We all have different definitions to what hometown means, to me it is a place of origin, a geographical zone that represents the root of families or an ancestral land or location. As a person who is deeply rooted in the Yoruba tribe, I cherish my hometown a lot, it is a kind of culture especially among majority of Yorubas to be identified by their hometown. People from similar hometown are said to have similarities in their pattern of behaviour. My paternal side of the family, originated from Ogun State, Ayepe local government to be precise due to this, I acquired majority of my academic certificates from Ogun State e.g For my secondary education I attended Remo divisional high school located at Sagamu, Ogun state, then gateway Polytechnic sapade, where I acquired my National diploma certificate and I attended moshood abiola Polytechnic, Ojere, Abeokuta, where I acquired my Higher national diploma. Though it was not a forced decision by my dad but it is obvious that Ogun State is one of the states with best academic structure and facilities in Nigeria. Ogun State is blessed with a lot of resources including granite rocks and limestone, due to this it has become home for industrial facilities such as WAPCO, A cement producing industry, Ogun State is quite peaceful and less crowded unlike Lagos state. The most amazing thing about Ogun State especially places like Abeokuta, it is the price of transportation, you have no idea how far ₦200 will take you in some places in Abeokuta. Though I have a lot of memories of different cities and towns in Ogun State but I have never been to my home town in Ayepe, not even once since I have been giving birth to due to some paternal conflict my dad doesn't want us to get missed in, instead spent most of my hometown visit and holidays in "EPE".
I know you must be thinking, where is Epe? Epe is a city located in Lagos state, I am a person with two states certificate of origin, let me explain why. I was born in Lagos state and my parent also lives in Lagos state but apart from that, my mom is from Lagos state, which makes Lagos state my mum state of origin, while my dad Ogun State. My dad was not really planning on sending us to Ogun State for our primary education at a very young age, I and my elder brother both acquired our primary education in Lagos. Part of the requirements for entry was state of origin certificate and since my paternal late grandmother worked at a local government council as at then, it was more easy to request for my Lagos state certificate of origin than certificate of origin in ogun state. It was when I wanted to acquire my secondary school education at Ogun State, that was when I requested for my certificate of origin for Ogun State. Since we were not privileged to visit our hometown at Ayepe local government, Ogun State. We mostly visited our hometown where my maternal late grandmother and grandfather lived in Epe. Epe is close to the water side, one of the primary occupation of occupant in this local government is fishing, till civilisation came and majority abandoned fishing. I can still remember a lot of fishing stories told by my mom and grandmother, it was fascinating and adventurous. Epe unlike capital cities in Lagos state, Epe is very peaceful and the air is so refreshing and amazing, especially when you visit areas such as ayetoro market, it is mostly considered a fish market. It is amazing what you can get at the lowest cost. One of my favourite fish i prefer buying from ayetoro market is Yoyo fish, it is a very skinny type of fish, it looks like a baby fish, you can shew without feeling any bones in it. We usually visit Epe during holiday periods and occasional events such as family gatherings and parties but ever since my maternal grandmother passed away our visit to Epe has reduced. Once in awhile, we visit a beach and we usually pass through EPe and sometimes, we stop by and say to some of our maternal families.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Your hometown in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺 Image 1 is mine
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