St Darlington Ngozi Obi hails from Imo state, the eastern part of Nigeria where he attended both pre-primary

and post-primary education before travelling out of Nigeria in search of greener pastures. St Darlington is a dedicated and inspirational writer, movie actor and musical artist who believes in nature.

MAZI OBIEZE THE WARRIOR

St D a r l i n g t o n N g o z i O b i

MAZI OBIEZE THE WARRIOR

Copyright St Darlington Ngozi Obi The right of St Darlington Ngozi Obi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781849633093 www.austinmacauley.com First Published (2013) Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd. 25 Canada Square Canary Wharf London E14 5LB

Printed & Bound in Great Britain

Win the brainpower of the populace and you will win a crown! No crown is public servant to failures! The crown of laziness is failure. The concealed eye of a man is the brainpower that sees success. When the heart is dead the psyche loses the possessive and factual gifts of life! Plaid shirts and striped pants rarely make a positive fashion statement. No matter what the eye sees it will not shed blood, also there is nothing the ear will hear and get blocked instead the mouth will have something to say! The bird can never hide its belly while flying also, a woman does not hide her pregnancy for her husband, so that she will not be seen as being foolish because they both contributed.

Preface

azi Obieze was a very strong and crafty intelligent man. Besides, he was an orator and a well-known warrior in the whole clan of Duruaku. He did everything in his power to please his village, but after the death of his father Ichie Mba. Mazi Obieze became distraught, as the father whom he loved died because of the poison from Ikenga one of the fathers close friend two days to the day he was supposed to settle a land dispute, between two kinsmen, who both claimed the ownership of a particular piece of land. His aggression geared up to the extent that he became a slave agent to the white men. This gave more apathy to Mazi Obieze to treat the families of the perpetrator in a very woeful manner pleasing to him. In the wake of this action, he became closer to the white men who cherished him and showered him with imported gifts that he as a generous man also shared among his fellow kinsmen. The Isiagbara was asked by the gods to play the role of a sacrificial lamb because his blood was the only sacrifice needed to access the people of Kamalu witches and wizard shrine. In as much as they needed to defeat their foes, he must not come back with them in flesh and blood, rather as a tree of shield to the people of Duruike forever. He was not to be slaughtered or sacrificed directly to the gods of Kamalu, this he had to do by swinging into the anunuebe tree and lose his life to save the entire clan of Duruaku from the hands of Kamalu people who were thorns on their flesh. Through the witches and wizards whose plan was to destroy the entire clan. Mazi Ama was a very good traditional masquerade dancer and a magician. In the whole of Duruaku clan he was also the winner of the last oha mnanwu festival before his sudden death, which brought sorrow into the hearts of the village patriots. Nevertheless, he also proved to the white man that African tradition is unambiguous when he declared the numbers of seeds

in the watermelon magically. The white man Mr. Davidson, who Mazi Obieze trusted, referred to the laws of the land as an ersatz laws and a channel to killing innocents. In order to furnish the village with a brand new tradition and custom, Mr. Davidson repudiated their ways of judgment in the land. This was because of the unbelieving mind he had for their tradition and customs. Following the unbelief, Mr. Davidson fashioned a kangaroo court yard, which he introduced to judge the people of Duruike village. In the light of the above the gods of the land ogwugwu got angry, as this was a sacrilege for a foreigner to dictate the rule and laws of the village. As an upshot he ordered the Nwogwugwu to sacrifice the white man to appease their ancestors. Nwadike was a womanizer and drunk who became a masquerader that won several medals for Duruike village. He was also the saviour to the liberator of the Clan in General by redeeming him (Nwogwugwu) from death in the Arms of his mother Onuwa; he also brought the victorious message of the ghost to the elders of Duruike village. Nwogwugwu, who was made strong and idiosyncratically chosen by the gods to liberate the entire clan from their acrimonious enemy and unite the clan once again without insinuating fear of any man born of a woman! He unveiled his uniqueness as he (Nwogwugwu), passed through the seven days of fasting in the shrine of the gods without an atom of declination from the aforesaid words of the ghost disclosed to the elder by Nwadike. In his first performance, he opened the hidden secret of the gods to the elder as he said, th at ogwugwu has ordered for the immediate evacuation of all the slaves and should be, used as a revamp sacrifice, to appease the gods.

Acknowledgements

My profound gratitude to God Almighty for giving me this wisdom, knowledge and instinct to pour out this inspiration. For all that is writing in the book to come to emerald light, countless number of people to list but a few played both direct and indirect roles. I owe a debt of gratitude to my father Late Mr. Godwin and my dearest mother Mrs. Martha Obi for the early educational background they accorded me. I also want to extend my equitable hand of gratitude to Mr. & Mrs. Jalloh Francis Kamara and Mr. Nicholas Uzoma for the advice, encouragement and writing equipment they gave me. I also extend my gratitude to Mr. Sunny Nnabueze (sunshine) who contributed financially to the success of this book. Finally, Jerry Johnson (Little Jerry) who read the whole document, eavesdropped, squabbled, and always encouraged me.

ST. DARLINGTON NGOZI OBI

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my lovely father the late Mr. Godwin and my dearest mother Mrs. Martha Obi for the support they gave to my education, even in the mist of great storms and tussle.

ST .DARLINGTON NGOZI OBI

MAZI OBIEZE

here was a man called Obieze who lived in the sub-Sahara Africa, this man Obieze was a very strong and crafty intelligent man. Besides, he was an orator and a wellknown warrior in the whole clan of Duruaku. After the death of his father Ichie Mba, who used to be the head of his village named Duruike, Obieze became distraught because of the love he had for his father as a warrior, who had won so many battles, he became more aggressive to the extent that he became an agent to slave traders. It was an opportunity that he capitalized on, to exploit his fellow kinsmen with his Gods giving wisdom and strength. Obiezes sudden attitudinal change to the detriment of his people was in the course of revenge for the death of his father a great warrior, who was poisoned through palm wine two days to the day he was supposed to settle a land dispute, between two kinsmen who both claimed the ownership of a particular piece of land. In fact, this brief story about Obiezes father Iche Mba shows that Iche Mba was the eldest man in his village Duruike whose age mates died either through war or through some kind of vicious acts. During his days, most of his age mates were all tall and gallant as if it was planned. Based on that, they formed a cult, which they called NDIKE, meaning (strong People), and the cult became powerful and famous in the entire Clan. Their cult was prominent due to their violent activities and constant war engagements, and they always defeated their opponents, this made other nearby villages to be scared of them.

In fact, they were so domineering that they monopolized the entire clan of Duruaku with an ever-ready warriors. This made the people of Duruike village highly respected and chosen as the head village of the Clan, the seat of power to be precise; they made it the inner- city of Duruike Clan. Yes, Duruike village has become the centre for festivals agreed by the elders of the clan. It was a decision that was already on the table of debate, and has caused catastrophic wars among the people of the Clan, though it was years back. During the youthful days of Ichie Mba, who was an active figure in the cult and among his mates. It was during his days that Eke Duruike, which was a very small and daily market, became the chosen place of gathering for general celebrations and festivals. It was during this time that more portions were added to the market square for deliberations and settling of issues pertaining to the development, traditions, and civil affairs of Duruaku clan which was made up of seven villages; except for the people of Kamalu village who were regarded as witches and wizards. Nevertheless, Ichie Mba who was now very old also had lost most of his age mates, which made the people of the village see him as their father and they had special respect for him. Because they knew that, he was among the warriors, who fought and made it possible for Duruike village to be preferred, as the centre for festival and a place of gathering for celebrations of new yam festival, masquerade, and native dancing festivals, through Ndike cult, which proved to be the most powerful cult in the entire clan. Ordinarily Ichie Mba was a very honest man who cherished his village! He also helped in settling quarrels and land disputes among the kinsmen, as an elderly person; he knew most of the lands, their boundaries and the family it belonged to. Again, he was always fond of telling some ancestral tales, which is applicable to the present days elders. This made the children love him and also come around him for sweet imaginable stories and tales. It also made the children happy and aware of some facts concerning the village and the clan in general.

Nevertheless, Ichie Mba had two wives whose names were Elochi and Olanma. Sadly, he lost Elochi during childbirth, but before her death, she had two children for Ichie Mba, whose names are Ama and Nwadike. While the second wife Olanma had five children, but death took four of her children leaving only Obieze who happened to be the second child to Olanma, who was the only surviving wife of Ichie Mba. Obieze being the only surviving child of his mother, was very close to his father, this made Ichie Mba love him more than the rest of his children. He was also the replica of his father in both character and physical appearance. Ironically, he used him as his first-born child, perhaps the heir of his family. Originally, Ama who was the first-born child of the family did not bother, or see his father as being partial. Rather, he encouraged his father since he observed that his father had grown old and would always want his children around him, because of the tragedy that happened to his family in the past years! As we know that, he lost his first wife including his five children. Traditionally, Ichie Mba was supposed to have many children to equal some of his colleagues whom they both fought together as warriors in Duruike village who had more than five living children each, but his case was different as he had only three children. On the contrary, he always felt pain whenever he remembered the death of his late wife Elochi and the children. In the wake of this, he made sure that he planted love as a tree in the heart of his living children (Ama, Obieze and Nwadike) who shared things in common without an atom of discrimination or divide and rule, they all saw Olanma as their biological mother and called her mama. She in return sees them as her children, Olanma was a very kind and soft-hearted woman who took the broods as her bosom children. Especially Nwadike, who became the last child of the family following the death of others, whom she treated with love and kindness. In fact she could not eat without any leftover for him, so that he would be satisfied; this was because Nwadike ates like a glutton. That made his father Iche Mba call him (Orii nri) meaning food eater. Because he ate any minute he set his eyes on

food and was always lucky that his family was not in shortage of food. We need to know the significance of the kind of names we bear, it has lots of role in the bearers life; traditionally, we understand that the name given to a person represents his identity, culture, religion and in most cases dominates one s character in one way or the other! Example: when Ichie Mba had his first son as a youthful warrior, he decided to call him Ama (Amadike). This commonly means, the home of warriors, indicating that the bearer had been predestined to be a powerful representative of his family, in whichever way he chooses. Once more, he called the second son Obieze meaning (kings palace) as the name implies; Ichie Mba resolved to choose Obieze the second son as the eye of the family and he taught him many things on how to become a successful warrior and a good leader. While the last child Nwadike meaning (son of a warrior) became a drunk through the habit, he developed due to over pampering and gluttony. Lets see the effects of the names that Ichie Mba gave to his children perhaps, it might educate us about the kind of names we give to our children, as it is said that we learn as long as we live; also we live to learn and learn to live, as learning has no age limits. Ichie Mbas son Ama, grew up and chose a different way of life, which he felt would be favourable to him. As a result, he joined the dancing group of his village, which opened his eye towards traditional ways of protecting himself and he became conversant with dangerous leaves and herbs that he used as a protective shield, against masquerade dancers from other villages. Through this, he graduated to having his nmanwu (masquerade) which he always used to perform magic e.g pouring water into a basket without droplets, sometime commands flying bird to perch on the head of his nmanwu he also used his charm to command the wild wind to destroy his enemies. This made him become a very famous magician that brought more respect to his family; it was through his magical power he revealed the murderer of his father.

The Death of Ichie Mba

K, lets look at the circumstances surrounding the death of Ichie Mba; three days before the settling of a land dispute which he was to judge between two elders of the village. On that day, most of the elders including children came to listen to his stories as usual. Among the people that was present in his Obi was a middle-aged man, named Ikenga the son of late Mazi Onyema a very close friend to ichie Mba during their youthful days. Ikenga pretended to be one of his listeners but with a different intention as he succeeded in poisoning Ichie Mba through the poison hidden on his finger cuticles, which he put into the cup with which Ichie Mba was drinking palm wine. Unfortunately, he drank without insinuating any danger and the perpetrator left, pretending he had done nothing wrong. Subsequently, Ichie Mba stood up took some dried meat from the mantelpiece as he usually did whenever he entertains his visitor with stories.

Two hours later, he started complaining of his stomach using his hand to massage it to no avail. Though, his visitor thought it was a minor issue because, it is natural for one to feel some pains in his stomach, which can be referred to, as constipation or worms bites within the lower abdomen. It got to the extent that, Ichie Mba sat static on his chair vomiting form-like fluid. At that point, the visitor and the children raised alarm that attracted both Olanma and Obieze, who were preparing food at the kitchen. On their arrival, they took some roots from the mantelpiece and gave to him, but it was already late too, as he had kicked the bucket while sitting still on the chair.

Oh! What a pity! The fall of the last warrior of his generation! However, they gave him a befitting burial with each of the villages sending delegates, who came with palm wine, he-goats, kola nuts, different kinds of gifts and labourers, who supported Duruike village youths, in the cutting of palm fronts, that they used as shield for the sympathizers who came from afar; because the late Ichie Mba was as famous as water, both in his village Duruike and in the clan in general. Fourteen days mourning was declared in Duruike village which was the highest respect ever given to a dead warrior. It was exactly one year and the family had just finished with the remembrance of their father, which was the removing and burning of the mourning clothes, believed to be the last respects given to the dead ones in accordance with the traditions of the land. Rationally, we know that everything has its time and season and it was time for Obieze to get married as a chosen representative of the father. He married two wives, whose names were Ngozi the first wife and Urenna the second wife, they lived in peace without lack of material things. After the death of his father, Mazi Obieze became a slave agent and he was successful in his dealings! He renovated his fathers house, also designed a palace where he attended to his white slave masters, who sometimes came to him with gift items like mirror, clothes, animal skin sandals and bags. These were valued at that time. Meanwhile, the villagers had realized that Mazi Obieze was a fearless outspoken person and truly, the replica of his great father. For this reason, they collectively asked him to continue from where his late father had stopped, acting as the mediator between them and the white men. Based on that, Mazi Obieze stopped the white men from buying slaves from his jurisdictional chiefdom. Except the families who contributed wickedly to the death of his father, he paid back with coin of wickedness. He sold every living

male and female from the families that were involved in the land disputes, which was the prime factor that led to the poisoning of his father Ichie Mba. People say, The evil that men do lives with them! Besides, those who destroy in order to satisfy their selfish interest definitely meet destruction awaiting them when it seems that, the world has become a bed of roses or a pot of honey. Again, whatever man sows is what he reaps in returns no matter how long it takes. The middle-aged man Ikenga who poisoned Ichie Mba, who was hired by one of the families to hide the truth of the true owner of the controversial land, which Ichie Mba was in the right position to settle peacefully. Yes, the middle-aged man who slashed the poison from his fingers cuticle met his waterloo and a very painful end as they buried him alive after cutting his arms. Later, Mazi Obieze used the two empty compounds whose inhabitants he sold out as slaves as converted to slaves depot. Where slaves brought from other villages are being-kept waiting for the arrival of the white slave masters. However, this revenge pleased the heart of Obieze who was a domestic slave merchant and mouthpiece of Duruike village. Meanwhile, Mazi Ama as called by the villagers was busy with his masquerade and magical activities, which he used to unveil the killers of his great father. Looking at, some of Mazi Amas self-transformations that paradoxically deprived him the right of a first-born child in the family. Yet, there was peace, love, and unity. All the same, there was also a kind of Esau and Jacobs story between Mazi Ama and Mazi Obieze, whom their father loved because of his closeness to him irrespective of being the second son. While Ama who was supposed to be closer to his father as the first son of the family, chose village and masquerade activities as his first priority. Though it is natural because sometime parents develop special love for one among their children whether the first, the middle or the last child. After all, God our creator chose Jacob right from the mothers womb instead of Esau who was supposed to be the first biological son of Isaac.

The same applied to Ichie Mba who had special love for Obieze his second son. However, he used his discretion as a way of curbing division in his family, since he knew he would be going to join his ancestors in no time. Naturally, Obieze was destined right from the day he was born, and called a name that signifies his position in the family, as we know that the name Obieze means, the kings palace, and the bearer has been destined to be the successor of his fathers Obi. Although, Mazi Ama did not see it as being momentous or a thing to grouch for, rather he overlooked the situation, and was very busy and dedicated to the masquerade, and its magical activities that also brought him fame and respect. Besides, he was a farmer and a good dancer who danced with steps that attracts the admiration of other villagers. It was appalling and very sad to say that, Mazi Ama did not last long as tragedy struck again, which made the entire village lose a gem who had earlier proved to the Whiteman that African tradition is a thing of pride and fairness. Checking out some of Mazi Amas, magical performances at the market square, where he did something very remarkable that made the on-lookers look and be amused at stupor yes, it was at the Eke Duruike market square, during the oha nmanwu festival (group of masquerade festival). When masquerades from the seven villages that made up the Duruaku Clan namely: Ako village, Ugwudi village, Idiobi Village, Alannu village, Kamalu Village (village of witches and wizards), Osinta village and Duruike village which happened to be the head village of the clan also the village of the great and famous warriors. They had the best traditional dancing group and that was the starting point for Mazi Amas masquerades and magical acts that he exhibited during the festival. Normally, all the nmawu from the seven villages do meet at the market square at the end of every year on a specified date of the market day (Eke Duruike), to entertain people with their various magical performances to mark the end of year! This was the tradition of the land whenever the oha nmanwu approaches. Two days before the festival, each of the villages comes to Eke Duruike where they choose a portion of their choice at the nearby bush to erect small hut with palm fronts, for the decorating

of their masquerade to perform in order to avoid inconveniences on the day of the festival. For the reason that, most of the villagers, live very far from the festive ground. However, on the day of the festival, all the elders of the clan gather at the market square, where they sit on a well-arranged bamboo made chair. Some of them dress in white, red, black, coloured and grey robs, in accordance to the masquerade they belong and support according to age grades, head of the village/spokesmen etc. They sit peacefully, while the Isiagbara (head of shrines) from Duruike village comes out and greets the crowd in a traditional tune after some incantations. Then he requests for Kola nuts and alligator pepper to be served to the elders and ancestors, before the festival is declared opened. Then, he sits on an animal-skin chair, to begin the conduction of the festival by calling the nmanwu respectively by their names. Any one he calls, comes out from the palm front hut with a demonstration as a tip on ice bag from his expected performance, before getting to the middle of the square where he will present his final entertainment to the crowd who are ready to get induced; with the exhilarated and amusing entertainments that they loved watching. In order, to know the village that has the best nmanwu dancers, best performance and to know the Nmanwu who wins the years ebule (Ram) that the elders from the seven villages that makes up Duruaku clan ante collectively. In fact, it is always very competitive between the Nmanwu dancers, because every one of them wants to go home with the ram that is at stake, also to be the best nmanwu dancer of the year. The names of the nmanwu and their emblematic identity are as listed below.

Ako village:
They had nmanwu called ochuu ntaa odum (leopard hunter). This was because the people of Ako village are renowned for their hunting prowess, and that was where their nmanwu got its name with a well-carved hunter holding a gun as its mask.

Ugwudi village:
They had the nmanwu called ugwudi egwu (hill is mysterious), because the people of ugwudi village lived on the hilly part of the clan. They are renowned for their sculptural prowess and their nmanwu got its name from the most dangerous hill in the village in the view of its fact and its slipperiness. The mask of their nmanwu designed cautiously like a hill with a swamp-like sculpture as its hair, which also makes it look slippery because of the kind of mixture they applied on the hair that runs down the mask.

Idiobi village:
They had nmanwu called udu-anu (honeycomb) and they are renowned for their creativity, also they are the highest suppliers of honey both within and outside the clan. So their Nmanwu got its name from there and its mask was designed liked the stem of an iroko tree with honeycomb and bees flying round about it.

Alannu village:
They are the people who lived very close to the river also they are known for their fishery. They had the nmanwu called onu azu ukpo (the peak of a dried fish). However, its mask design was beautiful like the head of a shark attempting to swallow a big fish.

Kamalu village:
The people of Kamalu village are very controversial and intransigent. Furthermore, the village of Kamalu was seen as headquarters for witches and wizards, because of their inhumane and occultist innuendo to the detriment of both the people of the clan and outsiders. However, they had nmanwu called Kamalu ori ebule (the shrine that eats ram). Their nmanwu got its name from the shrine of kamalu ori ebule and its mask designed like the head of a ram with very big and rugged horns tied with red, black and white clothes with a white cock glued spiritually between the two rugged horns that makes it look very fearful and hard to tame.

Osinta Village:
They are dangerous, but reasonable people whose occupation was farming and trading, more so they were the first to start the slave trade with the Whiteman. They had nmanwu called isi nwa bekee (head of the Whiteman) because they killed lots of the white men who came to humiliate them with their guns and for that reason they designed the mask of their nmanwu like the head of a Whiteman with two guns as its ears. In fact, their nmanwus head was the most ugly and fearful among others.

Duruike village:
They are renowned warriors who fought and defeated warriors from outside the clan of Duruaku. Furthermore, they are versatile people and they had nmanwu called Ogwumagala (the chameleon) which refers to their versatility since the chameleon can change to any colour it wishes. Nevertheless, the mask of their nmanwu has a design like a chameleon lying on the head of a lion with double tails that run down the back of the carrier, which made it to look very beautiful. However, the Isiagbara who sits on an animal skinned made chair starts by calling first nmanwu, from Ako village (ochuu ntaa odum), to entertain the crowd, after which, he called on the second nmanwu, until it got to Ogwumagala from duruike village who before getting to the square started by dancing and chanting for some minutes. Thereafter, he runs inadvertently to the square as if he had lost control of himself. Later when he gets to the square he stands for a while as the drummer beats his favourite drumbeats. The piper also controls his dancing steps with his flute (Ujaa). Once more, the Ogwumagala of Duruike village start dancing and demonstrating with his locally made hand fan, believed to be his compass. Suddenly, he flipped for three times, as if a machine was controlling him, then he stood still and chanted for a while. Thus he immediately changes to a lion, with very fearful looking mane and a chameleon on its head as designed on the mask. Then he starts roaring and throwing his legs with some good dancing steps

that forced the fearful crowd to give him some rounds of applause, showing that, though, they were partially scared, they enjoyed his style of dance. Later he sits down for a while and lays some eggs like a rooster (Hen), afterward he stood up for some minutes using his tail to arrange the eggs together. After which, he sits on it for sometimes with his mouth widely opened and this makes the on-lookers becomes very scared. Before they can realize what is going on, he gradually transforms back to a very beautiful nmanwu sitting on a royal chair; holding an eagle-head and a well carved walking stick that has colours just like that of a rainbow. Implausibly, this very strange performance left the crowd with nothing but folding of their arms and still as if they were glued. Finally, he stood up from the royal chair; greeted the elders by bowing his head seven times, which I strongly believe represents the seven villages that made up the clan. After the performance, Mazi Ama emerges the winner of the ram that was at stake, and he took ram he won, the royal chair and the eagle headed rainbow coloured walking stick to his house as a remembrance for his great magical performance at the market square on an oha nmanwu competition. Now, it was the last day of the seven days oha nmanwu festival and Mazi Ama, who had become famous amongst the people, especially spinsters who wished he could become their dream husband, took some tubers of yam, a he-goat, keg of palm wine and some kola nut. In addition to the reserved ones kept purposely for the closing ceremony, which they started by releasing seven gunshots then slaughtered some animals which they used in preparing yam pepper soup, they all ate and drank enough palm wine that was collectively brought by the palm wine tapers from the villages. Conclusively, they exchanged kola nut to mark the end of the traditional festival. In fact, the people of the clan were very happy for the festival because it was peaceful, besides, it produced the best and most significant performances, and it made them name it nzuko anuri (gathering for merriment).

However, the festival has come and gone and was added to their history, which will not be complete without mentioning the name of Mazi Ama. Again, Mazi Ama succeeded in establishing his name in the hearts of the people, through his great magical acts. Frankly, he proved what his name represents; remembering his great contributions to the village as an entertainer he groves the village with his intriguing talents which he acquired through dedication to his profession. This will give you no thinking option, than conveniently agreeing with me, that names have a great role to play in the life of the bearer. Its evidence was proved wide in this story without any re-think because, the bearer of the name Ama/Amadike, justified the meaning of his name which was given to him by the father the late Ichie Mba. Emphatically, Mazi Amas way of doing things justifies his name, which means (home of warrior). It makes me remember my father and his usual parable which says (ekwe na akpo Dike ka o si eme) meaning the sound of the ekwe calls bearers name according to his way of doing things. Evidently, Mazi Ama was exceptionally good when it came to magic and traditional activities, which he has also used as an avenue to prove the worth of his name. He also used it to prove some hidden truth when it came to do or die affair. Precisely, there was another significant thing he did through his magical power that made the white man stoop and respect African tradition. During the time of slave trade, some white men came into Africa to establish trade and to export black men as slaves to Europe and America using black brothers as fishers of men to capture their black brothers, maltreat, starve and oblige them work in plantations, live morally against their wishes and sometimes used painfully for shooting practices. Oh, it is appalling and painful to think of, but it was just the techniques. When the white men got to Duruike village, Mazi Obieze was parleyed, using him as an access to achieve their motive, which was the buying and selling of black brothers as slaves from Africa to Europe or America to work doggedly for them.

Then, Obieze known to be friend to the white men, made them establish a base in one of the family lands of which he succeeded in selling the entire inhabitants as slaves to the white men. The White men being what they are introduced new rules and regulations to lord it over the black men despite their traditions and culture. Later, the white men thought that they succeeded and established a kind of kangaroo court, where they sarcastically dictated what should be done and what not to do in the village. For instance, whenever they visits Mazi Obieze and saw the elders of the village trying to settle some differences, they sometimes intruded and it was a situation which the elders of the village got discomforted with. At first, Mazi Obieze thought they were helping him to unite the villagers and they often invited them to their local court where they decided cases. Until they started interfering in the traditional affairs of the of village, which wasnt supposed to be e.g there were some instances where something strange happened in the village, and the Isiagbara consulted the gods to know who, and the cause of the thing that happened. After which the accused was penalized according to the traditional law. In the light of any pandemonium in the village, the Isiagbara (head of the shrine) after consulting the gods of the land would summon all the villagers to gather at the village market square asking them to form seven parallel lines. Then he laid bare seven broomsticks on the ground and asked them walk through it. Whoever among the people that could not walk across the broom, which was laid by the Isiagbara or trapped as he walks across it, was chastised. As soon as the Isiagbara concluded with the consultation of the gods for the second time on behalf of the felonious to know the kind of punishment that attached to the convict. This in most cases resulted in twenty-one days banishment as the case may be. Since the arrival of the white man, who detested the traditional ways of finding things out, as an alternative, they imposed their laws demanding for proof or witness. Before whoever is involved in any crime, will be punished, through the strategy that the white-

men introduced for his security, so that they would not kill them in the name of the gods. Nevertheless, Mazi Ama proved to the Whiteman that the rules and laws of the African tradition are better than the new laws he was trying to impose on them. Yes, Mazi Ama through his magical acts proved it beyond reasonable doubt. Now, there was a man called Ogidi, this man was very lazy and did not like working, although he was among the village dancers. One day, he did something that almost made ogwugwu (the gods) cause havoc in the land, because this man stole one of the he-goats of the flocks around the shrine, despite knowing the implications and penalties involved when found out. Although, it is only a fool who does not care about the implications of the crime he commits. Besides, pregnancy cannot be hidden, just as the crab eater cannot mute the sound of the crab when chewing. You see, Ogidi stole the he-goat with the notion that nobody will know about it, since it was not the only he-goat around the shrine of ogwugwu. Subsequently, ogwugwu revealed the secret to Isiagbara who was the mouthpiece between the gods and the people of the village and was highly respected in and across the village for his truthfulness. Notably, he had a little two-headed ogene (gong) which has three major sounds that signified; war, death, and taboo when something strange happened in the village. Emphatically, he noticed what Ogidi has done, then he brought out the ogene and played it to produce the sound that would inform the entire village that the gods were irritated for the atrocity committed by one of the villagers. For this reason, they all had to gather at the village market square. Also when they heard the ogene they knew what it signified. Without delay all the villagers gathered together at the market square to identify who had committed the atrocity in the village. Surprisingly, the white man sent a message, requesting them to gather at the courtyard instead, showing that theyve grown in stature. Nevertheless, they all obeyed because Mazi Obieze partially authorized it be accepted in the village, in order to

maintain his relationship and have great access to do business with the Whiteman. Besides, they paid him some royalty, which he also extended to the elders by sharing. He told them that he was in support for them to gather at the courtyard as was requested by the white man, because there were certain facts, he said he wanted to observe something he said, was best known to himself. Nevertheless, when the Isiagbara who was on his way to the market square heard that the White men asked them to gather at the courtyard, he decided to go back to the shrine of ogwugwu while others proceeded to the courtyard. On getting there, they saw Mr. Davidson putting on khaki shorts over black shoes and a rainbow colour round neck T-shirt. Sighting them from afar, he stood up from his chair and sat on the table right in front of him, with his legs crossed over as he watched the large crowd of people marching right into the yard. Afterward, he stood up and greeted the crowd in the little local language he understood. They all replied and sat down. Surprisingly, before he could say a word the Isiagbara walked in, pointing at Ogidi, telling him to return the he- goat he stole from the shrine but the White men who came with their new laws demanded a witness, which gave Ogidi the impetus to refute the allegation and it led to confusion, hullabaloo and division amongst the people. Subsequently, the Whiteman Mr. Davidson who led his colleague to the village asked for order and total silence. Then, he looked around and saw a green coloured ball of watermelon, brought by one of the villagers who came to witness the case. He took the watermelon dropped it on the table right in front of him and asked the Isiagbara to tell him the number of seeds it contained. His requests kept the people in disarray as they were all looking at each other without any comment. Then, Mazi Ama the son of Iche Mba the great warrior, who wore a combination of black and red garment with a grass made bag crossed over his shoulder; stood up and greeted the people in a traditional manner then, he took permission from the Isiagbara that was granted him without hesitation. Then, Mazi Ama moved forward a little and sat down on the floor of the courtyard where everybody could see him clearly. He

made some incantations and applied some whitish substance on his eyelash, then he looked up to the roof of the courtroom and soliloquized some words that were not clearly heard by the audience. Meanwhile, they were watching him with approbation believing that he had the magical ability and strength to unveil the number of seeds in the fresh melon ball. The White men on their part stayed quietly, watching him with keen interest because they have heard copious stories about him, though, from the look of things they (white men) believed that the task was impossible for him to accomplish. Reverse was the case, because after Mazi Amas various performances he looked directly at the melon ball and quoted idiomatically! (adighi arapu ome nala we me wa ome n elu) meaning the tradition we know should not be neglected to the one we know nothing about. Again he said the colouration of the chameleon serves as its protective shield against the enemy! Thereafter, he asked them to carefully, cut the melon. Before someone could come out from amongst the crowd, Mr. Davidson the Whiteman chose to do it himself. He got the chance to do it, before he could cut it Mazi Ama had already told them the number of seeds the watermelon contained. There was mixed reaction amongst them as some of them were smiling, while a number of them shook their heads and many adjusted themselves with whispering saying (orugo n omume) its time for action. However, Mr. Davidson carefully used the knife given to him to peel the outer layer of the melon and its remaining last coat, which he used his palm to open because of it softness, then he demanded for a clean plate with water in it and his request was delivered to him as expected. Meanwhile, Mazi Ama was still sitting on the floor glued tight and was pointing his left hand index finger to the direction of the table, where the Whiteman sat in action counting the seeds of the melon with great care to make sure his didnt make mistakes on the duty he gave himself. On the completion of the counting process, they found-out that Mazi Ama accurately got the numbers of both the good and the bad seeds that was inside the melon ball before it was broken.

With a loud shout of praise, the people started showering him with gifts that left the White-man in a state of deep admiration of Mazi Ama and accepting that Ogidi committed crime. Now youve seen how Mazi Ama saved the people from the calamity of the gods also proved to the white-man that African tradition was the yard-stick for civilization and should not be over-looked or neglected in whatever they do, or place. So my dear readers from what we read we should understand that it s not encouraging to be arrogant in whichever thing we do in order not to be victim of circumstance. We should give respect to tradition, norm, and culture of people we do not know when necessary. Therefore, they would not be tempted to use it against us as kohi, to make up the eyelid of their gods! Which they believe and worships (African tradition). Being an African, I believe in my tradition and culture because in most cases it makes you quaver as the Whiteman did when he acted ignorantly, without asking the base of the people he met on the ground. He wanted to govern with his strange and different kind of traditional ways of life, knowing too well that the people he met on the ground had heredity traditions and ways of life before their [Whiteman] late arrival. Though there was an agreement, which led to the end of the road to the White men, when they disobeyed and continued with the interference to the matters concerning the shrine of Ogwugwu, which they are supposed not to do. In continuation with the story of Mazi Ama and his great magical act, in which he used mere leaves, herbs, and spiritual incantations to manipulate things to happen exactly the way he wants them. Frankly, Mazi Amas magical act brought him fame and respect, though man and his strengths or powers have limitations. This is because mans magical power and security gives way for death whenever it comes knocking on the door of mans life, says one of the elders on the day he heard news that seemed incredible but true. Yes, the news was about the death of Mazi Ama when he was not expecting it. Oh it is painful and incredible to believe, says Mazi Obieze on the day he laid his highly respected brother, Mazi Ama to rest with his ancestors.

Oh! The children are waiting. The drummers are playing their drums, and the dancers are dancing with steps not too strange. The flute blower is calling names with the tune of his flute. The gong is hot and needs some water to cool it. The calabash is boiling on the fire waiting for the hauler. The basket of water is dropping some water that replicates the dew. The white cock is crowing, waiting for its feathers to be used for sacrifice. The spirits are here, waiting patiently, with their ears on the ground trying to hear the incantations of a crone. The mask is heavy, who will help us in lifting it and fix it on the face, when the face no longer wants to see the enemies naked. The blind man has lost his walking stick, which has made the chicken to be his eating partner. The road is far and the mask has become heavier, waiting for him to come from deep in the forest to shoulder it, to make the journey enjoyable again. The lion feels more comfortable in the jungle oh! The jungle is shattered, leaving the lion with no option than to swim without fins to an unknown destination. The voice of the spinster is deemed, with an unattractive sound coming from afar and the vultures are preparing to dance to the tune. The women are eating and crying, using their tears to wash their hands, for the river that produces both fish and water has dried up while there was still drought in the land. Why should I sleep again when those who slept, have brought tears and pains to me? If death is a gift of nature, I will reject it.

But who knows when his share will be given to him, to share with his ancestors? The dew that fell on an old woman has given her cold. The colour of the chameleon has refused to serve as a protected shield instead, has exposed him to the enemies. These are alas; made by Mazi Obieze on the day he laid his brother to rest. However, going into details we will know what happened and the circumstances surrounding Mazi Amas death, the man whose magical power had made him highly respected among his foes. Obviously, the question on every lip was- what could have happened to Mazi Ama that led to his sudden death? Since he does save other people from dying, why did he not save himself! However, Death is inevitable a thing that happens to mortals whenever it chooses to strike irrespective of who you are or what you do says one of elders who came to Mazi Obiezes compound to verify the truth of what he heard.