CHAPTER 6 (Transitioning)
There was a rap on the wee gate that had gone rickety over the years, a movement from the inside of the compound confirmed a response. Late evenings at Beju suddenly seemed to be marred with series of unfortunate events, everyone was expectant, this particular night didn't disappoint. Laila crept to the gate and peeped through a crack, she wondered why they were having more than a visitor. The gate vibrated again, turning the first to a child's play, this startled Laila. Commander Borkili staggered out of the hut he was being nursed, though Laila didn't answer the gate with any lamp, he could tell she was there and was being cautious. Laila took several quick strides to the hut that sheltered Commander Borkili and blew out the lamp, she whispered to the Commander that though Kuyana had arrived, she wasn't alone. The Commander smiled and told Laila to let them in, he assured Laila of his trust for Kuyana and if she was with people, they too could be trusted. Laila reluctantly answered the gate after a third and harsher knock to let the visitors in. Commander Borkili staggered towards khele who was now standing outside too with a lamp, wondering why the hullabaloo, he relit his lamp through the fire from hers and returned to his hut just as Kuyana entered the compound with 3 guards from the palace. Everyone tailed Commander Borkili to his hut and watched him drop the lamp at a corner of the hut, carefully go down in a sitting position then lay on his back beside the lamp.
"How are you Kuyana?"
"Hum!... It's obvious you haven't been updated on recent happenings... Why did you come back?"
"Happenings? Why did you return to the palace?"
Kuyana who was already fuming before she entered the compound, flipped the lid.
"Take him let us leave this place"
A pop eyed Laila asked why in bewilderment, the response to her question came in form of a slap, her older sister who had retrieved the lamp from Khele swung it out of reflexes at the guard who slapped Laila, it narrowly missed Kuyana and splattered its contents on the floor. The hut lit up with the help of some straws, everyone escaped the impending inferno with 2 guards carrying the Commander. Laila fought hard like a wild cat but was held back by a firm grip of one of the guards, her older sister bundled khele into the main hut. Kuyana threw the gate opened and let herself, the guards and their prisoner out, leaving Ini's compound brighter than when she arrived, the thick smoke swirled into the night.
#Kuyana Loading #Fiction
Most recent stories in Mik Ahludba
For the Nigerian PENSIONERS left alone to fight their battles
Looking at the bitterness on Joshua's face as he strived to prove a point to no avail saddened me, no one present at the Emergency ward 'D' of National Hospital, Abuja, felt any different. It had long be settled that no one would interrupt Joshua's moment irrespective of any others' feeling, the Doctors and some stubborn heads had quit trying for this was a lost battle.
I've known Joshua with keeping his word, having his way and being the man of the moment since I was in... maybe Standard 1 or 2 when he married Anthonia. I remember vividly in Church that day, sitting next to Mama, though on the floor, unlike Mama. Bola the adventurer had crawled from the next row to ours through the four legs keeping my plastic chair upright. His presence alone below was enough to bring me down to his level as he always had something new to either talk about or play with. We heard when the Church roared cheerfully over what I got to find out years later but was of less interest to us then, reason being that; 1. We could barely understand what the event was all about, 2. They weren't communicating in the same tonation and English our Teacher communicated with us in School and 3. The whole Church was standing now, even if Bola lifted me on his shoulders, we wouldn't see what was going on at the alter, so, why worry? Mama suddenly looked at me and said something, something only her was authorized as at then to say because she knew him too well, he was her offspring after all. "If na that one, I trust my boy, nothing go make am look back". I looked at her, puzzled and wondered if I've met her before, because the Mama I know won't of all the human being in the Church, pick me to share that with. She didn't seem to notice initially that the person on the floor that had successfully transformed a white attire to light brown, which she just spoke to was the Moses she bathed earlier on and dressed for the occasion. As if she suddenly realized, she looked again in amazement and shouted "Jesus Christ! Bola you don come again? Oya! Before I close my eyes open am, disappear from here... and you, you want make I touch you abi?..." At that moment, Mama and Son came out of their trances. Bola crawled back to his parents while I stood up, used my dusty hands to dust off dirt on my clothes, rumpling it further then climbed back to my chair to spread the dirt. After the Service, we proceeded to the venue for the reception. From the Church till we arrived Okereke's compound, the topic of discussion on everyone's lips was 'Joshua' and I wondered why they wouldn't rather put pieces of meat or small chops between their lips just like me.
We just concluded our 'Age group' celebrations when I finally deciphered a whole lot of puzzles; Joshua made a promise that he would carry Anthonia in every of their wedding anniversary, then kiss her just like he did on his wedding after the priest said "You may kiss your bride". He bragged that he would do this in sickness and in health, irrespective of financial situation as far as both of them are alive and only death could come in between he and the promise. What Mama said to me that day finally made sense and I also understood why he was always inviting us to his house every 22 August, be it a weekday or weekend, where after a mini celebration, he would lift Anthonia up to his chest level before onlookers and kissed her while everyone cheered afterwards. Can anyone blame Joshua? I mean, Anthonia came to our Family with lots of blessings; Joshua joined the State Civil service with his Standard 6 result through his wife's connection after their wedding. Anthonia connected my Dad to people that gave him a bigger farm land and ensured that he allowed me, his second and last boy, continue Schooling instead of working in the farm after Primary School. The ripple effect of this was very visible in our standard of living but our humble beginning didn't allow us lavish. Anthonia was a natural marketer who could sell clay to the Binis and get them running back to her for more, so she cornered my family into cash crops having tested so many other plants in search of the most viable. She was a loveable person whose charisma and humility attracted people and opportunities. She wasn't beautiful enough to be our In-law at first, but Joshua was bent on settling down with her whether Daddy liked it or not, and we are forever grateful to God that Daddy didn't keep trying to stop him. No doubt, there where times she had issues with Joshua, even issues that lasted through their anniversary, but Joshua never renegaded on his promise, he was mindful of that date, whether he was in the Village or not.
This is exactly 39 years later and Joshua had been bed ridden since yesterday, he had just come out of a comma as if he took permission from the great beyond to honor this day. He was unbelievably the only survivor of a plane that was bound for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport from Yola which crashed in Kamoka Forest and claimed the lives of everyone on board last week, the doctors had doubted his survival. Joshua was now retired from the Civil Service and a Pensioner, who returned to farm against the wishes of his Children. He had planned relocating back to the village after he retired but bow to the pressure from his First son who promised to secure a land for him in along Kaduna/Bwari express way, bordered by the Kamoka forest. He had to farm Guinea corn and ginger as was trending in that area and was clearing weeds from his farm when the unfortunate event happened. The plane nose dived close to his farm land, scattered its components which a large portion caught up with Joshua, the only farmer dedicated enough to weed his farm early and knocking the pensioner out till the Emergency Agency could locate the crash site. Shock, pain, shrapnels and burns had engulfed him just as he had lost much blood. Anthonia had surprisingly handled the news and the sight of her husband's condition in a rather calm manner whereas John, her first of 4 Sons, was making sure his only Sister didn't go hysteria about their father's health condition. For the first time in my life, we became celebrities, Journalists stood outside the Hospital which was now a beehive of activities, barricaded by security men in uniforms. Some NEMA officials who were using the opportunity to enjoy publicity, told different versions of how they found and rescued Mr. Joshua, I began to wonder if the rescue was for his Pension and Gratuities the Government was yet to pay for over 3 years now, I would be damned if someone didn't say he did a 'Superman' with Joshua before the plane burst out in flames. Only Anthonia was allowed to see him since his battered body arrived the Hospital, but on this day, for reasons best known to Joshua, the Doctors agreed that they must bend to his stern request as their objection was doing more harm than good to the dying man. Myself and 5 other family members were allowed to visit as demanded by Joshua.
We stood there watching Joshua, watching this once agile man who never seized to amaze everyone that knew him. A strong farmer, a very humble and sincere man who his 'Mr. Accountability' slogan won the heart of everyone he worked with. A man that still worked diligently with his farming tools even in his sixties, a man bent on keeping to his promises. Being the only young man there, I made a move to help him sit up and he just waved a palm at me, signifying 'I got this one'. I was surprised he still had control over the content of that shattered body as he sat upright, paused for a while, lifted his head up, smiled and made the most awkward statement anyone would have imagined, forcing the words out slowly through clenched teeth. "why una lock up like this, una don chop so?" We all faked mild chuckles and muttered 'congratulations' and 'Get well soon' whereas deep in our hearts, we wished he just laid there, resting and recuperating. Our response seemed to have been a disappointing one as he bowed his head in a sad gesture, as if there was something he wanted to say but didn't know how to begin, thereby throwing the whole room into silence. Without lifting up his head to look at his wife that was sited at the foot of his bed, "Honey! Abeg shift come" he said, in a husky voice anyone could barely hear, breaking the silence that had hung over the room for like 30 seconds. She suddenly put her phone to her ear and said something, then excused herself for the toilet in the amenity ward, ignoring her husband's call. In no time, she was out, leaving everyone wondering if she heard her husband call before she left. A Samsung whistle tone escorted the faint sound that emanated from the closing door, no one seemed to take note of it, I guess I wasn't the only one using a Samsung phone, or maybe I was and I just received a message, but that was the least of my problems at the moment. She came to her husband in his sitting position and hugged him, we all stood there wearing sad faces, watching them and wondering why he had gathered us here without a lawyer to justify our curiosity. He muttered something in her ear and she turned to look at me briefly then whispered something to him as well which I made out as "no please". They seemed to argue silently for a while not minding their puzzled audience, then the expression that appeared on his face showed that he finally had his way yet again. She started to sob and looked at me again, fear suddenly gripped me, something was not right, but I couldn't figure it out, no one could. Joshua stood up and stretched open arms to Anthonia, she moaned further, uncontrollably this time as she got up slowly and made her way to the opened stretched arm, still looking at me and looking down to probably my legs, that was when It suddenly dawned on me that a message awaited me in my phone inbox. I quickly groped for my phone, lo and behold, 'new message' greeted me, it was from Anthonia, without reading the message, I moved swiftly to help Joshua who was hugging a crying Anthonia and only managed to reach them after he had attempted to lift her, failed and fell to the ground.
My elder Brother died on his wedding anniversary, telling his wife he would never forgive her if she let us knew what he was about to do. He claimed to have begged the Angel of death for that one last chance which he eventually was granted. Anthonia suspected this and asked me to help my brother out if he tried to lift her up, unfortunately, I only read the text message after we buried Joshua.
#IStandWithNigerianPensioners #PayPensionersTheirEntitlement http://flip.it/kESjK8"When I was a kid, I thought Zootopia was this perfect place where everyone got along and anyone could be anything, It turns out that real life could be a little bit more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker. Real life is messy, we all have limitations, we all make mistakes which means we all have a lot in common, and the more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be, but we have to try. So, no matter what type of animal you are, from the biggest elephant to our first fox, I implore you try, try to make the world a better place, look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you, it starts with me, it starts with all of us"
Ginnifer Goodwin (Officer Judy Hopps), 2016
Isn't this just what we need in Africa? In Nigeria? Sounding in the ears of the agitators for secession? To the corrupt officials who can't 'Try' and fight the urge of deceit, lying and stealing, Nigeria can and would be a better place someday In Sha Allah! You're either active and in or you stand aside and watch as events unfold, either ways Nigeria will be great again. #ProudlyNigerian http://flip.it/R.7Qw0Proudly Afemai (Ivbiosakon)
Date: July 13, 2016Author: geerian
’Who are the Edo people?’ by Ademola Iyi Eweka
EDO, is what you can describe as the “generic name given to a group of people who have a common ancestor and have a common language, with some different variants, depending on the distance between the group and the ” tap root, ” resident in and around the present day Benin City. In short, the land, the political state, the people, tribe, language and the principal city -Benin City is called EDO. At a point in the history of these people, another name called BENIN came into use. These Edo-speaking people are divided into the following clans today:
a) ” BINI ” derived from the word Benin for people living in and around Benin City, in Edo State. People living in and around Benin City, are gradually accepting the word BINI, as descriptive of their clan. Otherwise, they prefer to be simply called EDO.
b) ESAN/Ishan-for the immediate neighbor to the north are people living in around Irrua, Orhodua, Uromi, Ubiaja, Ewu, Ewatto, Igueben and the almighty Evbohimwin (Ewohimi))” the city by the big river ” or ” the city of Ikhimwin trees ” etc.
c) The Afemais known as IVBIOSAKON by those living in and around Benin City to the north of Ishan/Esan clan.
d) Akoko-Edos based in Igarra, Ibillo and its environs to the north of Afemais.
e) The Owans-ORAS occupying Eme, Sabogida-Ora, Afuze, etc. Uhobe (SOBE) and Ifon in Ondo State.
f) Ekas-to East of Benin. A sizeable chunk of the Edo speaking people flow across River Niger and ending at ONITSHA.
g) Isoko, Urhobo, Itsekiris and about 70% percent of western Izon (Ijaws) in Ndegeni and its environs
h) A sizeable chunk of the Edos is found in River States and Balyesa States e.g. Ogba land and Diobu, Port Harcourt.
i) A sizeable chunk has been ” Yorubanised in Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos and Ogun States. The descendants of Edo soldiers stationed in Akure are referred to today as ADO-AKURE (Edo ne ’kue) There are many Edos in Ekiti land, Idoani, Idanre etc going through life in Nigeria with Yoruba names. Acculturation has taken place. You are either a Yoruba man or you go nowhere.
j) The ILAJE community at OKITIPUPA and its environs.
k) The Edos who conquered and settled far way land like Dahomey, Togo and Ghana.
The Edo language is part of the Kwa-Niger group of languages according to Linguist. These people have lived were they are now for ” Thousands of years.” The monarchy centered in Benin City is about 6000 years old, including pre-ogiso and Ogiso era of history. All the clans had various functions, which they perform at the palace. For example, the Ishans/Esans were principally the medicine men and warriors of the ancient empire. They were the medical practitioners. The chieftancy groups responsible for the Oba’s well being are dominated by Ishan/Esan descendants. The Ivbiosakon (Afemais) were the dental surgeon of the palace. That is the origin of the name IVBIOSAKON. Oba Esigie assigned that function to them in the c1500’s.
The Owan/Ora people were the propitiators of the physical earth for the Oba of Benin. It was their responsibility to prevent things like earthquake, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes and anything associated with geological disturbance to occur in Benin. In short, they were the geologists and weathermen of their day, forecasting and preventing physical calamities. Those we call BINIS today, were the traditional bureaucratic administrators and military generals. The Izons (Ijaws) were the ” OZIGUE” -SAILORS The Ekas were farmers. They were in charge of the royal farms.
The Ibos across the Niger call the Edos, IDU, the name of the progenitor of Edo race, the Yorubas call us ADO, which is a corruption of the word EDO. However, the Itsekiris, another sub group in the Edo clans call us UBINI. Tradition asserts that it is derived from ILE-IBINU, which is descriptive of the exasperation and frustration encountered in Benin City, by Prince Oranmiyan of ILE-IFE. A further research may prove that, it was the Itsekiris who gave that name, to the people living in and around Benin City. The Itsekiris told the white man of the powerful overlord living in Igodomigodo. It was the Itsekiris who told the Whiteman that the name of the tribe of this powerful king was UBINI- a term which Whiteman corruptly wrote down as Benin. For example, the name of the eldest daughter of Oba Osewende, the mother of the OSULAS and the AIWERIOGHENES is today known as AGHAYUBINI. A closer examination of that name would reveal that the name is an Itsekhiri phrase-” The Ubini Lady or woman ” i.e. the woman from Benin. Aghayubini was a very wealthy trader among the Itsekiris, from whence she got the money she used, is getting the throne for her brother, who became Oba ADOLO. An Itsekhiri descriptive phrase has simply over powered her original Edo name, to the extent that nobody knows anything about it now.
The ancient Edo/Benin Empire covered the whole of Bendel, parts of Bayelsa State and I repeat Balyesa State. The second son of the Enogie of Brass, popularly known as IYASE NE OHENMWEN became the Iyase of Benin under Oba Osewende. Iyase Ohenmwen is the ancestor of the OTOKITIS, THE OKEAYA-INNEH AND THE AIWERIOGHENES of Benin today. It also covers the IGBO-speaking areas of Delta State stretching to Onitsha. People hardly know that the actual title of the Obi of Onitsha is AIGBOGHIDI. The historical Chief Agho Obaseki of Oba Ovoranmwen era and later the Iyase of Benin under Oba Eweka II, was a descendant of the second son of Enogie of NSUKWA now in Delta State. It extended to the whole of Ondo State, parts of Ekiti and Ogun State and the whole of Lagos State including BADAGRY. It stretched to southern Dahomey (Republic of Benin) and on to the coast of Togo and Ghana.
THE OWANS /ORAS:
Oba Ozolua is traditionally regarded as the ancestor of the Owans/Ora. He was known as Prince Okpame before he became known as Oba Ozolua. He had sought refuge in Uwokha in Ivbiosakon areas in c1473. From Uwokha, Oba Ozolua founded Ora and other villages. Oba Ozolua was a warlord. He beat the people of Uzea near Uromi to a pulp when there was a revolt. He extended his carnage to Uromi when the Enogie was reported to have been rude to his messengers. He went up through Akoko land, wandering into Nupe lands where he acquired a lot of sophisticated weaponry then. He attacked the Igallas and Igbirras in the present Kogi and Kwarra states. After spending the greater part of his life in ORA, he left behind his son UGUAN and returned to Benin City.
But before he left, he proclaimed everybody free men and free women, entitled to enjoy the privileges of Edo princes and Princesses, for all the services they had rendered in his military campaigns. That is why the Oras call themselves today, the CHILDREN OF OZOLUA. Besides being in charge of propitiating the physical earth, they are responsible for ritually exorcising any harm that might come upon the EDO NATION-the land due to violation of sexual or other taboos. Their GUILD, quartered at EVBORHAN quarter in OGBELAKA in Benin City by Oba Esigie, demands steep fines from the culprits for their services.
A few years ago, the Oba of Benin created an Ogie-Duke-traditional rulership for the Oras because of popular demand.
© 2016 GEERIAN
