Essential Ndubuisi
By Azuka Agunze Onwuka
One thing I achieved while holidaying in my hometown Nnewi this Yuletide/New Year was giving numbers to the houses on my street.
Most inner streets in Nnewi have names but no numbers. People use popular family names and landmarks to describe their homes.
Given that our street has been built up and has its houses well arranged, I believed that the houses should be given numbers, to make them easier to identify without even asking passersby for directions. Nnewi has become a city and no more a village where street numbers are not necessary.
I decided to allocate interim numbers to the houses. Houses on the left got the odd numbers while those on the right got the even numbers.
My cousin Goziem Ufodike helped me to design and print numbers 0 to 9. I traced them on carbon paper onto cardboard sheets. My little son Nwadiloramma used a razor to cut the numbers out. We got some paint and went to work.
Members of the team who numbered our street are:
- Azuka Onwuka (leader)
- Jachike Onwuka
- Chidera Chikwendu
- Chisom Chikwendu
- Olisaemeka Azuka-Onwuka
- Nwadilioramma Azuka-Onwuka
- Aguiyi (the Boerboel), which provided us company and security
When we were done numbering the street, residents were happy with the numbering.
