Stories remain one of the best and most potent forms of literature. And I remember, albeit hazily, one I heard as a child. I sat at the feet of my mother, aunt or grandmother. My memory fails me on the exact identity of the storyteller but the story lesson remains indelible and that is what I wish to share with readers.
Obi, a character in the story, was sent by his parents to go and fetch firewood for the evening meal in the forest of Okofia. The forest was at the boundary of the town in which Obi lived and the land of the spirits. Partly due to its location but also because it was so luxuriously verdant, the forest housed all manner of creatures, most notorious of which were the spirits that possessed the ability to change to other forms.
Everybody in the town knew this; children were warned repeatedly as they grew up: “Whenever you go into Okofia, keep your eyes straight ahead, gather your firewood and leave. Never look sideways or backwards.” Once in a while, a stubborn child went on an errand to Okofia and never returned.
So on this day, Obi set out for Okofia, fully aware of the dangers and what was expected of him. He gathered his pieces of firewood, tightly-bound with a strip of raffia and went about gathering some more raffia, which he would need to roll into a pad to balance the weight of the bundle of firewood he was to carry on his head. This done, Obi returned to where he had set the bundle of wood. A bird perched on his firewood; it was a pretty bird, with golden feathers, round yellow-rimmed eyes and a small beak that looked like it was made of ivory.
Obi stood for a while, transfixed by the beauty of this creature. He was, however, still very conscious of his surroundings. And that would have been his saving grace had the bird not started to sing. Obi knew that the spirits often crossed the border into Okofia disguised as animals but the stories he had heard spoke of spirits in forms of roaring lions, growling jackals and preying black-eyed hawks; the legend never told of a small, golden bird with a seraphic voice and sad beautiful eyes.
Delighted, he took a step towards the bird, hands outstretched to pick it. But the little bird flapped its golden winds, flew a very short distance away to a low branch and perched. It kept singing even more melodious tunes. Totally lost, Obi crept forward again, cooing to the little bird of his unadulterated intentions. Each time he got close, the bird flew to another branch close enough for Obi to still see it and hear its seraphic tones but far enough that he had to creep even closer to get to it.
Little by little, in this manner, Obi unwittingly followed the singing bird into the depths of Okofia. At some point, the bird flew away without perching, leaving Obi to stand and watch with disappointment. It took a while but Obi soon realised he was lost… lost in the land of the spirits.
Depending on who was telling the story, from this point, the journey would either end in tragedy for Obi or something miraculous appear as a saving grace. It is irrelevant anyway, as the lesson is already clear. This story came to mind while I observed the recent confusion generated by the Lagos government’s ‘deportation’ of Igbo destitute to Anambra State. Barely had this been done than the ex-governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, released a statement condemning the action as unconstitutional and tribalistic. It remains unknown to us where Kalu got his information. But he, as a “champion” of the Igbo cause, proceeded to issue a seven-day ultimatum to Governor Babatunde Fashola to tender an apology to Igbo, failure of which he would sue the latter.
Enter self-acclaimed Achilles of the Yoruba, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, with the inevitable rebuttal. Fani-Kayode took us on a tour of the history of Nigeria and established that Yoruba remains the richest tribe in the country, historically and otherwise, while the Igbo still struggle to catch up. He proceeded to recount the generosity of the Yoruba, more than any other tribes, towards their Igbo patriots, drawing his instances from history, politics and war.
My analogy goes thus. Obi represents the Nigerian masses, men and women who are wrapped together and called citizens by perhaps fate, destiny, God or a combination of the three – depending on your belief. The firewood he had been sent to fetch is peace, stability, a future that is devoid of strife. Alas, the little bird continued to distract, leading him farther away from the dinner at home and into the deeper recesses of spirits’ land.
The higihaga and crinkum-crankum (apologies Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon) generated by the ‘melodious’ songs of little birds – in this case, Kalu and Fani-Kayode – have clouded the crux of the matter: which is the definition of indigeneship and citizenship in Nigeria.
In my humble opinion, the little birds have achieved their aim of cheap publicity – personally, I dug up and read as much of other similar delusional pieces written in the recent times by Fani-Kayode. To them, I say bravo. But to the ordinary men and women, who have allowed themselves to be degenerated by the little bird into a vulgar rabble-rouser on the social media and the likes, I say ‘focus’.
Right now, we should be asking: what does the Constitution say about indigeneship and citizenship? Was Fashola right constitutionally to ‘extradite’, relocate or deport full-fledged Nigerian natives based on their not being indigenes of Lagos State? Was his colleague, Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State also right to sack – regardless of years of experience or level and without any compensation – all civil servants who were non-indigenes of his state a little over a year ago?
What would be the requirements to attain indigeneship of a state – stipulated years of residency, ownership of property, payment of tax or perhaps acquisition of the host state’s visa?
Rather than bother about the veracity of Fani-Kayode’s touted ‘long and intimate relationships’ with Igbo women or whether Chief Orji Kalu’s Lagos property was indeed cordoned off in retaliation to his threats, these are the matters we should be concerned about. Minus these men, I fail to see how the issue of the deportation based on non-indigeneship is a tribal matter, especially if there is truth in the reports that the Lagos government equally deported destitute to Oyo, Osun, Ogun and Kano states. A tendency to easily lose focus of priority when issues become muddled up will not help us attain freedom from self-serving leaders.
Obi must let the little bird sing and hop all it wants. He must pack up that stack of firewood and go home, otherwise the evening meal will forever remain unmade.
Chisom is a Corps member, NYSC Osogbo
