The gods must be joking

“The gods are angry about the land" the chief priest said as he parked his divinity accessories. He was invited by the king makers, chiefs and the royal family of the Odunbaku community to consult the God’s on their behalf. They want to know the reason behind the death of their two kings who died consecutively after their respective coronation . The first one died two days after his coronation ceremony while the second one died during the coronation process. These strange occurrences has caused fear to envelope the whole community, even the royal family has sworn not to produce or present any of their wards to assume the royal stool until something meaningful is done to avert the evil happening. “the gods are so furious about the negligence of our community toeards the sacrificial commitment made by our forefathers to them years ago" “ civilization and education has made us to neglect these spiritual commitments, that’s why this plague is befalling this land" chief priest concluded. Heavy silence filled the atmosphere, everyone was surprised to hear what chief priest said. “Baba! What is now the way out?” “how do we appease the gods" Chief Otun finally spoke while the other noded their heads in affirmation. “there is absolutely nothing we can do,the only solutions is the blood of another king, two has been taken already remaining the last one” “ let’s install a new king ,the gods will kill him like they killed the last two and then the plague will end" the chief priest dropped the bombshell there should be a better solution than this baba" one man from the royal family mumbled his eyes threatening to jump out of their sockets “no, there is no other way out, if we want peace, we must install a new king.” “ that new king we be the proverbial scapegoat that will take away the plague of the land" The chief priest sensing the anxiety and desperation perching over the faces of the people sitting, he quickly packed his bag and stood up to leave “ may the deities bless us all" he said and he left. Total silence engulfed the room ,everyone was dumbfounded, why are gods so angry , why can’t this bloodthirsty deities ask for something else apart the life of our kings? These and many more questions are going on in the the mind of the people without an appropriate answer to them. “My good people of odunbaku community “ chief Otun broke the silence “we’ve all listened to the chief priest" “ what is the way forward?” the people are obviously confused and perplexed “ The royal house" he focused his gaze to where they were seated “ who would you present to us as the king? Let’s be fast about it so that the land will be done and over with the plague “ “or should we give you sometime to deliberate on it?” This statement from chief Otun gave the royal family an outlet to vent their anger ,they became so furious that it almost resulted in a free for all

“You are such a devil clothed in human skin”” you want to us to present a scapegoat that will take a way the plague upon the community abi? It will now make it 3 children of this family that will die in just a year “ one of them confronted chief Otun and the whole place became rowdy . The meeting ended with no meaningful resolution

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The veil of darkness has just been taken off the face of nature, spreading daylight out like a new blanket over odunbaku town. All had been generally quiet, as most villagers had gone out on their usual early morning round of activities. Ojo as usual with no where to go say on a bamboo bench in front of his mud house ,thatched with sedges and bulrushes, ruminating and brooding over his misfortunes in life. Actually life has not been fair to him . In all his life he has never known prosperity for once. Every year it has always been from one calamity to the other. Ojo the poverty personified that’s what the people call him . His cocoa farm was ravaged with pest and disease last year, this year his cassava plantation was gutted by fire . Everyone has deserted him , his wife’s family came to take their daughter away to safe the poor lady from malnutrition and abject poverty that has been the order of the day for Ojo. “ What is my offense olodumare" he seemed to whisper to himself in sadness but his thought was disrupted by the voice of mr. Banji who was calling him inside the house “this is where you are" he said as he peeped through the door “I’ve looked for you in your room" “yes! I’m just trying to get some fresh air “ ojo said trying to brighten up his face. Mr banji mounted his rally bicycle parked by the wall of the hut and slowly he pedaled it toward the road to the village square “don’t forget to check me around noon time at school , the man would be there around the time" he told Ojo while increasing the speed of the bicycle . Mr Banji is the new village school teacher that was posted to the community some days ago.,a well educated and disciplined man. Ojo would have been dead by now ,if not for the timely intervention of Mr Banji who saw him the forest where he wanted to hang himself. Mr Banji has been staying with him since then ,advising him and together they’ve been hoping and praying that things will change for good. He was even trying to get a security job for him in the city that was the reason he told him to check him in the school at noon so as to see the school’s board secretary who is coming for inspection of the school today.

Ojo was still seated on the bamboo bench when the entourage of the palace led by Chief Otun arrived , everybody including the chief himself bowed their head in their cultural way of paying homage to a king “kabi'esi o" they all shouted when they saw him. In astonishment ojo wanted to run away but wanted to be sure of what was going on so he stayed. “Baba otun, what is going on here" he asked obviously still amazed. “ Don’t panic, we brought you a good news “ otun began “the gods of this land has chosen you to be our king" “ you see the reason for the death of our kings in the recent past moved us to consult the Oracle, the Oracle told us that the we have been putting the wrong people on the stool,the Oracle singled you out as the only and the best person to sit on the throne for peace and prosperity to reign in this land" chief Otun concluded

“ the oracle must be joking, I’m not from the royal family" ojo complained “everyone in this town knows the royal family and since the days of our forefathers they’ve been the one that produces the king , how come the oracle is now changing the custom of the land? Something is fishy baba"

Ojo's suspicion is not totally unfounded. There has never been a time in the history of the land that anybody outside the royal family has ever become a king in Odunbaku. Even the year that the heir apparent was a young boy of ten years the whole community waited till he attained adulthood before they installed him as king

“Yes you are right" otun came in “but your case is totally different…” “Baba otun ! You are a wicked man, you think I don’t know what is going on “ “ the secret is all over the town" “ is it a crime to be poor?” “ why do you want me to be the sacrificial lamb all because I’m poor?” “ you want to use my blood for atonement against the evil ravaging the town abi?” “look! I closed my eyes if you don’t leave here before I open it , two visitors will meet Eledumare in heaven today" he threatened as he dashed to the mud bricked hut to take cutlass. Before he could return they’ve all disappeared

Watch out for Part 2

Written by Oladeji Gbenga