By
Obododimma Oha
The woodpecker once boasted, that whenever its mother died, it would make it memorable by perforating all the trees in the neighborhood. But when its mother really died, a big boil grew on its beak. That was unfortunate. A boil stopped the woodpecker 's proposed project. The Igbo would say: "Onye ma echi?" (Who knows tomorrow?). It is even a name borne by some people.
The woodpecker did not know tomorrow or have tomorrow under its control. It could perforate trees but it had no control over beaks and trees. More boils might even grow and prevent it from getting up. It could even have died before its mother did. Who knows tomorrow?
Since nobody knows tomorrow, it is not good to make declarations as if things are under our control. An Igbo highlife musician once asked: "Ị ga-eme ka anyanwụ gasie ike? Ị ga-eme ka anyanwụ gaa nwayọ?" (Will you make the sun move very fast? Will you make the sun slow down?)
What was the main problem of the woodpecker? Too much confidence in the power of its beak. But this power failed eventually. Who controls tomorrow?
In Nigerian discourse, too much confidence is called "overconfidence." The woodpecker was guilty of over-confidence and the boil humbled it. Imagine the boasting or is it the "threat"? So, it is good to teach it that tomorrow is not under its control. "Echi dị ime" (Tomorrow is pregnant). Nobody knows what it will give birth to, whether a snake or a lizard.
Could it be that the woodpecker wanted to do its mother a great honor by perforating all the trees in the neighborhood? What an honor! Assuming nobody had done that kind of thing before. Assuming. What an honor. So, dealing with its over-confidence in a special way was appropriate.
Apart from desiring to do a great honor to its mother, the woodpecker could be seen as being after heroism: to perform a great feat no one had performed before. But things could change and heroism could be disappointed. A boil could just be the hero!
One thing about the pursuit of heroism. The pursuer easily becomes careless and "over-confident" and could easily be messed up by a boil. It is better to let heroism come if it desires than to pursue this evening bird that flies and perches.
So, the woodpecker wanted to send a message to the trees in the neighborhood that they were at its mercy! They should even be praying for woodpecker 's mother not to fall ill for it would mean the genesis of their problem. Which tree would hear that it would be perforated and not shiver and shed leaves? Which tree would still dance to the drumbeat of the wind?
Woodpecker, you are just a bloody terrorist! You are trying to terrorize the trees in the neighborhood because you have a beak. Is your beak a weapon?
Who does not know what you mean by "perforate"? Who does not know that you mean that you would kill the trees? What have they done to deserve this aggression?
Now, here comes a very important part.
Woodpecker is representative of many cultures that waste resources at funerals. Several cows to be presented or slaughtered. Uniforms. Crates of drinks for some people to get drunk and talk nonsense. Mountains of food. Etc. Cultures of waste.
There are woodpeckers now snoring in South Africa, the US, Canada, Britain, China, etc and they will wake up to perforate all the trees in the neighborhood when their mothers die. A mother should be buried with many perforated trees. Her spirit would be proud in Heaven or in Hell. Her spirit would like the waste.
The Igbo put it neatly: "ọnwụ nne esika" (The death of a mother is tough). You have to placate this group and that group. You have to explain what killed your mother to this group and to that group. You have to swear that you cared for your mother when she was ill. You have to dance for this group and for that group. Don't put your face like that and say you don't know how to dance. Nonsense. You should know!
So, one understands woodpecker's problem. The death of mother-pecking and the onset of gnashing of teeth.
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