in print.
Angel Reese nnmah ( nmah nm ) ( nma nm ) ( nmah m ) ( nma m ) ( nmam ),
let me put it like this :
at the time i got those
LOOK AND LEARN MAGAZINES
in Primary School
.. if i remember correctly ..
the magazine was no longer in print.
so you can imagine my surprise
to learn about
ONITSHA MARKET LITERATURE
which
i had never ever heard about before
.. strangely? really ..
considering that
i am an ONITSHA NATIVE
and
although not resident in Onitsha,
i had during visits to Onitsha
been to the
ONITSHA MAIN MARKET
and
OTHER MARKETS IN ONITSHA.
i am not quite sure if
Google Search
will turn up
finite material on
ONITSHA MARKET LITERATURE
however
i will google search it
before
the conclusion of the posts on this topic
and
see what turns up.
[ TO BE CONTINUED ]
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