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The
Man Who Cried Wolf, Part 1
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Oliver O. Mbamara
Umuaturu was a village known for its efficiency and industriousness in the rearing of cattle. In fact, there was a popular saying far and wide, that "any man who knew the worth of his salt, ought to know that 'eke-Umuaturu' was the ultimate market for the best and quickest bargains when it came to cattle related deals. Every one aspired to make it to eke-Umuaturu, and those who did not frequent the market, were dismissed as beginners in cattle rearing and trading.
The cattle rearing industry attracted so much progress to the community of Umuaturu, and with these attractions came the invasion of wild wolves that converged in the forests within and around Umuaturu, attacking and devouring stray sheep. At first, the people ignored the wolves, hoping that they would keep their distance in the forests, but they were wrong. The wolves rather formed colonies and even attracted more wild animals around Umuaturu. Soon, the children were becoming victims of attacks by wolves and other wild animals that stopped at nothing in getting to the cattle. It got to a point where it was no longer safe to travel through and around Umuaturu alone. When they ventured near Umuaturu, neighbors of Umuaturu village where scared of being attacked by the vicious wolves.
A community meeting was called at the village square to deal with the issue. Nze Ahunanya, the Keeper of the village shrine of the 'spirit of the land' called 'ala' told the people that he had consulted with 'ala' and that 'ala' was angry with the people for getting too involved with cattle rearing and trading instead of the worship of 'ala.' Nze Ahunanya then told the people that 'ala' was in need of continued sacrifice of several lambs in order to be appeased. It was therefore agreed at the village meeting, that the village would continue sacrificing lambs to 'ala.'
Unfortunately, the sacrifice did not seem to make any difference. The trend continued and got worse. Eke-Umuaturu market began loosing its popular patronage. Traders no longer felt safe coming to the market. Most of them needed to travel through jungles and forests in order to get to the great eke-Umuaturu. As the strength of the market began to fail, so did general commerce in Umuaturu. The people suddenly found themselves lacking in a lot of things that they needed to survive as a community. They were virtually being held prisoners within the village. Within a short time, the situation had become a very grave one. The people of Umuaturu were not into abundant farming as other villages around. The majority of them lived on livestock, more than crops. With little or no crop available, they resorted to feeding on their stock of farm animals. However, after considerably feeding mostly on their cattle alone, the people were falling sick at the same rate by which their livestock depleted. The people then became desperate in their effort to survive.
One morning, the people gathered at the village square to discuss what could be done to deal with the situation. Some of the people insisted that to wait for 'ala,' the spirit of the land could mean waiting in vain. This faction wanted the people to take matters into their hands and fight off the wolves. Dinta Nwokeike was at the head of the call. He was the greatest hunter of the land, feared for his proven strength and courage, yet respected for his kindheartedness, which was easily noticeable in his willingness to assist those in need. Dinta Nwokeike was very upset that the people of Umuaturu allowed themselves to be overcome by animals.
On the other hand, there was a faction of the people of Umuaturu who insisted that the village should rather continue its sacrifice to 'ala'. Nze Ahunanya, the shrine keeper was at the head of this faction. It was his duty to keep the shrine running, tell the people when there was need for a sacrifice, and that meant making sure that 'ala' received its gifts of sacrifice. It was based on his information that the people continued to sacrifice their lambs to, hoping that 'ala' would forgive them and send the wild animals away. "Ala, is still angry, but 'ala' is willing to forgive us, if we continue the sacrifice. Ahunanya argued at the meeting. "If we renege now and take matters into our hands, hahahaha! My people, we will regret it, and 'ala' may never forgive us again. I have said it before, let us not become like the little 'nza' bird, which overfed itself, and went on to challenge its god to a fight. I have finished speaking." Ahunanya concluded with a tone of final caution as he took his seat.
"Nze Ahunanya!" Dinta Nwokeike called as he took the floor. "The first time we gathered here several weeks ago to deal with this issue, you won our hearts, or should I say, you scared the cowards amongst us with that your talk about little 'nza.' But let me ask you. It has been several weeks now. Why has the situation gone worse as of today, despite all the lambs we have offered to 'ala?' Why have 'ala' allowed us to be imprisoned in our own village by mere animals? Our children no longer play under the moonlight because they are afraid of wolves, and tigers. Our wives no longer fetch firewood to cook good meals for us, because they are afraid of entering the bush. Just because of animals…because of mere animals!" Dinta's voice was rising. "Nze Ahunanya, I am asking you," From his seat, Nze Ahunanya observed Dinta briefly and simply said in a lackadaisical tone, "Why don't you go and ask 'ala' yourself." Dinta was ready for anything Ahunanya had to say. "Ask 'ala' myself? Are you no longer the keeper of the shrine? Are you not the one who has been collecting lambs from us to appease 'ala?' Haven't you been offering our sacrifices to 'ala?' Dinta Nwokeike was pushing Nze Ahunanya's buttons. "Are you accusing me of not giving the gifts to 'ala'? Nze Ahunanya sprung to his feet, waging his finger at Dinta Nwokeike. "Do you think I am afraid of you? If you are a hero hunter, it ends with animals, let me tell you." Dinta Nwokeike was not taking Ahunanya's insult lightly, but he thought he should laugh it off to spike Ahunanya. "Hahaha! Do you want us to find out who is the better man?" Dinta said pointing to the ground.
To the people of Umuaturu who were gathered at the village square, it was obvious that Dinta Nwokeike and Nze Ahunanya belonged to different camps. However, it took the wiser eyes of a mature person like Ichie Egenti to know that something else boiled between the two men. He was the elder who had been presiding over the village-meetings since Ichie Nka, the oldest elder had become too old to see or even step out from his house. In any event, Ichie Egenti would not let the deliberation at hand get too confrontational. "Okay, Okay, Okay!" Ichie Egenti interrupted. "Nze Ahunanya, please let Dinta continue. He is standing. Ehm, Dinta Nwokeike, please address us, the people of Umuaturu, and not Nze Ahunanya." For a while, the two men stood there starring at each other intently and breathing hard, before they slowly recoiled.
Dinta Nwokeike composed himself again and continued his address. "My people,' he said. "We have waited patiently for 'ala.' We have offered sacrifices, yet we have not seen any better. You all know the popular proverbial question - 'since the arrows were not built for trunk of a palm tree, why should the hunter's first, second, and third arrows all hit the same mark on the trunk of the palm tree, when he actually aimed at another target?' My people, how long shall we continue to use the same medicine to teat an illness that have refused to be cured by that same medicine? I am almost ashamed of myself. I don't know the face I will use to look at people from other villages, when they say that I come from the community that was overcome by animals. My people, Umuaturu is too big to be so ridiculed. I say, give me the strong men in this land, and let us confront these wild animals once and for all." Dinta concluded and sat down, while his supporters came over or stretched their hands to shake him.
"Dinta you have spoken well," Ichie Egenti stood to speak. "Umuaturu is not a village of cowards," Ichie Egenti continued in a voice laden with age and wisdom. "Perhaps Nze Ahunanya is right. 'Ala' does need more appeasing. You all know me. I have always insisted that our traditional rules must be kept. But again Dinta Nwokeike could also be right. Perhaps this matter is one we could deal with on our own without involving 'ala' in it. Perhaps this situation came upon us because we took the situation for granted. We underestimated the threat of the wolves, and as it is said - 'when you underestimate a small pot, it would boil over and kill the fire,' is that not so?" Ichie Egenti paused for the crowd, and they responded. "It is true!"
At the moment, the villagers were not sure of Ichie Egenti's position on the issue, but they were sure what would follow. "My people, I am only here to hear what you say. You are the ones who make the decision. So, as you are aware, in a situation like this, we will conduct a count to know which opinion is more numerous." A wave of chattering slowly swept across the crowd, in affirmation of Ichie Egenti's call for a vote on the issue. "We all know that once the opinion that has more numerous support is known, every son and daughter of Umuaturu should go with it, isn't it?" Ichie Egenti asked. "We all know. We know!" The crowd responded.
The vote counting was done and the popular opinion was that the people of Umuaturu should take the matter into their hands and fight the wolves. However, Nze Ahunanya led many villagers who were worried about the likely wrath of 'ala' against the people, to win a resolution which ensured that 'ala' would continue to be given some lambs from time to time to appease it, while Dinta and his team fought the wolves.
Ichie Egenti then engaged the crowd in a pep talk for a while until he had built up the confidence of the people to fight the wild animals. Then he asked for volunteers that would be willing to assist Dinta Nwokeike in a crusade against the wild animals. It was hoped that the band of fearless men will take the fight to the wild animals, overcome them, and return Umuaturu to its freedom and past glory.
©Oliver
O. Mbamara, 2003
CONTINUED
AT PART 2
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Oliver Mbamara is an Administrative Law Judge
with the State of New York. He is also a filmmaker and a Published Poet
and playwright. For more on Oliver, please visit www.olivermbamara.com
For
background/research reference on this piece, click on this link
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