The Wisdom Of My Ancestors By Emokpae Odigie

Ogunpa river is intertwine with a God in Ibadan, whose adherents and worshippers kept his injunctions and taboos sacrosanct. On a day the annual festival is held, when the God would move in a procession through specified streets in Ibadan, women were not to be seen. In those days even male strangers were banned from the streets too.
The dire consequence for the violator was, she or he could be made a sacrifice to the God. Needless to say this practise was common with many southern Nigerian nationalities with little variation as some Gods may not demand death penalty but a heavy fine of animals with other things and for the violator to undergo some rituals of cleansing before forgiveness is effected. In some instances, the violator could become an inner member or initiate of the cult around the God.

One afternoon, as the annual procession of the God was up in the streets, a middle age woman, who lived in the neighbourhood, came out of her husband’s home and stood right on the path of the procession. “Aah, Abomination,” someone in the procession exclaimed. The procession continued to the point where the woman stood. The Chief Priest, who had found himself in a trance like shock over the sudden sight of the woman, eventually found his voice and took the leadership of the group as was customary. “Woman ,do you want to die, I assume you know the dire consequence of what you have done?”. To the amazement and utter shock of all, the woman replied it was her wish to die and hence her action. “Why do you wish to commit suicide” the Chief Priest asked,  puzzled.

“ I have been married for over fifteen years with no fruit of my womb. I have become a laughing stock to my family. There is nothing I have not tried to have a baby of my own, yet they all came to nothing. I can no longer face the humiliation as any slight disagreement between me and anyone end up being told that if I know so much about life why haven’t I be blessed with a child?. It does not matter how intelligent or wise my argument or counselling may have been, I will always end up getting that mockery. I am fed up with life and thought this was the easiest way to end it all ,so I can rest in peace”.

The truth of her story which as usual was fill with emotion and the reality of what barrenness could bring to a woman, held sway in the minds of all in the procession. The Chief Priest cleared his throat as if he was going to throw out the judgement from within his bowel. “Woman, I sympathise with you and the Gods  sympathise with you too. May our God hear your cry and dry you tears. Do not think of killing yourself because if you crossed to the great beyond only to find out too late you were only impatient, you would not forgive yourself. Destiny plays pranks on us sometime and endurance is the only desired remedy. Go in peace and tell no one of this encounter. The Gods have felt your pain.”

If only, all men of God/Allah can borrow a leaf from the wisdom of the ancients, there would be less clashes of religious sets. Man created all Gods, made injunctions on their behalf and yet it is man that enforces the injunctions. Can’t we stop for once and ask, where were both Allah and Jesus when a Boko Haram militant Muslim brought and detonated a bomb in a Church on Christmas day in Jos, a couple of years ago, killing 44 Christian worshippers. Talk about the blood of Jesus that covers Christians or Allah’s Kindness /love for humanity. Africans in the Central African Republic (C.A.R) should ponder why the two imported so-called Holy Books (Bible & Koran) should lead them to committing genocide on their fellow Africans.

Religious injunctions/practises are like constitutional laws/practises of a nation. They are both to guide the behaviours of man. The difference between them,however, are only in an invisible entity, God at the apex of religion, where-as, in the other, a visible human as the head of state. Again, constitution and its laws can be modified but religion and its injunctions cannot. Religion is fixated in the past, which makes it conservative while constitution is disposed to the present and also forward oriented, which makes it liberal and scientific. Both Constitution  and religious prescriptions are made to guide man and not for man to guide them. Wisdom & intellect are always greater than laws and injunctions, hence Krapper in my preceding treatise (Ibota N’ Ogbe 12) and the woman in the current  one,who confronted Ogunpa God in Ibadan, survived to tell their stories. I call it “The Wisdom Of My Ancestors”

 IBOTA N’ OGBE (13)

By Emokpae Odigie
The Personal Assistant To The Oracle Of Ogbe