By
Obododimma Oha
The Igbo have a popular saying, "Mberede nyịrị dike," (Emergencies defy the might of a powerful person) and a related saying, "Ọ bụ mberede ka e ji ama dike" (It is an emergency situation that tells us who is really strong). Thus, Igbo people are aware of the intricacies of emergency and the need to prepare for it. Only foolish people do not think of emergencies and choose to leave everything to the Maker to cater for. As we navigate in a world full of troubles today, the need to prepare for emergencies becomes urgent.
It is no longer news that there heartless killers in Nigeria. While there are plans and quarrels about safety in the world, my concern here in this essay is personal safety which led Igbo ancients into thinking of "Mberede nyịrị dike" and its discursive relatives
I may be wrong, but I would like to know whether I need anybody 's permission before thinking of protecting myself and preventing myself from being killed. Should I just clutch my holy book and prayer beads as my enemy gets close to my dwelling place, seeking to cut off my head?
Our ancestors knew that they were surrounded by trouble and prepared for it. Which one would see a neighbor off without tying a cutlass around the waist or sleep without hiding a sharp cutlass somewhere? It is not when a snake entered their houses that they had to start looking for cutlasses or start asking if it was sharp. They did not also have to ask the snake to wait for the cutlass to be made sharp. They were ready for action, even if it meant paying with their lives.
My late father, in a conversation I recorded many years ago, narrated how they were attacked by an anaconda in the night. But his father was ready with his cutlass and ropes. They did not have to call the colonial government many miles away. The anaconda met a stiff resistance from humans who fought back gallantly. At the end, the huge snake was killed and humans were safe.
But the question is: how have I improved on that personal safety since that encounter my grandfather had with an anaconda in the night or have I become more and more reckless, thinking I am my Maker's responsibility?
Does one need to go to CNN or NTA to announce one's plans for personal protection? Does one's right hand need to know when one is removing the cutlass from the waist? Security has to be secure, even securely secure. Following in the steps of my father who died many years ago, I should know that, as a man, I have to sleep with one eye open. I should know where my cutlass is and how to reach it easily, in an emergency.
Apart from these, the education of the members of my family on security is paramount. Hardly do we teach self-protection and emergency at school. And so our children grow up without knowing what to do to protect themselves. Do you blame them? Is there any earthquake or tsunami to bother about? Is Nature not very gracious?
Do the children know what to do or where to run when there is an emergency? What is the most important thing to secure in time of emergency? Briefly put, how secure is your preparation for that emergency?
You can see clearly that you are really not prepared for that emergency. "Mberede" really defies the strength of the mighty. You have to start thinking and strategising. Don't leave things to chance. Yes, God protects. But you have to move. You have to do something.
Your ancestors used to check and re-check, to make sure that their dwelling places were safe, before retiring for the night, even waking up later to listen to various sounds. Do you do these these days? Are you not too wise, too enlightened?
And listen to that funny complaint about the weather being too hot in Africa. Interesting. You complain about heat. No wonder you have to carry portable fans around. Very soon you will carry air conditioners around. Your pleasure is very important, even more important than your safety. That is why you have to leave the windows of your house fully open at night. After all, what are God and the angels doing? Are they not on their duty posts, as our sentries?
Indeed, "dike" has to be prepared to answer "dike." What if there is more than fire on the mountain?
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