One of the most noticeable landmarks that catch the eye as one enters Dioka town is the Ukulu hill, Dark, brooding with its craggy surface dotted with tall trees and boulders, it looms over the community, with its rusty roofs and mud- coloured buildings like a sentinel -a role it actually played in the days of yore when the town was constantly at war with its neighbors.
Chapter 3 – The New Dioka Town
Founded about two hundred and fifty years ago, the first settlers of Dioka, who were a war-like lot according to folklore, emigrated from a town called Umuokene. They had disputes at Umuokene because of chieftaincy matters and left angrily before settling at Dioka. Dioka fought and won many competitions. Any time there was war, the people would take refuge at Ukulu hill, until the war was over.
Dioka might have won all its competitions in the past, but one problem which the town still needs to solve urgently is that against the pollution of Ofiachi stream.
Nwokike experienced abdominal pains shortly after drinking some water. By the mid-day, his condition was so serious that his family decided to take him to hospital. He did not make the two-kilometer journey to the hospital.
A few days later, Nwadiogwa suddenly took ill after drinking some water. She died the next day. In a few weeks, several villagers had died after drinking the water. Thirty-three villages in Dioka town depended on this stream for their water needs.
In the olden days, the natives had common mythology about Ofiachi stream:
The stream was a source of strength and courage to local warriors. The river had mystical powers. Warriors drank from Ofiachi stream before going to war. They drank the water to their satisfaction, not with anything else but the palm of their hands. The water’s mystical powers made them courageous and prepared them for the competitions ahead; and, in most cases, they came out victorious. Besides, the water had healing powers and cured headaches, fever and stomach aches. This was the stream that had been contaminated.
The problem of the stream was caused by a network of underground pipes which emptied waste water from Okperi town into Ofiachi stream, polluting the water. The overall number of the dead in the thirty-three villages in Dioka town was difficult to ascertain because most of them died at home. Their bodies became bloated a few hours after death.
The bloating was attributed to damage caused to the heart and kidneys. Domestic animals also died after drinking the polluted water. Dead fishes floating in the stream were a common sight. Umudioka, the largest of the thirty-three villages, lost more than fifty of its inhabitants; the rest fled their village, the village which had a primary school built a long time earlier, a Health Centre and a thriving market.
Ifite village was also deserted. Only eleven houses were still left standing, but nobody lived in them. The occupants had either died or fled the village. Only Okpalanze, the village Chief, and his wife, Nwabundo, remained at Ifite village. Okpalanze and his wife had been living alone in the village for the past three years since the last set of villagers either died or fled the village. His children that had fled to the city brought water for them from the city.
Dioka, which used to be a major town, had been reduced to a ghost town. Many of its inhabitants had fled, leaving more than five hundred houses deserted. The houses have collapsed and are overgrown by weeds.
Central School, Dioka
The 13th day of January saw the birth of a bouncing baby boy, Chibogwu, into a relatively young family of Ikefuna and ljenne. It was all joy in the family as mother and son were alive and healthy, God having given the mother victory over the spirit of death which had hovered over her in the third trimester of pregnancy.
Chibogwu later grew into an intelligent, handsome and peace-loving boy, with a great passion for education.
He loved education. He was enrolled into Central School, Dioka, for his primary education. Central School, Dioka, had no teachers’ quarters at inception. Members of the teaching staff were accommodated in the village’s private houses of some Church members.
It was through the effort of dedicated Church members that a thatched mud-block house was built for the headmaster, Mr. Onunkwo. Later, a two-room hut was built next to the catechist’s house for the lady. A big modern staff quarters with many rooms was built by the Church for the male teachers later on. The school blocks could not accommodate the increasing number of pupils.
The school had a sandy and sloppy compound which gave rise to erosion problems. The headmaster and other male staff checked the erosion by planting cashew trees and other shrubs. This was the situation of the school when Chibogwu was admitted into Central School, Dioka.
The evidence that showcased the coming of the Whiteman in Dioka was the establishment of a church along with a school. The church was established first before the school. Central School, Dioka, was popular; so, the Headmaster that• would head the school must be a seasoned person. The Headmaster, Mr. Onunkwo, was from Isiagu town. He did not give his teachers the chance to play truant; hence, the pupils performed excellently in every examination.
People saw the Headmaster from different perspectives. The teachers said that the Headmaster had a quirky character. Elders from Dioka saw him as a hard-working man and a man of wisdom; while students saw him as a difficult man that did not play with his job.
Mr. Onunkwo, the Headmaster, encouraged his teachers to always use the mother tongue to teach his pupils in the primary school, because, according to him, our mother tongue, the Igbo language, was in danger of extinction, and those who spoke them were getting fewer everyday. It was painful because parents didn’t see anything wrong with the trend. They considered it elegant and sophisticated for their children to speak only English.
One day, the Headmaster called parents to a meeting where he told them to stop giving their tender daughters out in marriage because they were dropping out of school to get married. Moreover, he discouraged them from giving out their children as maids.
He also encouraged them to help teachers to train the child the way he should go so that when he grew old, he would not depart from it. It is easier to catch these children young because character and behavior are formed at the tender age.
“Most habits are formed at the nursery and primary school stages. In other words, the training of a child in a proper way must start from the home”, he declared.
Ahmad Nwabuzor is a Nigerian author and storyteller with a strong passion for writing and sharing meaningful stories. He is a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), where he studied English and Literary Studies.
He writes across different forms of storytelling, including cultural narratives, emotional fiction, and moral stories that teach life lessons. His storytelling style is rooted in African life and shaped by a deep interest in how traditions influence people’s choices and emotions.