ọbịara Ije Ga-ala

by

Obododimma Oha

The prayer for “long life” in many gatherings amuses me. I am not a tragic character; not a Sniper fellow! Just this thinking: you are living in a shithole; you have not, in all honesty, elected to come to this shithole where gunmen massacre populations and are openly defended and even rewarded for their misdemeanor. They are promised huge sums of the tax-payers’ money or given an acclaim as heroes with the establishment of a radio station dedicated to them. And one is still worrying God everyday, begging him to grant the victim of shithole long life! Maybe 900 years in the shithole! But, wait a minute o. A person that goes to buy something from an open African market is normally expected home. If at the close of the day when even the chicks have come to roost and the person has not come back, what do you do? Won’t you start looking for the person now that it is dark? A person that chooses to stay on in the market when all market people have gone back, what do you call that person? No bi gofment pickin?

So, I am careful in bothering God about my stay on earth and all that injury time. If I were to spend 1,000 or 2,000years in the shithole, won’t I be bombarding Heaven with prayers for a short life, a very short life? You want to see me turn to a lizard or maybe a fossil? Honestly, God is benevolent and merciful for pegging it at 70. I am OK with his formatting of the human person here. If one had not lost one’s files during the reformatting in the other life, would one not present a proof that one does not want to spend time in a shithole? How would one leave wonderful places, where one could inherit a lot and not know any pain till death and come to a shithole? Is it for the love of adventure?

Anyway, one listened to the late Igbo highlife musician, Ogbuefi Osita Osadebe, sing and say, “ọbịara ije ga-ala,” and that was consoling, quite consoling. ọ bịara ije nwe ụla! So, the stay in the shithole is coming to an end. Were Biafrans not saying “No condition is permanent”? And has one not seen it materialize? Some of those helping to effect the killing of Biafrans have become victims in the hands of the monster, too! Indeed, no condition is permanent. Interestingly, with on twenty pounds or less, the Igbo have progressly miraculously, leading in every nook and cranny where they are. Indeed, a lesson for those who care to be students of life and those not looking for their certificates. No condition is permanent, indeed.

Ogbuefi Osadebe, please, rest in peace. For ọbịrịa ije ga-ala and egbe bịara ije ga-ala! If they choose to remain in the market after nightfall, they would become gofment pickin! If they choose to remain in this shithole market, it is only because they have lost their heads and have not seen markets in other galaxies.

ọbịarịa ije nwe ụla. I like the metaphrization of life as a journey. It brings up issues, too. It is not only that one is located in a shithole, but, at least, one of these questions:

1. How is one travelling?

2. Where is one going?

3. What luggage is the traveler carrying?

And obviously several other ones. What a journey! What a location for this visit! Farewell, shithole. Happy to miss you!