Tradition and the Black Whiteman

     The Tradition and the Black Whiteman

 

                        (a short story)

                               By

                     Lene Ododomu

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So far you are a son of the soil of Amaseya village then you don't need to be told of the tradition of the land. The oracle called Egbesu forbids a man from licking woman's private part and sucking of her breasts like a new born baby.  Every daughter of the land  is also forbidden from puting a manhood in her mouth.

It is orally transmitted from generation to generation that the oracle, Egbesu, is a god  of justice of the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta region which is connected to Bayelsa, Arogbo in  Ondo state, etc. Egbesu is also perceived as the spiritual foundational force for combating evil. The Egbesu force can only be used in defence or to correct an injustice, and only by people who are in harmony with the universe. The symbol of the divine force is the leopard, panther and lion. Egbesu has both a philosophical and spiritual dimension, the latter of which has been more prominent during recent times due to conflicts in regions where the Ijaw people reside. It is believed to be a minister of God and He assigned duty on it to function on His behalf and He particular gave it to the Ijaw people. Most of the forbidden things of God are aslo forbid by the Egbesu for instance it forbid an Ijaw man from shedding an innocent blood and also against injustice. So the people of the land adhere it laws   and respect them as it has been done from the old generation.

Perewari spent most of his time in America for his education. He lives with his maternal uncle, Richard Bekewei, for both his primary, high school and the university in the America. He do comes home every December for Christmas but spends not more than five days before returning back and this was only when he was still young while in high school but he stops coming after he furthered to the university.  He doesn't know what his tradition  is all about and the little he was told about the tradition of his land, he sees it as a primitive and retrogressive way of life by the local people. Now being a grown up man with a very high job, he only believes in the behavior of the white man which is simply and progressive according to him.

Perewari sees the tradition of his land as barbaric and evil one. He believes in this philosophy that traditions are Cultural Inertias. He then argues on it that they were created by their forefathers which the new generation don't know about but only worship them. He always  against the forbidden of the Egbesu that restrict a man from licking woman's private part and even sucking her breasts because he argues on it that it was primitively created by the mouth piece of the Egbesu but not it that created that tradition.

By becoming a full adult who has spent most of his time in America and also turned himself to a black whiteman, he was pressurized by his parents, especially the mother, Egbe-ere, to get a wife and it must be from the village. Due to this pressure, Perewari decided to visit Nigeria for the first time since he becomes an adult. He has already made himself a black whiteman and planning to settle down in the white man's land and behave like him. But he cannot run away from his fate of returning back to the black land where he was welcomed to earth.

Before Perewari arrived to his village, Amaseya, his mother had already arranged a wife for him. He couldn't remember everybody in the village including his siblings because of his long stay in the America. So when Deripatei, his wife to be served him food he didn't recognize her but instead mistaking her for one of his sisters until his mother introduced her to him. 

"Is this what your tradition asked you to do too?" he asked the mother who was sitting in front of him on a plastic chair.

"Yes, especially when you don't live in the village" replied the mother.

"But that's bad because this can kill the future of the two" said Perewari.

"Kill the future of the two as how?" asked the mother and she moves her chair close to him.

"Yes. If we are not destined to be together and you imposed us to be together, the end of us will not good" said Perewari.

"The end will good. Our forefathers done it before us and it has never jeopardized the future of any of us. Even your father and I were arranged by our parents and nothing happened to us. Is it not the two of us that gave birth to you? Haven't you  become a successful man to change the narrative of this family?" asked the mother.

"I was made whom I am today because I spent my time with the white man who civilized me. Who knows maybe I stay in this village and my life would have becomes like  Akirika, the village palmwine tapper?"

"Keep that your mouth shut. So you are telling me that the black land is retrogressive and it can never make you successful?", asked the mother.

"Who knows. That's remind me. Why did this young lady kneeling down for me after serving me the food?" asked Perewari.

"Because that's how it is done traditionally" replied the mother.

"The tradition is oppressing the women then. She is a woman and what is so special about man that she will worship him like God? The white man don't do that. And besides he can cook for her and also watch her clothes because we  are both created by God to treat each other equally. So why giving the supremacy to man?" Perewari asked like a blind bat of his tradition.

The mother gave up and intended not to answer him again but reminded him to respect the tradition of his land. Since he will be traveling abroad with his wife, she warned him not to defy the tradition of licking her private part and sucking of breast because it is forbidden by the Egbesu. The distance will not matter for the Egbesu to visit him if he offend it.

Perewari returns back to America with his wife few days after their wedding. He was advised by his mother to have the honey moon in the village but he refused and decided to have it in abroad. 

Deripatei was admitted in Harvard University to study Law because she had already finished her o'level in the village and also had a degree in Mass Communication at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo. She was so happy when Perewari brought her the admission letter.   

Deripatei was already carried away by the  possession of the westernized lifestyle after spending two years in the USA. She expected to be cooking with fire wood in the kitchen for her husband as it is done in the village but everything became a contrary to her expectation. They have house cook who wakes her up every morning to take her break fasts and also a cleaner whose job is to clean the whole house and watch their clothes in the watching machine. So her own is to sleep and eat.

In her final year in school, she became pregnant and she was happy that it happens that way because before she further to law school she has already given birth. Also, Perewari was happy because he would soon be called a father. He bought her a brand new car to appreciate her for being a productive wife. Although he wouldn't have bother if she fail to produce a child for him but he knows very well that his marriage will be in the lion den by his family. He immediately called home to inform them about the new achievement he had had as a man and they were so happy, especially the mother who then promised to come to USA to do omubo when the wife give birth.

Deripatei gave birth to a bouncing baby boy two days after her graduation from school. She acknowledged the fact that God want her to move further to law school immediately after her law degree. She was so happy when she was woke up by her phone and saw an alert of huge amount of money sent by her husband to further appreciate her for the productivity.

. He stopped the mother from visiting so that she will not come and oppress them with their tradition. To satisfy the mother, he bought two cars and give one to his father and one to her. 

Deripatei passed her law school exams in Nigeria and was admitted in law school Bwari.  Before she returned back to Nigeria for her law school she connived with her husband to defy the tradition. They both don't believe in the tradition due to the control of the whiteman's mentality, especially Perewari who turned himself into a black whiteman. She was told by her own mother that she as a woman she is forbidden by their tradition to put a man's penis in her mouth and drink his sperm. But she pays this advice a deaf listening and defied the tradition by putting the manhood of Perewari and drank his sperm while making love. And Perewari did the same by licking her private part and sucking the breast like a new born baby and this was not just once but almost all the time that they make love.

After some years and when Deripatei has been called to Bar and returned back to USA, they both started having symptoms like coughing which sounds very chronic with a deep vibration and also starting having different types of nightmare, sometimes a white cloth covers up the whole cloud and then a lion appearing from the cloud and turns into a giant man. Deripatei had already knew through the story her mother told her about the oracle. She then tell herself the story of how a man called Nicholas from their village killed an innocent man whom he was owning money and buried him in the bush. To prevent the spirit of the dead man from tormenting him, he was deceived by a native doctor in Ikare to bring a bone of of a lion which he did. But few days later this man started seeing the white cloth that covered up the whole cloud and a lion appeared from the cloud turned into a giant man and this was in real life, not  a dream. Then the man immediately ran mad and was brought to the village to confess. He was served punishment and joined the ikolokolowei group to undergone a ritual processes before he was forgiven by the oracle. She compares the dreams of how the lion appears from the white cloud and turned into a giant man and confirmed with the story of her mother that it is the sign of the oracle but she keep on having the stubborn mind to ignore it.

They went to the hospital for medical check up and the doctor runs a series of tests but could not detect the main cause. Before the check up, Perewari was already leaned like a HIV patient. Doctor Mark, an American qualified doctor advised them to look for other alternative by maybe going to church or local treatment because of not detecting anything despite his professional check up. He had already knew that   their problem is beyond the physical so it is good that they should prevent it from the spiritual.

Doubra, Perewari's friend brought them to the village to look for solution of their problem but immediately they got to the village, Perewari's mother has already knew that he has offended the oracle, Egbesu. So she wanted him to admit by confessing the sin but he keeps on  proving stubborn because he believes that he can never be harm by the oracle because it just an ordinary man made god.

When it happens that Perewari and his wife were already very sick critically like that of HIV patients, he gave up by confessing to the elders of the land who came to interview him to know the cause of his ailment. The wife also confessed her own part and immediately  rituals were performerd on them. They were charged with   six bottles of ogogoro (dry gin), three each, two male goats and with the some  of twenty thousand naira to appease the oracle. Three days after the ritual was performerd they started regaining their health and when they visited the king, the Agadagba who is the chief priest of the oracle  he advised: "I think this will be a deterrent to the both of you. The traditions of this land gave birth to everyone of us because they were the ones that created this land for our forefathers who then preserved these traditions and passed down to us. Tradition is tradition and no one can say it is not. I believe very well that you especifically (referring to Perewari) your parents, especially your father who is a member of the Okparan group must be singing the songs of the tradition with you. He is an elder and what he sees while sitting down, you can never see it even though you climb a tree. To you, you have known everything because you are educated and living the life style of the white man. But let me tell you that you can never dare to fight a ghost with the  knowledge of the white man, but with the knowledge of the tradition you can because the ghost understand the language of the tradition. I think you have seen it for yourself. Like I told you that your father is a member of the okparan group and these set of people are interpreted in English as ogboni group. They made me and gave me the secret of the oracle. There is nothing they don't know about the tradition of this land and I must say that they are the custodian of the traditions. So next time when your father advice you to adhere the tradition of this land, try and listen to him. I also believe that children get a soft advice from their mother and your mother must have done the work of your father. So please even though you return back to the white man's land don't underestimate your tradition. You could recall that Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o and other African writes corrected this notion in their writings when the white man was underestimating the Africans that they don't have tradition. You almost took your life together with your wife. You are a good son of this land and we are proud of you. You are a black man so don't mix it with that of the white man who doesn't have respect for your tradition and that was what almost put you in this premature dead", and the king pray for them as they thanked him and left.