THE AWAKENING

THE AWAKENING
It rained heavily the night Mama died. On her death bed, before she gave up the ghost, she said to me, "Oluchi, there is something you must know tonight, it is true that there are many stories a Man must take to his grave, but I thank my ancestors for giving me the grace to express myself tonight. It is about time you understood the importance of motherhood." As I sat close to her, an oil lamp lit across the room, the flame wavering, as the gentle evening breeze found its way through the window.
Mama held my hand and looked into my eyes. Her hand trembled and in her eyes i could feel the silence of death's cry. Her hand trembled terribly, but she didn't mind. I was deeply scared. But what could I have done? For never had it been heard that anyone had ever wrestled death and conquered. Death knows well how to win over the soul of a mortal.
"You see, Oluchi..." mama continued, "everything in life comes with a price, be it positive or negative, above or below. Whatever you sow in life you will reap. Life is not all about flood which flowed and never turned back, or days we lived which we never see again. Life is a concoction of sweetness and bitterness. Life is an elixir, yet toxic. Life is beyond the understanding of man and as such you cannot control what had already been predestined but it can be reshaped. For example, during harvest, you reap far greater than a grain of wheat you had sown."
"Oluchi", mama called. "Are you asleep?" I replied "No mama, I am listening to you." (She took a deep breath and continued) "I am nothing but a stranger here, and that gives me no joy! When I was young, probably seven, there was this day my father rushed home one sunny afternoon and summoned my mother under the cashew tree. They both discussed for a while and I saw my mother fidgeting and managed to tie her wrapper over and over again as it kept loosening. One could guess she wasn't at ease as she continued to pace back and forth, stamping her right foot on the ground. This continued for a while before she finally looked towards the direction I sat. Her look was tender and I knew something was amiss. My unsettled father, in a moment told my mother to get hold of herself and leave with me at once. For if we waited for another minute there could be more damage. My mother hesitated and insisted he followed us but Papa was reluctant and told mama that he would fight to the finish. That she should rather run with me. That if the gods permitted, he would join us some day."
"Mama rushed to where I sat, with tears running down her cheek, took me by my hand and together we ran towards 'Ani' forest."
At this time, Mama struggled to breathe as she seemed to be chocked by the story she was telling me. She coughed as she struggled to talk. I quickly rushed to get water from the earthen pot at the back of the door which led to the kitchen. I returned with a calabash of water. She took it from me and gulped a little and returned it. I told her to relax and sleep and maybe continue the story the next day, but her stubbornness wasn't what time could cure. She insisted as she mumbled "No". She asked me to sit, and said that it was important she told me this tonight. "Oluchi, just sit and listen to me for in the next minute I may be no more. So I want you to listen attentively." (She tooth a deep breath and laughed out a while, which revealed her weak dimples and exposed those remaining brownish teeth and the rest which were lost to the war of food and meat owing to old age)
"Nnem!" (my mother, as she fondly calls me) she continued, "we made through the forest but it wasn't a sweet experience. The leaves and grasses that leapt along the road kept brushing my exposed body. They were very itchy, but I was determined against their odds. Having ran, and at some point, walked for a long time, my feet became sore and simultaneously my strength gradually failed. But mama encouraged me. She was tired and in pains too but survival was the goal. I could barely hear the cries of different insects in the forest as mosquitoes feasted on my blood. But all hope wasn't lost as we gradually came out of the forest. We stopped by the 'Ukwa' tree which provide shade at the bank of the river. She quickly waved to one of the boatmen to come ferry us across the river. On getting to the other end, she held me by the hand as we went through a bushy path. When my sore feet could scarcely carry me and my strength all the more drained, my mother pitied me and said we should rest. It was under a huge tree with broad leaves. We sat there for a long time. Each time she looked at me, she sobbed. I tried the much I could to console her. She was sorry I had to suffer this terrible experience , but it was for good. A little while after, we commenced our journey."
We walked for a long distance and just a little while before nightfall, we arrived in this village. We took more steps as we searched for food and water and eventually passed the night at the village square. The next day, we walked from hut to hut, looking for a family that will accommodate us, and each time, we were either abused and thrown out or denied help. Until Mazi Ude took us in. His family was really kind to us. And my mother worked very hard to repay their kindness. I offered help as much as I could and often played with his children at moonlight."
It was one night that she decided to tell me why we left our village; Umuani. She told me that one of the lands that my father had inherited was being coveted by the king. She told me that my father was angered and troubled by this. The worst part was that the elders were not truthful and helpful. The king warned him to stay away from the land or he would have him killed. But being a man that believed in preserving his forefathers lineage, my father swore that he would protect this land with his blood. So on that very day we ran, it was one of his friends that informed him that the king had already ordered his guards to come rain down on our family. That was why he rushed home and asked us to leave immediately."
Mama took a deep breath again and this time told me her waist ached and that she needed to sit. So she held my hands as I helped her sit up. I quickly picked the pillow and placed it against the wall, so she could relax. She continued: "Oluchi, it is a short minded person who says we have come to the world to enjoy, but the truth is, there is no rest until death. Many years passed without the sight of my father and each day became harder for my mother. She was lost in thought, and sometimes melancholy, about the whereabouts of her husband. Though Mazi Ude and his household gave us reliefs, but it was not complete. The only thing remaining was that my father was not there with us. One day, a man walked into our compound. I knew I had seen him before but could not remember where. He asked if my mother was around, and I told him and then rushed inside to call mama. She came and on seeing him, she glowed in joy and warmly welcomed him. She told me he was Mazi Uchenna; my father's friend. Mama scurried in and came back with a stool for him, and served him refreshing meal of pounded yam with 'Onugbu' soup. Mazi Uchenna recounted how hard it was for him to locate us. He then narrated how my father fought hard but then killed by the king. From the look on his face, he was very sorry. But then mama was not that troubled. At least her fear was confirmed and she had grieved enough. She welcomed the news but there was still signs of bitterness evident in her eyes. He also told us how things have worsened in the land. There were so many bloodshed as the king did not spare anyone that dared stood his way. Things had really gone bad that people were frustrated to taking their lives by either poisoning themselves or jumping into the river. The gods seemed to have turned their back on them. He also recounted how Mazi Nwaego, the famous palm wine tapper, jumped into the river but was rescued by some fishermen. He was asked why he wanted to kill himself, and he said the king had taken all he had and he was in great debt and that it was best for him to die than suffer disgrace in the hands of his creditors. Mazi Nwaego was later quoted as saying 'that his jumping into the river freed him from all his worries and grief, and that the water cleansed his wearied soul. That since he had lost all he had to the king, the best thing was to die.' Mazi Uchenna told us even that some had left the village for a far away land. He also narrated how the son of chief Nkwonta raped and murdered a seven year old daughter of one of his workers. But instead of the king to bring chief Nkwonta's son to justice, he jailed the father of the girl and accused him of lying in a bid to tarnish the hard-earned reputation of one of his chiefs."
"It was horrible! Mazi Uchenna didn't forget to tell us how a disease ravaged them. But the king had refused to call on great 'dibia' for help. In stead he attributed the affliction to the atrocities of the people. After he narrated all his stories, he rose to go. Mama wished him well and thanked him for coming around."
"Just like I am doing tonight, my mother woke me up one midnight and suggested that it would be better if I married a responsible man who was from this village. I asked her why, and she said she was afraid the villagers might one day chase us away. And that if I married one of their sons, she believed that no one would come to oppress us. I told her I would think about it. And for a long time she did not asked me about it until one night, when she said I had come of age. She called me to her room and she repeated what she said before. I gave in to her advice and by next year, I got married to your father. But death stood by the doorpost as he took your father away. It was then that I was carrying you in my womb. Of course your grandmother also danced to the tune of death just a day before you were born. Death did not end its supreme there, he sent your elder sister Ezinwanne, to get him his snuff box, which he had placed six feet below the ground when you were just two.
Some visitors said that you are my mother's incarnate and I want you to go to Umuani. There is my true home. Forget that I am married here. I want to be buried in my father's compound in Umuani. Oluchi, it is time to go back home. You must go and ask questions. You must fight for yourself and reclaim what belonged to your grandfather. I want your unborn children to live a good life, but you must give birth to history. The king and chiefs are feeble and old now and it is time you mobilised as many people as possible to fight for what is genuinely yours. Because time comes slowly when you need it faster and faster when you need it slowly. You must oppress the oppressor. Time and tide wait for no man Oluchi. You must act now for if you wait for another sunrise, it might be too late. I want you to be the needle to sew their torn clothes. I want you to go back and put an end to immorality and irrational acts so you can be happy on your deathbed that you have set a standard or else, a day like this would come and all that will be in your heart will be stories of regrets and pains as I am telling you now. I want you to act. Enough of timidity and excuses. I don't want your unborn children to suffer the way I did... Oluchi! It is said that If you don't know what happened to your father, what happened to your father will happen to you too. Oluchi (Mama called again) "Look at the oil lamp" she said as she pointed to the direction of the lamp. "Make haste for the lamp will soon go off. It is time."
I thanked her as I helped her back to bed. In a short while, she slept off. And in the morning I tried waking her up but she was stiff and cold. She had joined her ancestors. I was sure mama knew she would die soon and that was why she told me about our roots. I will go back home and rewrite history, and uphold the legacy of my forefathers, even if it requires destroying the old ones.
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It rained heavily...new beginning
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Importance of motherhood....struggle for survival
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Ancestors....Awolowo, azikwe
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Death's Cries....Powerless
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King...Cabals, Political, Leaders, Senator, assassin,
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Papa.. Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Dele Giwa, Fela Anikulapo, Alfred Rewane, Sola Omatsola, Bagauda Kaltho
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Mama...history
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Father's village... Overseas
Oil lamp...stream of consciousness
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Oluchi...Youths, future leaders
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River ...third mainland bridge , lagos
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Disease....Meningitis
God sent Type C Meningitis to punish Nigerians for their sins – Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State
Chief's son...Taraba Senator's Son
Uchena...NLC, DSS, EFCC, political leaders, Senators, Assassin,
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OLUSEGUN M. LAWAL