1.
A NEW CHIEF
(FIRST PUBLISHED UNDER THE EXQUISITE MORAL CLASSICS)
2010
ISBN 978-978-906-791-6
“Cleanliness should be the responsibility of everybody,”
said the new chief of the Olobun village, to those that had gathered to listen
to his maiden speech at the village square. “We can no longer allow dirtiness
to continue to draw us backward. And henceforth, a severe penalty shall be
meted out to anyone who transgresses the law of a proper sanitation and common
sense. Ha, Ha! The entire village's water had been turned into a garbage and
defecation spots. No longer will that be tolerated!” The chief concluded.
It was a pertinent
issue worth addressing and everybody present applauded the firm resolution of
the new chief. For that said reason, many outsiders had refused to come into
the village for any commercial transaction of any kind. And it was causing a
setback to the development of the entire
village, whereas the situation in other neighbouring villages was the converse.
It had even become a slogan outside the
village that : “if you want to live long, don't ever visit the Olobun
village!”
But was that an exaggeration? One might ask. The last visit
of the Oyinbo (white) foreign worker said it all. News had it that as soon as
the first female Oyinbo alighted from the ship at the shore, the first thing
she stepped upon was fresh human faeces. They had managed to put-up with the
obnoxious smell of the water as they sailed through, but the last one wasn't a palatable
experience. And much to the chagrin of the Old chief and every other villager
waiting to welcome them at the river shore; they withdrew and went to the
neighboring village never to come back again. News later had it that they had
sojourned back to their foreign home two weeks after. It was indeed a slap on
the faces of the entire people of the village. So in order for them to express
their grievances, they swore to replace their old chief. At first, it wasn't
easy, but with much persistence and pressure they did; just after two years!
They had clamoured for a much more educated chief that could lead them to their
promised land, someone that can make their land more attractive to aliens. And
incidentally, the present chief was in his early fifties and happened to have
worked as a sanitary official in the major city for close to two decades;
before returning to his native home after retirement. So much was expected of
him for being younger and more educated and the villagers also swore to give
him all the supports he needed.
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“...No longer will that be tolerated!”
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2.
DIRTY BALE
Two community policemen had just apprehended of a defiant
young boy for defecating at the bank of the river that was to serve as the
community's only source of fresh and drinkable water. But he seemed not to have
known what he had done wrong. “I warn you to leave me alone,” said the bare
footed boy with an unkempt hair to the policemen.
“Do you know who I
am?” he asked. And without waiting for their response he concluded, “I am Bale
Onidoti!”
“Whoever you are
young man,” answered the shorter of the two lanky officers. “No one is above
the law. You have not only broken the law of the land, but the laws of common
sense!”
“Eh? Is that so?” Replied the boy, “so you people are
pleased with the new chief and all his harsh policies? People complain his laws
make it impossible for a pregnant woman to spit! When my father, Chief Onidoti
Adugbo, was the chief, the people of this land were free to do as they
pleased.”
“Now I see,” said the taller officer that had held him
firmly at the right hand, “so you are one of Chief Onidoti's sons? Your father
was the former chief! was that why you have decided to flout the laws of the
land just to express your grievances?” He paused for a reply from the boy but
he said nothing again, so he continued, “although your father isn't a serving
chief anymore, he is still a respected member of the Olobun village. For that
reason, we would spare you just this once! But first, we will have to take you
directly to him so that he can warn you himself!”
The men held him by
the hands and marched him towards the direction of his father's home, while he
grumbled!
TO BE CONTINUED ..,
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