Ezenmo sat forlorn , head cupped in hands as he
pondered the latest answer received from the gods.
He was just a messenger , of the gods to the people . His
people .The people say “The messenger does no wrong : his was to transmit”.
However , his hands trembled as he thought of meeting the
Eselu III or the Queen Mother . Aagh , the gods. How would he dress his
countenance as he delivered this stupefying news ?
Hmmn. He sighed deeply . Yet again . He had been sighing all
morning.
Thrice this week he had divined. Thrice the same answer .He
resolved to try once more on the last of the four- day Igbo week ; Eke , Orie ,
Afor , Nkwo .Yes , he would try again on Nkwo. Who knows ? Maybe the gods were
just thirsty . He took a huge sip from the Schnapps bottle , and spat across
the mini wooden statuettes on the floor. “That one is for you , oh great gods”,
he said. He now stood up and slowly walked to the bushes behind for some herbs
to administer to a sick little boy as promised the mother.
Nebede was a smallish village comprising five hamlets of Ubi
, Kene , Nlo , Nume , and Solam . The hamlets shared common streams , a market
and a King.
The last King had been the Eselu II. He was late now and
resting with the Ancestors . Nebede had been a very peaceful village until
recently .There were few deaths and illnesses recorded till this year . This
year when the Eselu II left to join the Ancestors . This year when the newly
selected Eselu III was to be crowned.
Ezenmo was the Chief Priest of the Nogba shrine . The shrine
housed the big wooden statue of a sitting , cherubic male , which represented
the Nogba god . He it was who determined destinies , he decreed which path one’s
life will take or what spouse one would end up with . He presided over the
number of off springs one would have , the size of goats in his yard and yams
in his barn . He determined which maidens will be skinny and which voluptuous .
Ezenmo had remarked to himself that the Nogba must be tired of the voluptuous ones
as none could be seen lately in the village . Ezenmo had in his capacity as
Intercessor between the villagers and the Nogba , strived to remedy this
anomaly by quickly appeasing the Nogba then with a big Hen and copious local
gin sprayed liberally around the statue.
The shrine also contained five other smaller statuettes . One
for each hamlet . They were lesser gods than the Nogba , and were in his
service . They served as monitors for the Nogba on each hamlet in the village
.The villagers made annual offerings to the Nogba and then during routine
visits to the shrine on sundry problems brought cash , foodstuffs , and drinks
to appease and to offer in supplication for their myriads of needs . Sometimes
too they were broke and couldn’t afford much for the gods . In such cases they
offered to cut the bushes around the shrine or helped to repair the thatched
roofs . These were usually done by the men . For the women who couldn’t afford
such fees for the gods , they fetched water from the streams and scrubbed the
walls , floor of the Nogba shrine . Ezenmo being a kind hearted Intercessor
also offered help to the lazier ones who didn’t want to wash or scrub . Some of
the more robust variety regularly walked with Ezenmo into the nearby bushes .
Many a loincloth had been urgently discarded in the pressing need to appease
the gods through other forms of payment , collected on their behalf by Ezenmo .
There had been reports of heavy breathing and sudden movements in the bushes
adjourning the shrine , by returnees from the far Ujonu stream , whose route
was close by .
Once when the stories were so rife , the late Eselu II organized
the hunters , who were led by Ezenmo to chase away whatever wild beasts
creating the disturbances . No animal was caught and Ezenmo was seen chanting
incantations at the site , thereafter declaring the area safe . The reports
though reduced , still persisted about strange activity in those bushes at
intervals .
Ezenmo wasn’t bothered by mere mortals and their stories .
Him who belonged to the gods . Yes , chosen by the gods to succeed his father .
His father , the former Ezenmo , whom it had been said , traded riddles and
proverbs with gods and spirits . Out of his seven sons , he the last , had been
chosen by the gods . Father had often remarked that he was different from the
rest . From when he had run an errand for Mother to the shrine to see Father .
While he waited for the then Ezenmo , he had seen a tortoise , walking
backwards into the bushes on its hind legs . His widened mouth was struck
soundless , as yet a four-headed snake bade him farewell as it slithered into
the bushes . Once too , as the Elders poured libation on the ground and invited
the ancestors to drink , he had seen weird little men with contorted skin
appear in their tens , backs bent with little cups in hand . He had fainted and
had been carried home . When he later regaled his family with the tale of what
he had seen , all had been scared stiff. No one else had seen anything and all
seven strong boys had slept at the foot of Mother’s bed that night . To protect
her from the little men with bent backs and tiny cups , they had claimed but
all their legs shook and quite a few urine drops stained the various loincloths
as none dared to go to the latrine to relieve themselves , and none would stoop
so low as to ask for an escort , so as not to be labelled ‘coward’ . A man
could be anything but Coward in Nebede . Even thieves had more honour in Nebede
than one known as cowardly . The women composed derisive songs with their names
which the children danced to at festivals and moonlight dances .
Father though had smiled after he heard the story and kept
nodding long into the night . At midnight he had poured copious libations and
thanked the gods that they had made a choice . His voice as he communed with
the gods carried on the night air through the window in Mother’s room .
All wondered whom the choice was or when it had been made . None
of them had ever been around when gods made choices so they thought little of
it and went to sleep .
Today , after fifteen years , the choice was now a full-fledged
Ezenmo and was revered the length and breadth of the five hamlets and
neighbouring villages . Ezenmo indeed had blossomed and could be said to have
surpassed his Father in wealth and acquisitions . His barns were well stocked
with yams and his livestock were highly priced .
All these however did little to placate Ezenmo’s mood as he
emerged from his brief reverie . The recent spate of deaths and illnesses only
put a seal to the results obtained after three days of divination . The gods
had answered in one voice . Just three days before the activation of the newly
chosen King , Eselu III’s reign . Only three nights before the dance of the
young maidens . Hmmmn . He sighed deeply once more and searched frantically for
his tobacco box . He hurriedly stuffed his nostrils and waited for the effect
to hit .
The soothing sensation though did little to appease his
restless mind . The Nogba , as confirmed by the lesser gods had said that an
Impostor was at the throne ! Eselu III to the best of Ezenmo’s knowledge , was
a bonafide son of Eselu II and the Queen Mother . Since his selection however ,
eight people had lost their lives in one week in the village . “Tufia” , Ezenmo
exclaimed .
To complete the rites , Eselu III was required to pick a
second wife during the dance of the young maidens . The King was mandated to
have two Queens as laid down by the Ancestors . However , the highest rite was
the “Mkpuchi Azuala” . The new King was required to proceed to an area of semi –
swamp features , in an enclosure of bamboo trees , alone . There , he would
remove the last wrapper hung there by the last deceased King and dress the
clearing in his own wrapper . The clearing within the enclosure known as “Azuala”
, was inhabited by a female Deity . Ezenmo had only been summoned there once and
had marveled at the impeccable state of the late Eselu II’s wrapper hung there.
It was impossible to fathom how it had retained its new look after almost
thirty years of being exposed to the elements . Azuala’s frontage was always
well swept and clean . It was said that the Deity could be heard sweeping at
dawn on quiet mornings .
The Deity was known to have struck two fierce claimants to
the throne dead at one time . Her method of execution was with thunderbolts .
No other mortal dared to go into the Azuala , unless he had been chosen King
and confirmed by the Nogba or summoned . Therein lay Ezenmo’s dilemma . The new
King must go to Azuala in three days . This King had however been rejected by
the Nogba .He dared not step into the Azuala . The Deity would strike. The
Deity’s strike had been known to separate a man and his footwear in opposite
directions to one another . The corpse had been retrieved from the village
stream whilst the footwear had flown through the air to the village Primary School
field.
Ezenmo now waited on the result of his divination planned
for the fourth day of the Igbo week , Nkwo before going up to the Queen Mother
and the Eselu III . Herb in hand , he closed the shrine frontage by hanging two
pleated palm fronts . The sick boy’s residence was across his path home and he made
his way slowly, lost in thought at what lay ahead .
He couldn’t even dare to appease the Nogba at a time like
this , for it was already upset and had allowed the deaths of its villagers in
such unnatural patterns . Never before had two people died on following days
.Ezenmo felt the dark clouds gathering . He wondered aloud whether the new King
will still be King after the coming three days .
Impostor , as the Nogba had said about the Eselu III , who
was this man? How would the village react ? What of the King ? Would he
abdicate ? Would he run away , never to return ? Hmmmn . “We could have new
songs for the children by the next moon” , Ezenmo thought to himself as he
passed the little square , venue of the moonlight dances .
Our people say “he whom the gods want to
kill , they first make mad” . Ezenmo had experienced bad days before and then
he had experienced today . The fourth day of the Igbo week . Nkwo day .
Ezenmo had divined early in the morning . The answer was
stark and the same . However this time there was also a caveat , “if the
impostor wants peace for Nebede village , he must leave that stool immediately”.
The gods had withdrawn their smiles . Ezenmo must move now to save the day or
be filled with regrets . His legs seemed full of lead as he made his way to the
palace . His legs inching their way gradually towards the gates . He was the
one to bear the news , to break the revered “Aki Oyinbo Nsugbe” to the Queen
and her Son . Let them hear the message as received from the gods , warts and
all . There would be no embellishments nor deductions . Ezenmo knew it was time
for normalcy to return . For the death rate to decline once more and for the
people and their gods to be on the same page again .
Ezenmo spent six hours with the Queen Mother . At first she
had tried to rebuff Ezenmo . She had tried to cast doubt on the words of the
gods . Ezenmo had then reminded her of the calamities that would happen if
custom was not allowed to prevail .
She broke . The tears gushed freely and the story was
revealed as her tongue lost its stinginess and began relating all that had
transpired . Ezenmo as an intercessor between the villagers and their gods had
seen humans at their worst moments . The Queen mother’s face was etched with
severe pain as she spoke . Ezenmo had yet to see such pain in one person before
.Deep pain , regret dripped from her voice as her face aged visibly within
minutes .
She had been the Eselu II’s second Queen . The first Queen
bore him six females , while she bore him seven females . The required heir
eluded them all . And so once on a visit to her Mother’s village of Fanma , she
was told of a recent cleric whom claimed he could give aspiring couples ,
babies , complete with the gender of their choosing.
Her visit to the Cleric was uneventful , except that she
woke up in the cleric’s chamber with a moist feeling in her parts . Till date
she hadn’t known or sought divination to confirm the father; the King or the
Cleric . She only knew of her happiness at conceiving a male child as confirmed
by diviners then . Fortunately Eselu II claimed the boy’s complexion at birth
bore resemblance from his grand aunt’s lineage . She had always felt huge
remorse , but it was tempered by the huge celebrations in the whole Nebede that
carried on for weeks . She never had need to confess before or tell her son
that there was a possibility he was sired from her visit to the Cleric . Ezenmo
consoled her and then had an enlarged meeting with the Queen Mother and her son
.
The son couldn’t believe his ears . The Eselu III whom was only
two nights away from presiding as King over all of Nebede . It was hard work
explaining to him the links with the current deaths in the village . Once his
rage subsided , he began to cry . Those deep sobs that escape a man’s breast ,
as if his heart had been pried open with a pair of pliers .
He then had to tell his own wife , Lady Gertrude .She took
it the hardest . Three days to go from being Gertrude to the First Lady of
Nebede . To be addressed , Her Highness , The Queen . It took several hours to
convince her to go away with him and the Queen Mother .
It was also agreed that Ezenmo would allow a full day to
pass before briefing the Kingmakers , and instructing them to commence the
selection process afresh . They would now instruct the town crier , whom would
go round the five hamlets with his gong at dawn , to announce the Eselu III
will not be crowned anymore and the dance of the young maidens will be
postponed till the next selection process concluded .
So at dawn the next day , Ezenmo returned to the palace . He
sat at the Verandah and waited . The son was already washed and dressed . He
that would have been King . The women even though travelling under a sombre cloud
, took forever to be ready . The son sat with Ezenmo in the silence . They
silently acknowledged each other and the weights they individually bore on
their shoulders . In another life they could have been two friends sitting
together and watching the Sunrise . In this life though , they were two men
sitting and marveling at their patience and infinite capacity to wait for their
women to dress up.
After they were gone and the palace locked , with the
attendants sent home ; Ezenmo summoned the Kingmakers . He informed them that
there would be no crowning of the Eselu III and no maiden dance as the Queen
Mother had left the palace with the son and wife in tow .
He explained that the son while studying in the city , had
taken up the “Christian Religion” , and so was a Christian King ; a reluctant King
. He wouldn’t pick a second wife or engage in the Azuala rituals , as the
church in Rome would forbid him from their “Blessed Sacrament” and may even
ex-communicate . As a Christian also , he couldn’t make libations to the gods
or ancestors . That a Christian King would not serve Nebede’s interests and so
he had left. Therefore , they were to commence the selection process once more
.
The room was silent .The Ten Kingmakers were shocked .They
only asked Ezenmo if the Nogba had sanctioned it , and upon his answer in the
affirmative , accepted it .After the customary round of drinks , they all
departed .
At dawn the next day , before even the cock crowed , it was
the town crier that woke Ezenmo ;”PEOPLE OF NEBEDE , I GREET YOU . YOUR SON ,
THE SELECTED ESELU III , WILL NO LONGER BE CROWNED AS HE HAS RETURNED TO THE
CITY TO LOOK AFTER HIS SACRAMENTS . A NEW SELECTION SHALL BE MADE LATER .THE
MAIDEN DANCE IS ALSO POSTPONED FOR NOW” !
Ezenmo sat up. “Sacraments”? From the window he could hear a
youth explaining to the Mother that Sacraments were a new kind of apartments in
vogue in the city currently . Ezenmo shook his head .He didn’t blame the town
crier though , for as our people say “the messenger does no wrong” . His was
just to transmit .
THE END.
Wabara Nnamdi, 2016.
