Photo by James Trenda on Unsplash
If my memory serves me well, Thursday nights were Tombola night at the recreational club my parents frequented in my early childhood.
We lived in Odogbolu where my father was a teacher at the town’s Federal Government College.
Every so often, the Oro came out on certain nights, and more rarely for an entire weekend. There would usually be a warning prior. This warning was important for indigenes and non-indigenes alike as when the Oro was parading, females were forbidden from coming out. Story had it that if a female was caught outside during the Oro parade, she would be beheaded and used as a sacrifice. We didn’t know if this was true, but it was frightful enough to keep females inside their houses. Over the years, I’ve read reports that both men and women have met their dreadful ends as a result of this parade, their bodies present but their heads gone.
This one night, Tombola was on at the club and my father really wanted my mum to accompany him. But the Oro was scheduled to be out that night. My father had never encountered the Oro on his lone trips out when it was out, so he calculated it would be a safe risk. They would carry a big blanket in the car just in case, and on the way back home, my mum would hide under it in the back seat of the car.
After a beautiful Tombola night, they started their ride back home. My mother was down on the floor in the back seat, underneath the blanket, both of them expecting an uneventful drive. Against all odds, they met the parade.
They blocked the car and signaled for my Dad to stop. The group was made up of the town’s males (many familiar with my Dad) and the Oro masquerade.
The interrogation started. Where was he coming from, Where was he going to, Was he alone? He replied saying he was on his way home, no-one was with him. They peered into the car, saw the blanket with a human form underneath it. According to my mum, she knows she must have been visibly trembling underneath.
They waved my Dad on, and he sweated all the way back home to safety.
They never took that risk again.
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I have been searching my memory for
What tombola is and why it was such fun to be worthy of the risk. Now I have come to the end of the story, I shall go consult google đ
Intriguing as always â¤ď¸
Author
Thank you for your comment Ndeeâ¤ď¸ You could say Tombola is a betting game, where players have tickets with a grid of numbers. Each person gets a unique ticket. Then someone picks random numbers, calls them out, and the players tick them off if on their ticket. First one to get all required numbers ticked off wins a prize. It was a sweet and relaxing game. Really brought people together in a social setting.