IMPUNITY IN EDO FOLKLORE

THE SOLILOQUIES OF THE ELDERSTATESMAN

By Friday Ojealaro 

25 April 2015

IMPUNITY IN EDO FOLKLORE

The word" impunity" is commonly used by many but only few understand the diabolical concept and destructive connotation of the word.It is a word that can be activated to very catastrophic dimensions. It is the nemesis of many nations,individuals and corporate organizations. It has been the ruin of empires,great men and great institutions. The ordinary meaning of the word is:

" Doing wrong acts without fear or outrightly being defiant of being punished" You feel you are above punishment and the law. Super arrogance is the bedmate of impunity. The most recent casualty of impunity is the PDP as a political party and the party in power in Nigeria. Having projected itself to rule the country for 60 years minimum,it started arrogantly cultivating and activating all elements of impunity. The rest is now history as their impunity was checked by a toddling party-the APC.

NOW THE STORY:

PROLOGUE

During the reign of Oba Ohen( the cunning but crippled King of the ancient Benin Kingdom),there existed two Dukedoms in the north-western part of the Empire. They are Otuo and Ikhin Dukedoms. Both were renown for producing great warriors who have contributed much for the building of the Benin Empire. The greatest of these warriors were Otolo the virtuous and gentle General of Ikhin and Aiomoheghomen the conceited and arrogant general of Otuo. Because there was relative peace from the annoying neighbouring enemies of the Empire,Otolo and Aiomoheghomen were on leave from Oba Ohen's military service. I need to point out here that both communities of these warriors can still be found today in Owan east local government of Edo state. The poster is from that part of the state.

Because Ikhin and Otuo are very close,they patronize each other's markets. Otolo lives with his mother and he is 31 years old. Aiomoheghomen lives with his numerous wives including his youngest who was the most beautiful damsel in the whole land. Aiomoheghomen too was 31 years. Both warriors have been equally decorated by the Oba for their military prowess. There is none like them in stature,strength,military tactics and bravery in the whole Kingdom. No one knew that both will fall for the " impunity " acts of one.

THE DISPUTE

On Otuo market day,Otolo asked his mother to help sell one of his goats for him. The mother went to the Otuo market and hardly had she settled down than who should come by her shed but the Bullish General Aiomoheghomen himself.

" what a fine goat you have here old woman" said he. I want to have it,he bellowed with his deep guttural and commanding tone.

"it is yours if you can afford the price" Otolo's mother told him.

" Old woman,a very funny one you are. Are you the only one in the world that does not know that Aiomoheghomen the conqueror of Idah and Akoko takes what he desires without making payments"

With that Aiomoheghomen grabbed the goat and ignoring the entreaties of the old woman went away. Otolo's mother is also a woman of peace. She did not tell her son what transpired but paid him out of her savings. On the next Otuo market day,the son gave her a beautiful Dog to sell for him. No sooner had she settled than Aiomoheghomen came along and as usual appropriated the dog for himself without paying the old woman.

Otolo's mother again held her peace but she looks gloomy nowadays. The son noticed it and guessed she is hiding something from him. He made discreet enquiries and discovered what have been happening. He was very angry and as a man of peace,he sent a messenger to Aiomoheghomen asking him to return the Dog and the goat or make adequate restitution for his acts. Aiomoheghomen arrogantly refused the peaceful overtures and challenged Otolo to a duel. The duel was fixed and both warriors armed themselves to the maximum and met at the boundary between Both Dukedoms. Then started the fight that lasted for 7 days. Both were evenly matched. Weapons were used and discarded. Charms were employed and discarded. Wits were deployed and still there was no Victor. On the 7th day,both agreed to use nothing but their Ugan( spears). By the end of the day,both gave each other mortal wounds. Aiomoheghomen died first. Otolo 3 hours later. Both communities took their respective warriors home for burial. Today,no grass or any form of vegetation grows on the grounds on which these two edo warriors fought.

EPILOGUE

I know most of us are not happy about how the story ended. I agree it ended unfair for Otolo the model general. But,the real lesson here is not the elements of Justice but the damage impunity can cause if not checked. The impunity of General Aiomoheghomen caused the death of two invaluable Edo Generals and our communities lost greatly thereby. Perhaps,if both warriors had been alive,Idah,Okene,Lokoja etc would have remained part of Benin Empire before the advent of the colonial masters .