By
Obododimma Oha
Many Proverbs of the Igbo seem to be agricultural in nature. One is not surprised for Igbo people are mainly farmers and depend on the soil for their sustenance. Proverbs, as sayings of the wise also sustain hearers morally. The proverb, "Ike adịghị ọ kwụrụ gbaa mba, ọ sị n'ala siiri ike" (When the Okro plant hasn't got the stamina to grow a sturdy branch, it gives the excuse that the soil is too hard).
The branches of the Okro plant are very weak and can easily be broken. In other words, it doesn't not have sturdy branches. Even generally, the Okro plant is weak and can easily be pulled down, which is why the Igbo say in another proverb, "Okwụrụ anaghị aka onye kụrụ ya" (The Okro plant is never taller than the person who planted it).
The okra plant is shifting responsibility and blames the soil instead for being unable to bring out a sturdy branch. Funny logic: "I can't grow a sturdy branch because the soil is too hard." Who says that sturdy branches are grown when the soil is soft? It only shows the okra plant thinks that listeners subscribe to this kind of logic and would not ask questions. Indeed, the ground of thinking is not hard enough!
It seems that the rural Igbo dweller knows the okra plant too well and weaves the wisdom in proverbial sayings around it. Another Igbo proverb that derives from the weakness of okra plant says: "Ọkwụrụ anaghị aka onye kọrọ ya" (The okra is never too big for the person that planted it). The idea is that the owner would always pull it down to harvest the pods. The proverb advises on submission : the person in charge is in charge, no matter the rebellion. It is therefore better to submit than to waste time rebelling.
The proverb is often used in counseling children, wives, and servants. Even though we know that every person can not be right all the time and that individuals have rights, these are still answerable to control and power. We exercise rights under authority.
The okra submission shows the conservative but also encourages things following a pattern instead of disorderliness and the approach of anything - goes.
In a patriarchal context, it is not contested who or what "okra plant" and "who planted it" are. Even the "planting," as a metaphor of marriage or payment of bride price, is taken as a given. What is necessary is to insert oneself as the planter and the planted, otherwise there would be an upset.
The inability of the okra plant to grow a sturdy branch is a disadvantage, for not every beast can sit on it and eat a fruit. The branch bends and breaks very easily. That breaking of the branch means that it is not supported and reinforced as it battles the wind and the weather. It lives in disadvantage.
But just as the excuse given by the okra plant amounts to a shifting of responsibility (laughable, anyway), the saying literally suggests an arrogant writing off and a hasty conclusion. The plant may have other contributory deficiencies and may have a soil problem really.
Whatever may be the case, it is not admirable to be identified as the okra plant. Sad metaphor. It is even more annoying that a metaphor has to be employed to tell someone indirectly that he or she is a laughable weakling that looks for excuses.
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