The Prize You Pay (Complete Novel - Very interesting).doc

It was the evening of July 16th 1918 when the entire village was rejoicing, because a male child was born to the family of osodaghelimhin.
The child didn't stress the care givers that much when the mother was being attended to by the local midwives, who had fine tuned their skills over the years, due to the high record of safe delivery, the women had as midwifery practitioners, as there were not many health centers in Bendel state then in the southern protectorate during the colonial era of British Nigeria, of which there was none in the community, except for the one in ubiaja a neighbouring town, but there was not enough time as her womb water was already broken, and time was of essence to save mother and child on this expected date of delivery.

1. Chapter 1
It was the evening of July 16th 1918 when the entire village was rejoicing, because a
male child was born to the family of osodaghelimhin.
The child didn't stress the care givers that much when the mother was being attended to
by the local midwives, who had fine tuned their skills over the years, due to the high
record of safe delivery, the women had as midwifery practitioners, as there were not
many health centers in Bendel state then in the southern protectorate during the
colonial era of British Nigeria, of which there was none in the community, except for the
one in ubiaja a neighbouring town, but there was not enough time as her womb water
was already broken, and time was of essence to save mother and child on this expected
date of delivery.
Michael was born to be different as he was named a day after he was born during a
small gathering of family members and loved ones within the farming rural community of
uzenema in Uromi town of Edo State. He was different because there were few schools
in the community, but he quickly developed a knack for learning and excelled in basic
skills in elementary school, such as Handwriting and reading the queen premier, when
he was registered to start school at age 12, because his right hand was able to touch
the other ear on the left when stretched above his head, as this was the guise British
officers administering villages and towns used to convince the parents of young children
following their elderly parents to the farm, to encourage their children to go the school
instead of farming.
This was so because their minds was in a pristine state and it would be better if they
learn through formal classroom education, so he can convince the mother of the other
children at home after the close of school about the need to be educated early during
tales by moonlight alias Agbido after having family dinner, which was a regular routine
of story telling in the gathering of family members within the compound speaking good
English instead of pidgin or their native Esan dialect, which was already getting used to
the young chap before bed time.
Micke as he was fondly called by his peers, had this advantaged of using the family
gathering to propagate the ways of Caucasians because he was the first son from
amongst his father's wives children, and in those days even until now in some wards,
the first son, was usually the mouthpiece of his aged father .
As he grew older, and was getting wiser from personal study, he began to detest
polygamy which was wildly practiced then, because parents from different families
background believed having many children ab initio transpired to having more able
hands for subsistence farming in the future when the children are older, which was the
only form of agriculture in the early 1930's in that part of the protectorate.
The weight of having as many as 17 children to shelter, cloth, and feed by his father
was becoming too much, because subsistence agriculture could only meet family
demands for food, but was overbearing when it comes to selling the left over farm
produce after harvest in the market across the trunk A from the village square. This was
because it couldn't cover the tuition fees of the other sons, who were now so much
interested in going to school, because of the tales from the eldest son, who was already
getting acclimatized to western education.

2. This weight on Pa Ehinomhen was bringing embarrassment, because Micke had
broadened his horizon to see that too much time doing subsistence agriculture might
limit the other seventeen Children from achieving their dreams and working towards
their individual purpose nor achieving their goals in life.
He was glad to confirm, when listening to his manually turned sanyo radio one saturday
morning, from an education documentary on Midwestern FM the only radio station then
in the region in far away Ikpoba Hills in Benin city before independence, that there was
a highschool scholarship by the federal government for aspiring qualified male students
who passed their junior highschool exams, but could not further their studies due to
financial constraints.
Ehinomhen was rigid when it comes to gender and who should be educated, as he was
bent on sending only his male children to school first, while the females could be
sponsored later by their elderly brothers when they start working for the government, as
it was the only job available then aside banking, farming and selling of the remain farm
produce by the indigenes as a business in other neighbouring towns, like uziare,
ekpoma and Irekpen. So he found the perfect excuse to focus on the desire of his sons,
and putting aside that of his daughters, because even from the documentary on radio,
government preferred assisting male children when it comes to free education. Though
it was not deliberate, but due to the action of Education commissioners who upheld the
decision in their educational policy making.
He ensured his nine daughters stayed at home with their mothers, doing house chores,
cleaning the house, washing clothes as well as cooking daily meals, he considered this
mandatory to prepare them for marriage and motherhood, though the cooking routine
was rotated among the older daughters who were in puberty as well as the 6 sons
Ehinomhen had including Michael, though the boys were excluded from this routine.
But all his adolescents son hand were on deck when it comes to joining him to do farm
work on the 30 acres of land he had inherited from his father.

3. Chapter 2 
There is no gainsaying the fact that Pa Ehinomhen was lucky because his 3 wives
delivered safely whenever it was time to bear their various children, each had 3 boys
and 3 girls, bringing the count to 6 from each wife and 18 Offsprings in total including
Micke, giving him a notion that his house was in order and in the nearest future
everyone will be available to do his farming work in his 30 acres of arable land.
However there was a twist of fate when He later realised there was an illness named
sickle cell anaemia, of which 4 of his children from his last wife Eunice that died were
having SS genotype. She thought she had been bewitched and was always quarreling
with Esohe and Edith the first and second wife, thinking it was their own way of
frustrating her to give up on the marriage with Pa Ehinomhen, who was AS genotype
while the first and second wives were AA genotype.
Micke met Itohan one day when she was selling her mother's farm produce in the village
market, one faithful day when his father asked him to take more bunches of plantain in
his wheelbarrow for his mother to sell as she had made it known to him, that they were
no longer much before leaving for the farm that morning.
Despite it being an agrarian community and every family could feed themselves, the
market was still necessary because trade by barter had long ended after the abolition of
slave trade nor was cowry still being used as a medium of exchange, because the
British had introduced money and the banking system. However each kindred had their
own area of specialty as the Onowo had done his observation and designated different
families to grow crops according to their area of specialty as directed by the Onojie of
Uromi.
Things became rosy between him and Itohan, that after three months of courting he got
her pregnant out of wedlock. It was embarrassing because it was a shameful thing to
get pregnant that way and an abomination to abort a pregnancy according to the village
laws and customs, of which he couldn't see himself using sterilised goat intestine as
condoms.
He was embarrassed and told her not to tell anyone, that he had plans of eloping with
her to Iwo in Ibadan as he had a younger cousin named Segun who lived there, that
they could stay with and start a family, before returning later to their home town to pay
her dowry.
This was not a genuine plan as the second world war was getting intense and he had
plans of joining young men who were more than 18 that were drafted to join the army
just to fight in the war and also to represent Nigeria, but would be paid as mercenaries
loyal to the British Crown and will be referred to as world war legions when the war
ended. Hitler wanted to conquer Europe, who knew if Africa would be the next
continent. The leaders of African countries were in fear and Nigeria popularly referred to
the giant of Africa had to send its own group of young soldiers.

4. At the beginning of Harmattan season, in October 1942 he travelled to Benin City to be
enlisted and trained as a draft for the war, this was his escape plan from the village
more so to ignore his estranged lover, his aged father who couldn't send him to the
university after 3 years of high school scholarship, and all the rancor at home due to
polygamy which he hated due to the struggles of his childhood days.
He didn't know apart from facing heavy artillery combat with opposition targets, he
would also be jumping from fighter jets in parachutes using walkie talkies, to
communicate with fellow soldiers when trying to ambush even the smallest group of
Nazi soldiers, all for the first time after One month of practice on Benin Airfield and
Infantry training In Ekenwan Creeks.
After 6 months of fighting in battle, writing letters to loved ones, losing weight and
gaining war combatant experience, he sustained an injury on his ankle, almost losing
the ability to walk well on both legs. Due to this unforeseen circumstance he was
redeployed back to Nigeria admitted at University of Benin teaching hospital, where his
parents visited him and made mention of his need to settle down with a wife, and
continue in line with his father's farming occupation, that a good woman had been
prepared and trained for him in the village, awaiting his return from Belgrade.
Moreover all these while, it was not known to his parents that he had gotten Itohan
pregnant before leaving for Europe, he inquired about her and was told she got married
not quite long after he travelled to fight in the war.
Family calls and he was about to be married to someone he knew, that was prepared
for him, but was not close to due to limited communication over the past few months as
a result of proximity, Many things ran through his mind, as he was thinking his former
significant other might have found a way to conceal the pregnancy from her present
suitor or she may have aborted it, through knowledge gained from a female traditional
medical practitioner, so the information won't get to the table of the elders of the village
who made policies and directives that are laws binding on all indigenes. He thought so
because a male traditional medicine practitioner will let the cat out of the bag.
Going back to the village brought a lot of good tidings, he married Tiana the woman his
parents prepared for him, and he also married Itohan, because her marriage was called
off, when she confessed, she hurriedly married her former suitor because she was
pregnant for Micke before he travelled to Europe as a young mercenary.

5. Chapter 3
Micke was adjusting fast to the vicissitudes of life and the good fortunes it brings
sometimes, but was sad he had fallen into the trap of polygamy which he detested since
he was a child, because he had seen the struggles of catering for a large family and the
regular altercation that comes as a result of envy, jealousy and disagreement between
his step moms.
Micke decided to bear his children just like his father Pa Ehinomhen did, by making sure
each wife got pregnant at the same time. He was smart enough to do this because he
had read about family planning from self help books in the military library the time he
was drafted, enlisted and trained in the army before embarking for the Nazi War.
However he could not decide their genotype, because Itohan already had a child for him
of which he was lucky to be AS despite him and Itohan being AS also, whereas Tiana
was AA. Nicholas was their first son who was born out of wedlock, while Murphy was
their second son, who and was born by Tiana.
In a way he was happy he married early and was getting benefits from the government
as a legion, but wasn't up to the age of retirement, so he wanted something he could do,
to be able to care for his family as the number had increased to 8 children excluding him
and his beloved wives, he did not want to continue farming as an occupation, because
he knew the limitations it could bring to his children as his immediate family of origin
was the best case scenario.
He visited his friend Jacob, working in the local government secretariat seeking for a job
and maybe advice, of which the mantle of leadership of his immediate family and his
present nuclear family was on him as a senior son and the father figure of his home.
The former was because his parents Mr and Mrs Osodaghelimhin Ehinomhen had both
died from health complications due to old age.
Jacob made it known to him that there was a vacancy for an education officer in the
neighboring town of Ubiaja, with the education requirement being high school leavers
certificate a good command of English and writing skills which he possessed, and there
was free accommodation for any applicant taken.
Micke knew he was up to the task if taken, but didn't know how he was going to move
with his large family, and ensure his wives live in peace, because he wanted to raise his
children by himself, and did not want anyone left with a relative in Uromi.
He was eventually employed as an education officer and was given 5O pounds as
monthly salary and a two bedroom apartment in place of housing allowance.

6. He tried his best to cope with expenses by sending all his children to public schools
which were cheap, but he could not still cope and decided to train them one after the
other, first the boys, and admonish them to look for any job even if it was sales assistant
in Leventis group, Cash and Carry or Harold's. Because it was the last best thing he
could do for them before he reached the age of retirement. Fortunately for him Nicholas
got a job in the Nigerian Mortgage Bank in Lagos, while Murphy was teaching chemistry
in  Government Secondary School Uziare.
He took the one after the other approach because the train the senior children so they
can  educate younger ones his late father took did not work as planned, and didn't want
any of his children to fall victim of neglect as a result of dependence on a senior one,
which may not be achievable, given the same polygamous situation he has found
himself in. He always believed education was the first passport to freedom before the
traveling passport of any nation and  basic compulsory elementary education, should be
enforced in the rural areas within the Midwestern State after enough awareness have
been campaigned. Though that was part of his duty as an education officer, he didn't
want his own children to be left out because there was no education allowance in his
monthly payment, and having free accommodation felt like a better relief than education
allowance. He always appreciated his friend’s effort because his family's life would be
like a jungle if there was no adequate housing available for them after relocating for the
education officer job in Agbazilo in Ubiaja.

7. Chapter 4
Things became rosy once again, as he served diligently in the position of an education
officer for 5 years, then was transferred and promoted to the position of an education
inspector. The transfer to Ibadan was good, because his children got the opportunity to
learn Yoruba a major language, unlike the Esan dialect of Benin which was a minor one.
All these while unknown to him Armstrong his third son had registered in Technical
College Enugu, because he wanted to become an engineer, but could not secure
admission to UNN, by settling for the technical college, he would be working with
engineers while his National Diploma was in view, he could then continue to the
University of Nigeria Nsukka through direct entry for his preferred choice which was
engineering.
No member of his immediate family was surprised, as he was already used to fixing
things around the house, whenever he was on holidays. The move to Ibadan came with
its own troubles as the first daughter Jane had gotten pregnant for Armstrong’s
technical college classmate Samson. Samson was cunny, he solely became
Armstrong's friend in technical college because of his beautiful sister Jane. She was
beautiful to look upon, but not as intelligent as the rest of the children. 
Jane was under pressure to get married to Samson before the pregnancy became
obvious and pronounced. She encouraged her father to accept Samson's offer of
marriage despite The Esan people forbade marrying out a pregnant woman in their
native law and customs. The only way out was the Catholic Church, if Samson and
Josephine would go through matrimony class and be ready to make their vow, in the
presence of family and friends, Moreover stating they will abide by it and follow through
with signing at the Federal Marriage Registry at Iwo Road in Ibadan.
Armstrong was not pleased with the union between Jane and Samson, because at that
point he was planning on registering her as an external candidate to re-sit the West
African exam council high school exam popularly called GCE so she can get at least a
clerical job, to support Samson, who obtained only an National Diploma from the
technical college and started working with NIMASA so he could support his new family.
The bone of contention was that Jane was too young to be put in a family way and
Samson had ambition of furthering his studies to HND level or direct entry to any
university just like his classmate turned in-law wanted to UNN. However at this point
marriage had slowed him down, and he had to drop it. So he can focus on his family.
Nicholas was ahead of them all not only because he was the most senior child or son,
but because he lived in Lagos which was the foremost metropolitan city in the country
and unknown to the other family members had arranged a group of Esan people from

8. the Esan community in Lagos who acted as his parents and had tied the knot with an
Egun woman from Badagry, they already had a child called Phina. Moreover he tolled
this path because, One he didn't want family members to stress themselves coming to
Lagos and knew they would be offended if he told them he could not foot their transport
fare from Ibadan. Moreso they may object to him marrying a yoruba woman, when there
were so many single Esan ladies he could choose from. That aside Nicholas was now
free of his immediate family and was expecting his second child who later named
Chloe. 
Nicholas was a seasoned banker, this was due to the experience he had been acquiring
working at NMB, and the mandatory courses he was taking which was sponsored by the
Federal Mortgage Bank. 
In one of the courses, when the trainer asked if the trainees had any suggestions or
questions. He suggested that there should be a bank of Industry in Nigeria. This idea
came to him because in the last letter Armstrong wrote to him, he stated it was easier to
enter a university directly through the joint admission and matriculation board than
through direct entry. He stated that he will forego the direct entry to UNN, but instead
pursue his Higher National Diploma in the newly established Sapele Technical College,
and take a loan from the bank to establish his own technical company, unknown to him
they was no bank like that yet, and Nicholas had to use the opportunity to suggest it, so
in the future it can favour his younger brother Armstrong

9. Chapter 5
Murphy was a hardworking man, and came up with the idea of doing private adult
education classes in Ubiaja not too far from Uziare where he had been teaching
chemistry. Life caught up with him as he took interest in a Benin woman called
Osarogue, who was one of his students in his private lesson.
He decided to act fast and get married to her, because his immediate elder brother was
now married and Jane his younger sister but their father's most senior daughter already
had a son for Samson named Julius. The marriage wasn't elaborate but was carried out
with all the requirements of the Benin traditional marriage laws and customs duly
observed in Osarogue's father's residence in Okhodion street in Uwelu Benin City.
Murphy was a new generation smoker; I mean those who smoked cigarette sticks, a
habit he may have boldly picked up from his father who unlike him smoked Tobacco
leaves with a smoking pipe.
Smoking was not a set back or did it change his zeal to work as he had changed job
from teaching to working with New Nigeria Bank in Benin City, a move he made
because he wanted to settle down there and be closer to his family.
Staying in Benin was great as he was doing fairly well with the bank work, moreover him
and his wife were expecting a baby, whom they later named Florence, she was light in
complexion like the mother with pretty brown eyes like that of her father.
There was always a misunderstanding between Murphy and Osarogue, mostly because
of his smoking habit and how fast their savings in their joint account with All State trust
bank, was swiftly depleting, because soon they were expecting their second child
James.
Armstrong was now living and working in Sapele, to support himself in school, this was
so because his father was retrenched due to habitual drunkenness and smoking pipe
habit, and couldn't function well in the role of education inspector anymore and was
becoming frustrated because he was now suffering from tuberculosis, all this habit
came about and transcend due to the thought of having to care for a big polygamous
family. Micke was 65 years old by this time and had to relocate back to Uromi with his 2
wives and remaining children, who had not left home yet.
Relocating to Uromi was good, meanwhile his health was deteriorating rapidly and he
was on routine drugs to survive and be healthy. At this time, his children were buying
the drugs for him, through monthly contributions to a common purse.

10. Armstrong found a homely lady by name Mandy, she was also Esan from Iriri ward in
Uromi, he met her when she was working at Leventis supermarket, but leaving with her
elder sister Beatrice. 
He was fond of her, but didn't get to see her, anytime he went shopping for groceries,
because she was not on duty every day, but did 5 days of 8am-5pm shift work, with 2
days interval break for different weeks in a calendar year. They soon started living
together and had a child named Isaac, he later relocated with her to Effurun Otor, when
he got a job in African Petroleum, In the same Bendel State and they lived in dockyard
road where Mandy conceived and birthed, their second son, whom they name Eromo.
Armstrong was becoming independent and self reliant, but he was still sending money
for his father's routine drugs as well as to Gideon his immediate younger brother via
post stamps, who was studying structural engineering, in The newly opened Federal
University Uziare. This was because Gideon was a bright lad, but had his education put
on hold after he wrote and passed his WAEC, while still living in Ibadan with his dad, He
wanted to school in University of Ibadan, but his father Micke could not meet the
financial requirement, when he got admission, because most of his salary before
retrenchment and moving back to the Uromi town was spent of feeding, health care,
transport fare and electricity bills.

11. Chapter 6
Gideon was the first engineer in the family, followed by his elder brother Armstrong,
which he earned after Sapele Technical College was changed to a degree awarding
institution during his graduation from his HND program, before convocation, so
therefore he was now an engineer and his dream had finally come through, despite not
attending UNN through direct entry.
Elder Micke was now in his late sixties, leaving a modest life in Uromi town. Still had not
given up the drinking and smoking habit he acquired when he was much younger, and
was using some monies sent to him from his senior sons for his routine drugs for
tobacco and gin.
One faithful Saturday evening he was rushed to the famous St. Camillus Hospital,
because his condition was critical, he was breathing abnormally, his lungs were failing
due to severe perforation, along with liver cirrhosis and complications from infection.
The family decided to relocate him to at least a better hospital, and decided on UBTH,
where he received treatment for an ankle injury he sustained during the war as a
younger man, but fate did not smile on him this time, as he gave up the ghost before
dawn of Sunday morning, barely 24 hours after he was brought there for treatment.
Nicholas, Murphy and Armstrong were sent for, but Armstrong was not reached early,
because he was on one week non-stop duty since he had used his off duty days for
preparing and attending his convocation. Mandy was watching the evening news on
Bendel broadcasting network, when she saw that the death of one Michael Ehinomhen
of the Osodaghelimhin family had passed on in UBTH.
She was sad and at the same time worried, because her dowry had not been paid and
Armstrong was now overworking himself due to the off days he took to collect his
certificate in engineering. Moreover he now had a larger family to take care of. She
hurriedly went to his work place to notify him about it; he had only worked 5 days and
was to do 2 more days to complete a week when his father's untimely death occurred,
dying at age Sixty Eight.
Mandy was by his side throughout that night, as he couldn't sleep, and they were
making plans to go to their home town for the funeral, because his employer had given
him 2 weeks off and he made sure he used the opportunity to pay her dowry, since they
were from the same place of origin.
The death of Micke was not delayed to be announced, because in those days there
were not many mortuaries and even if they were in a particular place, it was filled up,
due to scarcity.
It is not out of the ordinary that Michael's death came as a result of his thoughts
weighing him down, about having a polygamous family, with little or nothing to care for

12. them and becoming a chimney and fish tank out of frustration, which affected his
respiratory organ severely and had his life cut short abruptly.