By
Obododimma Oha
The inspiration behind this article is from Gentleman Mike Ejeagha; the article did not come from my ancestors but from music I played. Gentleman Mike Ejeaagha, in his narrative music, akụkọ n’egwu, talks to one’s soul, using interesting proverbs and other wise sayings. Is anyone surprised that I have linked my thoughts to his, hoping to borrow his wisdom to explain few things. In the original, Gentleman is concerned about living out one’s life, working with patience and commitment. The “mgbede” or evening of one’s life, is a point of fulfilment and rounding up of one's earthly journey and is considered desirable and better than untimely exit that causes many to regret and bite their lips. But if we want that to reach that “Mgbede,” we have to work for it without the usual recklessness. That requires working in line with the normal, which, figuratively speaking, means that one needs to count "One" before counting "Two," one has to secure the ground first before thinking of struggling for the mat to spread on it.
What does this imply for me in my battle of life? Simple: I need to take things easy and do what is only normal. It is the overly desire to become a champion that causes one to burn oneself and waste one's life. So the song is actually counselling me to do what I need to, how I need to do it, and when. Rushing something makes someone fall prey, becoming like the raffia palm that quickly gives its wine, unlike the palm-tree that does it gradually.
Indeed, life of the "mgbede" is calm but strategic.
What is the dream of many if not to live on to ripe old age (and even wait until one has turned to a lizard or has become a fossil!), even though anybody that goes to do some shopping at a market would eventually go back home after doing the shopping, unless the fellow has turned to a vulture of "gofment pickin" (as the mad person is sometimes metaphorized in Nigeria?
Since many people would want to live on until they have probably become a fossil, do they need to make wills and prepare for their death? Check so many well-read people in Africa and find out what they feel about making wills. Many often die interstate, after amassing wealth here and there, or they die and leave a warfare behind --that sibling fighting this sibling, this widow struggling over property with brother-inlaw, etc. Civil wars and punic wars!
It is a very commendable thing to live a commendable life, executing projects properly. The life that is commendable and exemplary is the "mgbede" life, organised and goal-oriented. This kind of counselling appears particularly relevant nowadays that some prefer to live casually, ending up being casualties. Really, "Uwa mgbede ka mma" ("Life of ripe eventide is preferable and better).
"Mgbede" is a metaphorical configuration. It deictically marks a point or period in one's life as the terminus. After evening or "mgbede" comes the nighttime or darkness which, in ancient imagination, suggests the fearsome, the terrible, the unknown, or the time of insecurity. Night, as an archetypal image, signifies the uncertain. So, evening that precedes it is a very critical period. In modern tradition, "mgbede" is replaced with the euphemistic term, "departure lounge'" which takes us back to the metaphor of life as a journey. In aviation, the departure lounge is the waiting area before the boarding of the aircraft. If the person that would soon die is in a "departure lounge," we are invited to consider the person being in last moments. The configuration, "departure lounge," is still frightening and still evokes finality.
"Uwa mgbede" being better or preferable does not address this scary dimension, but tries to bring us to approach the "mgbede" with prepared hearts. It is not the time to start crawling around in town wearing three-quarter shorts and playing "Forever Young" and "Young-at-Heart". " It is assumed that there is a better way of living up to the evening. This dimension is very crucial, therefore. Many would be interested in managing their evenings better. As noted so far, living in the evening effectively requires
(1) taking things easy, knowing that all is vanity;
(2) avoiding rush or haste in every aspect of one's life, something that has led many to their early graves through heart attack and high blood pressure;
(3) being attentive to culture and having deep knowledge on its dimensions.
To these can be added some other tips, but Ejeagha is not focusing on the complete list. What is more important to him is the recognition of this very important phase of life and for us to be careful with it.
Once that "mgbede"is passed, it cannot be reversed. One in "mgbede" should start putting his or her house in order. It is not a case of "It is not my portion." Whose portion is "mgbede" then? There was one day I was driving to my office. I saw a retired professor and friend held by the hand and being helped by his children to walk a short distance back to his own house. That, unfortunately, was the last time that he walked or made use of his legs. The next day he lost them and was carried to the mortuary for embalming. Some days later, friends gathered at his place for a vigil. He was not there physically; he had travelled without his legs! Did he really need them.
So, you see, our legs and hands and eyes and body are not permanently our own. They also belong to this galaxy. Are they not part of what we have to leave behind when we board the aircraft of eternity? Indeed, it is important to start preparing to board!
One is not surprised that many elderly Igbo like listening to the music of Gentleman Mike Ejeagha. There is philosophy in it. It is not noisy but soft, such that it is like the rhythm is operating in one's blood stream, the same feeling one can get from the evergreen music of Chief Ebenezer Obey. What of the unique proverbs? They are just memorable and married to the themes. The narrative, yes, the narrative. Quite engaging and ever fresh with dynamic choruses. And so on. No wonder, when he sings that "Uwa mgbede ka mma" (The life of the eventide is better and preferable"), many asleep would wake and listen.
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