ADINU UNION and the initiators, accept my congratulations for this noble concept, may God help us to realize our goals.
I took a leave to visit my family in Abuja and returned to Uyo few days before the date of the inauguration was made known and so will be difficult for me to be part of the meeting in Makurdi. My heart, loyalty, affection and prayers are with all of you. My wish is that we will build on the foundation that was laid by our fathers from the five clans of Adinu.
The hunting outing by our great grandfathers in the common ground called Adinu was never a survival of the fittest, it was never the strong takes it all, it was not those in the majority only that dictates what happens, decisions are arrived at by all and sundry regardless of numbers, class and possession. The rich and the poor had a unified interpersonal relationship. It was love, consideration, selflessness and humility. Their goal was driven by love, fairness, truth and justice.
If Ogbagba and Ugbodu arrived first for the hunting, they will ask for the welfare of Ada, Ocheche and Ochimadu. They will not set fire on a choice place until they are sure the others are coming or not coming. At the end of the hunting, they will come together to ascertain the success of the exercise before every one will leave for home. If it was discovered that one or two of them had no meat to take home, they will share and make sure the disadvantaged for that time and day was not left in a miserable state.
If there was a need to pursue an antelope, they will join together without pretention to get the antelope, not minding who saw it and shouted first (Da ogbe). In case of controversy about who shouted first, if it was Ochimadu, ten persons that were there from Ogbagba will not look at themselves and conspire to say it was one of them. It was truth without duplicity and partiality. In the event of a wild animal running for safety in the burning bush (olinya-linya) and at the process of running after it, it was Ocheche that hit it with spear first, but was not able to kill it and also was weary to continue the pursuit, the others will not stop pursuing because the rightful owner was tired, they will pursue and kill it and bring it to the rightful owner before the stipulated parts are shared. Ada will not oppress and give rash judgment because he is the eldest. Black is called black regardless of who is wearing it. A black shirt of a brother is not called white because it was worn by a brother. Tell Ugbodu Adikobia to relay agreed information, he will not add or subtract, ask Ochmadu to share; he will not give more to a fellow Ochimadu person if it was not necessary. If the old conspired to do what is wrong, the younger ones from all the clans will unite and tell them in humility not to do a thing that will be detrimental and a wrong precedent in the future ( una don dey go, make una no put ODADA on our path so that we go fall). Their loyal was not necessarily to their clan elders when they know they are on the wrong and unjust path.
Let me not bore you with their social interaction, space will not allow me to explain how a goat or hen in one of the clan may belong to a friend in another clan.
We may not have the exact situation they had in hunting and communal living, but the principles of their relationship are timeless and should be treasured in all spheres of our relationship as an organization if we will last.
Relational principles that are selfless, not putting one’s interest ahead of others, relationship that is not manipulative, relationship that are not skewed to favor a particular set of people, relationship that are truthful, not saying one thing and actually mean another thing, relationship that does not take unwarranted advantage of someone’s weakness, relationship that empathize with another’s shortcoming; the list is endless.
It is only in furniture shop that woods are cut into equal sizes, human beings are not equal, so we don’t expect the five clans of Adinu to be equal in all aspects, it has never been like that, but our fathers were able to manage these and came out strong and if we are determined, we can achieve that too.
How pleasant will it be if we translate all these principles by our forefathers to our present union? Where we will look straight to our clan person and said you are wrong because he was actually wrong, or we will all without pretense pursue a cause even though we are aware the benefit is not directly for us. In fact, all the principles they used in their time are good enough for us if we are serious and want to last.
Let me go a little further, how admirable will it be if Ocheche will give up a juicy appointment to Ochimadu because he had not gotten one before or Ugbodu will look at an opportunity that he had all advantage to grab, but give it up to Ogbagba because he had not had anything like that before.
These old foundational principles can work now and in any domain be it social, economic, political, and even in our religious interactions. These are faultless foundations of our heroes and heroines that saw Adinu as a great place for great people; may God help us to build on these timeless relational principles.
I believe in a strong ADINU UNION devoid of self, but full of truth and fair play. Have a memorable inauguration.
Lots of love from Ona Kingston O.
Dated: 5th March, 2020
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