No, Not Again (2)
Before the 10th century war that involved all of the South Western villages and towns... The founders of Ibigbogbo had had so many ugly experiences getting settled in their abode. The deadly animals occupying the habitat would not want them to settle there, they therefore had to combat with them, as well as combat with some unknown/unseen forces too. Apart from these, they face attacks from different towns. One of these attacks eventually led many of the founders of Ibigbogbo to captivity. The few persons left behind were being monitored and controlled by those who captured them. The slaves were shared amongst the warriors and were being maltreated; this led to the death of many.
However, one of them survived the terrible ordeal that they were being made to pass through. Those warriors could not believe that the man could survive such ordeal. As they were planning to make him pass through some more terrible and dangerous ordeal, he escaped from the prison custody. After escaping he lay low for a while at a place. He was fortunate that the search warriors did not locate him where he was despite combing all the areas.
He saw those sent to search for him returning to their general. During the midnight watch, he arose from where he was and started fleeing all alone in the wilderness with no light, no armour, it is better to die in the hand of dangerous and deadly animals than to die in the hand of these warriors he said to himself while he kept moving.
The stars in the firmament shone brightly today such that one could see things though faintly while moving. This was his saving grace as he kept going in the wilderness alone fleeing for his dear life.
He had been in bondage for long and has lost touch with the terrains of the wilderness. He was kept in the innermost prison of the land where no rays of light ever entered. Thus he could not say for the numbers of days he had been in bondage.
When he was going in the wilderness, he got to a tree that has fruits on it, he was now hungry and tired he needs something in his stomach that would keep him up, something that would infuse more energy into the depreciated energy in him. He has not seen this kind of tree before, but the scent coming of the fruit is good and he felt this fruit could not harm him, he plucked the fruit to eat.
After taken the fruit, he lay low for a while to see what would happen to his stomach. By now the thick darkness of the night is giving way, it won’t be long before the day breaks. He must have waited for about 30 minutes as he viewed it where he was sitting under the tree, nothing happened to him, there was no rumbling in his stomach neither stomach aches. Instead of this he felt relieved and dozed off.
Almost naked with no clothes on, and stripes of lashes across his body, the pant on him barely protects his pubic area and the buttocks.
It was a leaf that dropped on its head that woke him up from his slumber. Seeing that the fruit has not injured him, he said to himself that he needs to get some of this fruit along with him so that he will be eating it as he goes in this escape journey. As he was seeing things faintly, he hurriedly looked around for something to put the fruits in, because he would not know when he will be able to come near something edible again. While he was doing this his leg got caught in a twine, he looked at the twine and discovered it was a melon twine, he tried to look around for the melon calabash because it looks as if this is a virgin place that is why the fruit has not been touched with many on the ground wasted. Soon enough he found the broken melon calabash. It must have been eaten by some ants. This is fair enough he said to himself as he removed it and plucked some of the fresh fruits into it.
After this he started moving again. When the sun was centered on his head, he found a tree and decided to get near it to see if he could find a feeble branch of a tree that he pluck off its stem. He has been without weapon all these hours and said to himself, he needs something to at least serve as a weapon in his hand. He has not known for how long he will have to walk in the wilderness before he gets to any village neither see anyone.
When he got to the tree, he found a branch of a tree on the ground; it must have been severed off the stem by a heavy wind he thought to himself. The severed branch is long and straight, he took it, and used the stem of the tree to scrape off the debris on its body. The branch looks neater now, this I can use as a small weapon he said to himself and started moving.
After walking in the wilderness for a whole day without a sign of anything he got to the creek of the river when the sun was setting that day. He walked to the bank of the river and drank water and dipped himself in water. He felt relieved. When last has he taken bathe? He cannot say. Definitely water is doing a lot in humans’ lives. See as I have been relieved dipping myself in this water. It seems as if I should stay here forever he said to himself, but I do not know how to swim lest I be drowned and become meat for the big fishes in the water.
He got out of the water, looked up and saw smoke of fire on the other side of the river. I need to get to this village to see if I could be helped there. He echoed to himself.
He started following the river bank to find a route to follow to get to where the smoke of fire is oozing out from. The river was wide, about 150 meters wide and flowing gently. This is not the raining period else the river would have overflowed its bank he said to himself.
He started following the river bank, as he walked on, he saw a big tree that has fallen on the river, by now the sun has set, and in no distant time darkness will envelope the whole surface of the earth. From the way he looked at the tree, the flowing river must have been bringing it from a very far place, and on getting to this place, which is not as wide as the other parts of the river, the torrents of river water could not carry it again, coupled with the fact that this is not the raining season. The tree lies across the river barely touching the edges of the river on that part.
If I can climb this tree and be focused I can use it to get to the other side of this river and from there I can find my way to where the smoke of fire is oozing out from.
He lifts up his left leg, touched the side of the tree and discovered that it is heavy enough to sustain its weight without shaking; he took the right leg and got on the plank of the wood. He ensured that he stabilized himself on the wood and started walking on the wood. When it was few centimeters to the edge of the river bank on the other side, the plank of wood shook and he fell into the river, but by now the river at that side is not deep and his leg touched the floor of the river bank, he stood and walk the rest to the bank of the river on the other side.
He started walking to locate the area where the smoke he saw when sun was setting was. As he continued to walk, it was getting dark now, but he could hear sounds of people and laughter far off.
He started tracing the area from which the voice of the people was coming from after some minutes he got to the village.
The village was a farm settlement. The person who saw him was afraid and had to intimate others of a stranger he has seen. The elders of the village were called and he was taken to the village head. He narrated his story unto them and how he had escaped custody about 96 hours ago.
The village head and his chiefs after hearing all he said, congratulated him for the braver and told a lady to get him something to eat and someone was asked to get him a cloth to put on. Tomorrow we shall be talking more, let him rest for tonight he said.
The following day, the village head and him discussed at length and it was from him that he learnt that his town was not totally wiped off but still had few people in there, although slaves to the town that conquered them.
This village where this man found himself had so many powerful men there, they were hunters and farmers, infact from what this man gathered later, that village used to be resting hamlets, barns for them before they started putting up structures there.
And as time goes on, some of them started bringing their wives to this village, called Ìbudó. And that was how that place started expanding.
This surviving man, that escaped custody, Ibiadé, knew he would make a fool of himself if he goes back to Ibigbogbo town directly as such, he had to stay a while with the people in Ibudo.
When he was there, he started learning the art of hunting and several other things that will be useful for him was he learning.
Soon, he knew the salient things but would not rest on that and had to go deeper in his learning and that was when those hunters introduced to him the spirits, "àlùjọ̀nnús".
He dared to meet with them because he needs power with which to free his people from the slave masters since it is not easy to remove the seed from the palm-kernel he decided to give it all it takes to get the necessary things he will use to deliver his people.
He was told that he needs to go into the wilderness of the spirits for that is where the spirits would clothe him with powers the needed ones to conquer the enemies and even the entire world. But for anyone who will go into the wilderness of the spirits such a one must be ready to be there for a year or even more depending on how the person’s strength is. Those with minimal strength may spend weeks but such cannot conquer many wars before being overtaken, those with medium strength have spent between 3 and 4 years in the wilderness of the spirits and the one with maximum strength so far has spent 7 years, the person is the village head.
However when the village head arrived from this spiritual trip he said the spirits told him that he tried and has exceeded those who have come before him, but there is a stage left, for anyone that would get to that stage such a one would spend 9 years with the spirits in their world.
For the kind of deliverance you want, if you can spend up to three years with the spirits, I know you will have power to save your people from those who have captured them because the power they are using is not up to the powers of those who spent three years in the spiritual world. The village head said.
Ibiadé on hearing this was fired up in his mind and did not wish for more than three years trip with the spirits to be empowered to conquer and silence their enemies who have plundered and destroyed the town of Ibigbogbo, his town.
He asked to be put through for the preparation to embark on the trip. He was put through by the lower chiefs before the village head now crowns it up with blessings for him that he will survive the ordeals there and obtain what he wants from the spiritual world to free his people.
He embarked on this journey and he would not known that he had spent up to 9 years with the spirits, he withstood all the rigours overcame all the trials and tests put across to him. At this last phase, he was told by the spirits that he is at the last phase and that there are only 3 people in the world apart from him who have gotten to this stage ever. Out of those 3 people only one is alive now, the other two are dead, the one alive is not living in this vicinity he was told the person is living in a very far place where people look like angels. That person is the only person who can withstand him strength to strength, but they cannot meet because he is getting old and hardly leaves his abode again. He will go and deliver his people from the enemies that have held them captive all these years and restore sanity into the town of Ibigbogbo he was told. They wished him well and the next thing he saw after this was finding himself in the village of Ibudo where he has left for 9 years.
The village of Ibudo has changed a great deal since his spiritual departure many people taught he had grieved the spirits and have been killed by them. But the village head said there is still sign of life in him, he is not dead.
When he returned the village head congratulated him for his success, saying he is stronger than everyone thinks and has exceeded him in the spiritual art.
Ibiadé said even if I exceeded you, I still consider you my leader and head for without you how would I know how to deliver my people? I may get the information from some other people or by another means, but I am sure it will not be this easy, he said. Because of this I consider you a very great leader of all times and would always reference you, he concluded.
After this he shared with him some of the new things he learnt which the village head did not know because he did not get to his level when he embarked on such trip. Ibiadé and the village head, Shany made covenant with themselves that they will ever be friends and their men will always work together.
After all these were done, he prepared to leave the village of Ibudo to go back to his town, Ibigbogbo.
With hunters’ artistry and fanfare they bid him farewell. He took nothing along his trip except the rod with which he entered the village of Ibudo
On his way back, Ibiadé got to the place where the leaves talk. Very limited people are here, those who were in this area were those who could commune with leaves directly. Those people hear leaves talk and they can reply the leaves too.
He decided to stay there for a while, to learn and know the language of the leaves. Here he knows the functions of different leaves, what they can and cannot be used for as well as different roots and stems.
After his graduation from here, he started on his way back...meeting several other things on the road back to Ibigbogbo. Every of those things he met with on the way, he exercise patience with to gain something from those spots.
At the 25th year of their captivity he got back to Ibigbogbo. The town was in deplorable position, hardly could he isolate his house. On locating his house, he saw that his youngest wife was still alive, while others were dead including all his children.
From his house he got other young ones and they were able to prepare for a battle that would save them from their enemies.
They wage a war of rebellion against them, and delivered themselves from their enemies.
Thereafter this man started teaching his kinsmen how to use different kinds of things... Introducing the most loyal servants to spiritual world... Meeting with the "àlujọnnus"... And since then, has it been mandatory for the indigenes of the town to teach their wards charms and different things even from childhood stage. That was why it is being said of the town then that it is the town of the powerful... That is why none of the indigenes of the town dare live without knowing things about the spiritual world...
"Not again" will our town be a slave to other towns in this neighborhood and distant places the people said as they started passing this on to their children, children's children....
Comments