Mbanyam got the treatment they deserved and their counterparts alike. Gradually, they became like trees on riverbanks in the dry season. Bounded by Mbazunen and Mbaabena; all divided by the Konshisha stream. It got her tap root right from the ancient days of her ancestors. Among the six clans of Ukan, Mbanyam had notable men and things that were known in other clan. She was known for bountiful harvest, kwagh-hir puppet, moonlight tales and the edible igyô caterpillar among others. Their lives were governed by the rising and setting of the sun which caused the ever-changing seasons.

They lived in simple homes traditionally built with locally moulded blocks; branches of trees, as well as woven grasses covered the roof. They had few corrugated roof houses which were built by great men of the clan. The compounds were arranged in a circular manner sited by extended families known as tse. The oldest man in a compound was respected in his family and beyond. The combination of several compounds formed a clan in which the oldest man was vested with the duty of settling family problems before the knowledge of the elders. A combination of all the elderly men of the tse formed a congregation of the elders’ council of the clan.

At sunrise, the Clan was alive with its activities, at dusk everyone gathered with his children in an ate, a hut at the centre of a compound for the moonlight tales. Most of the stories were told about hare portraying its craftiness. It was an abomination for a Mbanyam man to narrate a tale in day time, as penalty awaited such persons who defied the tradition. Similar stories about people who ended up early in their graves because of such acts were heard of. Unless stars were seen, otherwise no Mbanyam born would narrate a tale. These brought many people in the nearby clans at night to Mbanyam.

The rainy season was a busy one for the people of Mbanyam. Chanbee never allowed any season to pass her by without planting of Akpaaku was nothing to her as compared to similar plantings she would usually do during the wet seasons. The Akpaaku farm was feared by the people of Mbanyam for its consumption of seed yams. The first rain which opens the door for the wet season was not a busy time for her but gave her great joy as it reduced the work of nurturing pepper which was done in dry season. The wet season was time for proper or full planting. The land of Mbanyam welcomed every crop giving the people an urge over neighbouring villages.

Early in the morning, during the planting season, voices of young men resonated over the clan as they called out to their age mates, alerting them on how ready they were for the day’s farm work. The early morning sun would gaze steadily into their faces, giving them more energy to run around. Then, every family would hit the farm path. The family head always led, followed by the children and their mothers. And as they walked along the path, they called out the names of their friends and neighbours who were in the same ihimbe or guild greeting them and asking questions, but no one stopped as it would be a huge waste of time. Everyone considered this time of the year as very important and will not want to waste it on trivialities and courtesies.

Every family had portions of land that overlapped with those of others according to their ties and relationships. So, it was possible for this group of young ones to walk to the farm in company of their friends. As the day became brighter they would walk and sing with enthusiasm, calling and singing loudly many known songs, whose composers had become anonymous over time, as one generation handed them over to the succeeding one.

After the day’s work, when the sun began losing its fiery power on the land they returned home with their implements. They would all run down to the river that flowed slowly and abundantly from other clans to theirs to take their bath and refresh their thoroughly tired bodies. This river was confined in a narrow channel that travelled far across distances to other clans and no one admittedly knew where it ended. Some said it went to Mbazune, a clan with many water goddesses who sipped all the water and vomited it again. The girls bathed freely and quietly on the pale sand of the banks and did their washing there, outside the full glare of the boys, while the boys swam in the heart of flowing river their mates raising their voices high as they chatted like a swarm of weaver birds in the trees.

Soon the water level would increase fourfold. At such times, no one went to the river to swim. At this time of the rising of the waters, grasses grew higher than a man’s head. For lazy farmers or mourning widows, it was at this time that weeds would kill their yams and overrun their cassava and other crops. Everyone would be made to stay at home as a result of the rain. As it rained, it left a deposit of mud and water on the doors and pathways, making it hard for people to walk.

In the days of their fathers, when old men were children, Mbanyam was the smallest of all the clans. It was not because their women were not productive but because other clans did not give them their daughters in marriage. Other clans wanted them to gradually die away so that they would take their lands. It was unheard of that any clan could inherit another no matter how small the clan was. Soon they emerged from a few number of men to a mighty and respected clan. And other surrounding clans began to fear and respect them.

Akor was popularly known for his talent in the moonlight tales and the kwagh-hir puppet. In narrating his tales, he chanted songs and urged his audience to respond as he directed them. Majority of the people in the clan and beyond began to send their children to his compound at night for the moonlight entertainment. Even the elderly ones assembled there at night. He never repeated a tale; rather he brought out new ones daily. People often wondered where his tales came from. Some of the stories scared children as a result of the characters in the story. When stories about dead people were narrated, children found it difficult to sleep at night. Sometimes, parents used characters in those stories to scourge stubborn or naughty children.

At dusk, people from the nearby clans would come to the great story teller to listen to him, and will not return to their homes disappointed. Anyone who missed a story in a night felt like they had missed it for weeks. At sunrise, children would bring fire wood to his compound. At dusk, his children set fire for their comfort while listening to the tale. The smoke produced by the fire repelled mosquitoes.

Every activity in the clan was seasonal. Dry season was mostly welcomed by children. It was the one for harvesting the king of crops. Warm heartedly, the people of Mbanyam welcomed the season; it was a time for them to enjoy a lot of produce from the king of crops. Any woman in the clan who at this season in her kitchen was still turning flour was regarded as a lazy one and a disgrace to womanhood. It was expected that at least an unserious woman should have up to ten lines of planted yam in her farm. Chanbee avoided all this. During the rainy season, she engaged herself seriously in the planting of the king of crops.

Apart from the king of crops, she always planted cassava, sweet potatoes and maize behind her kitchen. She would also plant okra and other types of vegetables easily used for soup. Yams were normally ready for consumption around the late months of the year. Chanbee avoided going to her farm, she made use of the cassava and the sweet potatoes. Women always took permission from her to use her vegetable for soup; and she always allowed them to do so. Some of the men in the clan usually scolded or rebuked their wives using her as a point of emphasis.

The moonlight tales slowly passed away then came the kwagh-hir puppet show which was done in dry season. The harmattan winds arrived gradually like a long-awaited visitor. All the great men of the clan awaited it to pass away. It was a very busy period. Some of the people who had large farms were still harvesting the king of crops. Kpor-utan or cassava chip preparation was the major activity of the dry wind phase.

When the winds gradually eased, it was the time for bush burning welcomed by men who were lazy in providing soup in their homes. As soon as the smoke of the burning bush was observed in the sky, they would be found there. The pre-season of bush burning was a time for heaps making, by this time, it was meant that all the great men of the clan would harvest their crops. Even the guinea corn that was usually harvested lately was meant to be harvested by this time. Heaps were made on portions of land that were not hard for early planting. Those who make their heaps at this time planted during the first or second rain of the year. Bush was burnt after the Harmattan wind in order to avoid burning of crops and huts. It was the right time for making of Akpaako heaps. The Akpaaku was cultivated by great men of the clan. Greatness in the community was based on the number of wives, a horse, the size of farm land, the crops one cultivated and the number of community activities one always engaged in....

Akôr no longer understood his compound, when changes began to occur. Many times things left outside at night were found inside without noticing who took them in. Different things began to occur in his family, his children began to complain of missing clothes, sometimes the clothes they wore before sleeping would not be found on them again. He realized that his home was no longer safe for him. He thought that if he remained in his clan something terrible might happen as a consequence.