6. The Break Of A Prophetic Dawn.

It was eken day, and it was akin to a holiday, a day set aside to rest, a kind of a local Sunday. A day that was usually reserved for important meetings.

This was precisely the case in Elder Enaho's Compound, the venue of an assemblage of people who were gathering. The people under reference had a thing in common, they were all elderly men. And they were there at the summons of the apex authority in the Community, the Odionwele-in-Council. It was also the highest meeting level in the village, otherwise known as the village Elders Congress.

The crucial meeting was scheduled to revisit the historic prophecy that was about a century and a half years old in the community.

"At the time of the full moon, the one in adversity shall birth a son from whom only a growl is heard. The destiny child is born. The dark demons shall oversee the duel to the death but half a breath. The one shall rise and the one shall fall. It is the night of the twin teleport and the fly whisk shall drop erect again. The Oracle has decreed, and this shall be coming of the destiny son for a perilous start to a fabled life. "

Those were the words that boomed from the deep voice of the Nomad on that fateful night of the akhue match.

At the birth of Idavidi, it was some odd 150 years after the prophecy story was told and retold. A century and a half tales of the mystery of a flywhisk that would land on the ground on its handle and not fall flat on its stripes but would stay erect and stand still and perfect on the day the destined child would be born.

It was taboo for the flywhisk to fall from the grip of a man. What usually followed was to leave where it fell till the necessary appeasement are made by the owner to pick it up as prescribed by the ancestors.

This repercussion was what Elder Enaho tried to avoid, the thought of any project never crossed his panicked mind, when he made that near superhuman lunge to successfully snatch the flywhisk as it touched down impossibly on its stalk, and seemed to stay in shape in defiance of gravity, in a fleeting moment in time apparent time freeze, giving the uncanny impression of pausing to wait for Elder Enaho to grab it.

The issue of prophecy crept in later.

It was first dramatically mooted by Chief Ikuora, whose spellbinding brain pieced the fragments of his monstrous imaginations together, and he had stuttered those two ancient chronologically entrenched words of their historic heritage, "flywhisk prophecy."

It was a drop in the quiet lake, first almost unnoticed, then gradually forming a ripple that stands out in the first wave line, followed by the next, and inevitably by others, until they electrified everybody.

Flywhisk!

The prophecy!!

Oh yeesss, the prophecy!!!

And it soon dawned on one and all.

Still, was this the much-speculated prophecy?

It was the purpose the elders were presently gathering.

Soon the shrine was full.

The expected attendants were virtually all there.

The Congress began.

Elder Enaho took the initiative to welcome the participants to his ancestral shrine and presented a bowl of kola nuts for breaking and prayers. It was brief. This was no time for oratory and long speeches. Outside the shrine, the whole village was listening and waiting.

The traditional praying over, and breaking, of kola nuts were briefly observed, and presided over by the Odionwele as he officially took charge of the Congress.

He was seated behind a low bench with three others, all four being the oldest elders in the village (edionene), and being the eldest of the four he was titled the Odionwele. The second most senior Odion sat to his immediate right, the third to his left, and the fourth to the right of the second Odion.

In the middle of the shrine, in the small space between the high table and the general sitting arrangement and the high table a clay pot was placed on the floor. It was filled with greenish, murky water.

If anyone should look into the pot the person's face would reflect. If the same person look deep into the water he would see a lot of larvae swarming in it. If he troubles to bend further lower to take a sniff, he would perceive a dull but distinct putrid odour.

The dank water pot was the symbol of the osun deity. It was placed there for the administration of truth oath.

As the kola was being passed around in order of seniority by title and age, the Odionwele cleared his throat and adopted the solemn pattern of self-introduction by name, lineage, and title, which was usually reserved for special and peculiar occasions to define their sobriety.

"My name is Okoebor, n'obhi (son of) Arhanmhunde, n'obhi Ehidiamhen nowolo. I am the Chief Iyekojie of Ebeley and Odionwele of Ologe, alias iyek'ologbo se bhoto," summing up by adding his alias of the nickname, "cat's back" that does not touch the ground. He earned the nickname for his diabolical prowess, meaning his mystical powers were unbeatable.

He went on:

"My people of Ologe, ilo bun. Ilo bun nan khian zēē. I am old now, and I am proud to be the oldest one, and it is my solemn responsibility to tell it all as they are, interpret it all as they connote, and pronounce the overall conclusions as they portend."

Only the original tongue can capture the import of the beginning of his opening statement. Translating could only try so much. My people of Ologe, there are so many matters. There are so many matters to be deliberated."

He paused at that point to cast a glance at his number two elder by his right, who nodded back at him, spontaneously and almost imperceptibly. Then he removed his cap and laid it on the bench. The action may not have been entirely theatrical, but the gesture was certainly, and emphatically, symbolically regal. He immediately arrested the concentration of all and held them spellbound in rapt attention.

He continued in Ernest.

"It would seem like ages ago, since that evening, less than a fortnight ago, when the quiet of an otherwise normal day was disturbed by an announcement. An errand from a nursing mother through her little daughter to report the good news of the birth of his son to her father backfired. It set off a chain of events, unprecedented in the history of our community.

"It would seem like only a week or so ago, since that early dawn prophecy, as we are told from the oral scrolls, even though non of us here was alive, at a time more than a century and a half ago, when a series of dramatic events ended in an even more dramatic prophecy of the nomadic Soothsayer.

"Elders, you all can imagine the irony and contrasts. An event of about a week and a half, based on an innocuous good news message, has upset the balance of our serenity, so much so, that so many strange things have taken place, that it looks like we have covered a long period.

"These events revolved around this Enaho's compound and household, solely, with the possible exception of the episodic dimension at the village only four days back on the last eken day, which in turn, was a related development, though farther in range to be held at different location, and wider in scope to involve other people outside members of Enaho family, living and dead, including my noble self, and inclusive of Enaho's family members, along with his great self."

The Odionwele paused again to throw a look at Elder Enaho who sat directly opposite him in the spacious shrine. Quite many elders could detect from that short eye contact a faint trace of reverence.

"We are all familiar with this chain of events." The Odionwele went on.

"A child was born.

"A little girl made an innocent mistep and tripped.

"An old man opted for caution and safety and made good an escape.

"A little commotion and the fuss would have been settled and over with.

"Then a birth is reported.

"Omongbon has given birth.

"The drama started.

"An overexcited elder!?

"Let go of his flywhisk, a known forbidden act of commission or omission, whatever.

"But then, my oh my!

"The flywhisk did not fall flat after all. It landed on its handle and seemed to be momentarily held in shape by invisible hands before Enaho recovered it just in time.

"It would have been seen as a smart move by an aged man, but a voice quipped out, in a tone that sounded like both an exclamation and a question, high pitched, but clear:

"Flwhisk prophecy!?"

Boom!

It was Chief Iruoka's voice. And what he blurted out took some time to be comprehended.

Then a gradual but alarming clarity started spreading. As in, are you kidding anyone!?

The story of the flywhisk and its contextual prophetic expectation of a future reoccurrence and interpretation, that foretold the coming of a destiny child and heralded his heroic life, had become so commonplace in tales by Moonlight that it had assumed the characterization of nothing but a fairytale.

As the years and decades rolled by until a century and a half were gone, the potency of the prophecy was blurred by the bifurcation of time and the vim of changes and events.

Up to that moment.

Now an elder of the stature of the highly respected personality of Chief Ikuora had offhandedly invoked the legendary and long foretold event, that was to take place in the future, to interpret a happenstance in the clear view of all.

It was a jaw-dropping pronouncement to all. Even Chief Ikuora, who dropped the bomb, was in shock, and Elder Enaho too, perhaps, especially as he was stunned into immediate speechlessness.

Why he instinctively snatched up the flywhisk was to prevent the embarrassment of a flywhisk falling from an elder's grip. It was a traditional slip and it attracted a fine of a calabash of palm wine.

In the process had he just unraveled a time lock?

Does his friend and confidant know what he just uttered?

Was he under the influence of kainkain?

Or has his blackened taba gone into the wrong side of his oblong head?

A run-of-the-mill excitement over the news of the birth of a baby had suddenly metamorphosed into a potential deed of historic and monumental magnitude.

As in such dramatic developments, the matter was mulled by the two elders and elevated to the next level of consideration within a fortnight. It was upgraded to be reported to the odionwele for category B reference, another way of saying the village's highest stage classification; the Congress. Category A would take the matter to the Clan level to be presided over by the Onojie.

That was how they arrived at the ongoing Congress, that was why they were where they were.

The Odionwele was on his opening statement.

"The story of the prophecy we all know. It is so commonplace no one expects it to be more than just folklore, like the tortoise and the king of the Ogiso dynasty.

"Nobody in the real sense has any true expectation of its fulfillment, at least, not in this era, and not on my watch.

"In our subconscious minds, as most of us would attest, we are wont to think that it was planted in the past, maybe it would geminate in some future, some distant decades ahead.

"But suddenly, incredibly, here we are, in confrontation with history. Is it happening at all, and is it happening in our time?

"We are about to know.

"Since we are all very familiar with the storyline, you all know that the full text in its original form has it that the Nomad prescribed the steps to be followed in the process of verifying the fulfillment of the prophecy.

"For the avoidance of doubt, they are stated in the oral lore as follows:

"1, a baby boy would be born by daytime on the day the flywhisk shall drop again at dusk and stand without falling flat, and two sorcerers share testify on pain of perjury before the osun shrine;

" 2, four trusted elders shall be mandated to consult the oracles to inquire into the fate of the child, and the positive report of just one of them shall suffice; and:

"3, the unknown shall be unveiled the oldest one shall proclaim on pain of perjury at the osun shrine, the testimony of the bearers shall be heard, and, the mark shall match.

"In line with these sacrosanct steps, I, Okoebor n'obhi Arhanmhunde, listened to the evidence of Elder Enaho and Elder Chief Ikuora to begin the process of this epochal prophetic validation. They are here to testify by the osun oath.

"I selected four elders, Aigbedion, Okoegua, Irhibhogbe, and, Uduebor, men of high integrity who are well known, to go for consultations with the oracles. These men too, are present, and they will give their reports.

"Before we come to the third stage, we will go through the first and second steps. Make no mistake, if any of these two fails, we shall not get to the last step.

"So without wasting our time, I call on my younger brothers, Enaho n'obhi Arhejie and Ikuora n'obhi Imhonwa, you may proceed at this point with your testimony, starting with you, omión n'Enaho."

Elder Enaho hesitated for a fraction of a second, he was an elder, not just Enaho, Oji'oboh for that matter, but he stood up and removed his cap to bow to the edion'ene (oldest four) at the high table. He glossed over the use of his name without prefix by the odionwele, it was the older man's prerogative if he chose to address him directly, anyway.

He went straight to the point after observing due protocols.

"My name is Owanlen Enaho nobhi Arhejie n'eziza." He stressed the word Owanlen, the prefix skipped by the odionwele, meaning elder, after all, he was older than a lot of the other elders present.

He stepped out to stand before the clay pot full of greenish murky water.

"When that flywhisk fell from my grip, it was just an accident. As it went flying out of my I knew it was a goof and I immediately took steps to act before it could fall flat on the ground. At that moment I was reacting on pure instinct and my mind was not anything else, whether prophecy, folklore, or destiny.

"I stand here before the osun shrine to say all I know to be the truth".

A figure rose at the far left angle of the hall. He was dressed in a red long gown. He was a well-known youth, even though his age belied his responsibility. At the age of ten, his father died and handed over to him. It was the ancient law of male primogeniture.

He was the Ohen-osun, the High Priest of the dreaded Osun shrine. He was now only seventeen years of age.

His steps were steady, silent, and solemn as he went to take his stand before the clay pot with two attendants and faced Elder Enaho. The attendants stood in sharp contrast to his youthful appearance, old and shaky. They had served his father before him.

One of them was carrying a jug of water while the other held a bud of kola that was sliced half open lengthwise, revealing a roll of peach-white kola nuts.

The Ohen-osun pointed his staff, a delicately decorated woven wood, at Enaho.

"I, Ohen-osun, the udimhin nokun, High Priest, kotor ghade, I greet you, omon na'bi'ese, Enaho n'obhi Arhejie, udanmhundan, segh'èbibi nón zè ghe, I say1 I greet you, ugha vèn uni, umhan vèn ude, ituè, ituèè, ituèèè, I hail, I haill, I haiilll. I command you, on pain of sudden death, swear and speak."

The faintest of a smirk appeared on Enaho's face as he said, "I'm so bound."

The Attendant with the bud of kola extended it out to Enaho. The elder plucked one of the peach white nuts from the roll. He knew what to do. He peeled out the covering of the kola nut immediately.

The Attendant with the jug acted next and poured the water in the jug into the shrine pot which instantly mixed with the murky liquid contents of the pot. In reality, the contents were all the water that had been poured into the pot over time until that moment.

Elder Enaho broke the kola he had selected. He chose a piece from the kola he had just broken and dipped it into the water. Then raising it to the gods, he said. "On this oath of water and kola, I swear before the gods, ancestors and you the living witnesses, that I shall speak the truth."

Next, he took an emphatic bite, chewed, and swallowed the kola.

Then solemnly, he affirmed that the izakpa, his flywhisk, fell accidentally from his grip and that he retrieved it before it fell flat by sheer reflex action, and so, it was all together, involuntary, he summed up.

Moment of silence!

The sky must not rumble in the next minute. If the sky rumbled, Enaho was doomed. That was the time-tested olo, the fateful mystery of the osun deity, the lifeline of the truthful and the free, or the doom of the deceit, who shall die standing dry.

The entire gathering froze and waited with bated breaths. If it was a lie, the Oji'oboh, no matter his valour, his wit, might, or wiles, would fall, invariably.

Enaho stood still, as it was, awaiting his fate, but his confidence was palpable.

A minute passed by.

The skies as well as the assembly stayed silent.

Finally, Oji'oboh moved.

He reached out and collected the bud of kola from the Attendant. Then turning briskly, he returned to his seat.

Halfway to his seat, the hall erupted in wild applause. Surviving the osun truth oath was no child's play. Any little deviation from the truth, even where it was inadvertent attracted dire consequences, and death as a direct and immediate consequence was real.

Then it was Ikuora's turn.

He too was not comfortable with the condescending manner adopted by the odionwele when he introduced himself and Enaho earlier, and like Elder Enaho before him, he also emphasized his self-introduction by stressing his chieftaincy title, "the Odiaebho of Ebeley kingdom," but as a Chief, he did not remove his cap.

He took his stand before the shrine clay pot, went through the oath process, and also survived the osun shrine truth test, meaning that he testified truthfully about what he witnessed on the flywhisk awase or prophecy.

He effectively corroborated Elder Enaho's testimony and established that the flu whisk dropped accidentally and was retrieved by Enaho from falling flat.

This confirmatory information was greeted with hushed enthusiasm. A low murmur started spreading within and outside the shrine hall.

Chief Ikuora went back to his seat.

The Odionwele learned his voice. "We now enter the stage of this Congress. It is the time for the four elders to unfold the results from the oracles."

He looked across to where the four elders sat. "Aigbedion n'obhi'Okoedo, ewaen gba nien we start with you."

Elder Aigbedion did not hesitate. He proceeded to take tho osun oath and testified:

"Edion'ene and my brother elders, I consulted the great Oji'oboh, Okakanudo of Orkalo, and the result is negative. The day of the prophecy fulfillment has not come. The gods have decreed it is not in this era. This is not my saying, but the words of the oracle of Enookalo." A minute passed and he was still alive. He resumed his seat.

Next, Okoegua reported his findings, it was also negative. The skies did not rumble, and he went back to his seat.

Irhibhogbe testified next. He had gone the extra mile to consult two diviners, going as far as Oraland for the second Ominigbon, their opinions were the same, negative. Even the Ominigbon of Orhaede had enunciated that the prophecy would not come to fruition either in this generation or, indeed, in the next. Expect your destiny child as from the third generation henceforth, so spoke the Ominigbon, he affirmed and survived

When Elder Irhibhogbe took his seat again, the Congress was suffused in anxiety. Even the normally wrinkled face of the Odionwele had turned into furrows.

As the fourth and last elder stood before the High Priest, the tension was trip-wire taut. If his consultation also turn in negative findings it was game over. The expectation that the much-awaited, even if somehow mythical destiny child change from fantasy to reality in their days, would blow up like an empty bubble in their faces, and the folklore surrounding the ancient prophesy would go back to what it had always been, tale by moonlight, interesting but fictional.

Uduebor's voice, a well-known level headed elder and fluent speaker, cut into everyone's hearing in hesitant, stammering, and unsure pronouncements, as if even he himself hardly believed his own report.

"High Priest, I, I stand before the acclaimed osun, t-to r-r-report only what I was told... Don't hold anything p-personal against me"

He paused for what seemed like an age, but it was not up to ten seconds that he stood inactive, only his slightly built body was shaking visibly.

Everybody also waited, even when his next words were expected and obvious, logically. And those words came rushing out at last, and they were crisp and clear now, he was back to his usual oratorical hue, as if he had decided that there was nothing he could about it anyway that would make a difference;

"The ORACLE decreed that the prophecy is REAL and the destiny CHILD is a DEAL and it's HERE."

Then he waited for the worst case scenario, to hear the rumbling skies and to die.

.