Chawowo!!! The new normal– at our mischevious best.
Honesty should compel us to admit that these two Igede proverbs need to be changed for us to have an enjoyable society. ỌNGỌGBAHỊ Á JẸ ẸNYỊ NYA IJU LẸ (na elder dey know the name of the particular yam) and ỌKPANA-KPỤ́-ALEGU Á JẸ̀ ẸBYỊ KA (e get somethings wey elder wey dey sacrifice to the gods no dey do). Why manage what is outdated? We should, in humility, eliminate them from our terminology, which may translate to the end of our coping mechanism.
In Igede, we have a saying, “the one-legged cricket starts to dig its hole, which serves as its home, very early in the morning so as to give itself a head-start”. Ọnọchịrị ọla eku-ata, I don talk my own oo! The applications of these proverbs should be revisited or we just throw them to the dustbin if they seems not to be relevant. We can live without them afterall– we only need to apologise to our ancestors that constructed them and used them in their times.
Before now, in Igede society, the young will always look up to the elderly for guidance and direction, especially when it bothers on the governance of the community. Even if per time, they did not comprehend fully the intent of the decision–they will say “ỌNGỌGBAHỊ Á JẸ ẸNYỊ NYA IJU LẸ”. Not now, the young will insult an elder to the face and threaten even to beat them if they have a contrary position. Now both the elderly and the young have the same level of knowledge about running the community.
In a sane society, precedents are no consolation and are no excuse for truancy; but the young are utilising that gimmicks in Igede now to play a justification card. ỌKPANA-KPỤ́-ALEGU Á JẸ̀ ẸBYỊ KA, but if for any reason they did, they should also be deprived of the right to JẸ ẸNYỊ NYA IJU. Let’s state the obvious; offenders are either encouraged or inhibited by observation and knowledge of the lowered values. But, and but, do we run a society on autopilot and expect peace? Who is perfect? If perfection is the criterion for leadership in community setting–then we may look forever to have a community leader.
So we end up as monitoring spirits to find out which of the elder has defaulted, and we render that person irrelevant because he is morally not qualified to sit in authority over matters again. Ironically, the elders instead of sitting up and upgrade morally, have continued with unguarded impunity, and thus the moral voice has become so faint that even if they are talking, the volume is as loud as the footstep of an ant. Of course, the young are feasting on that and exhibit bad behaviour because they have a dossier to open in case they are considered for sanction by the elders. No society that is determined to progress operates like that.
We need to reset Igede society– the youths should accept that “ỌNGỌGBAHỊ Á JẸ ẸNYỊ NYA IJU LẸ” and the elders should know that ỌKPANA-KPỤ́-ALEGU Á JẸ̀ ẸBYỊ KA.
We should not crumble the society from within.
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