Who fears death? My admiration of Ogun

A person who is not ferocious
Cannot be installed Asipade.
A person who cannot commit suicide by the gun,
I say cannot be installed Asipade.
I am brave to the point of committing suicide by the gun.
I can challenge an elephant.
I can challenge a bushcow.
I can be made Asipade.

Fearless Waziri

A few years ago when I was living in Jos, Plateau State located in the middle of Nigeria, I received a call from my dad at about 6am on a Sunday morning. He had just read one of my political critical articles on the Punch Newspaper. “Oseiga, do you have another father elsewhere? I don’t know anybody! If they arrest you, I don’t know anybody to call ”.

My good old man! of course, I wasn’t surprised and that wasn’t the first time he had spoken about how much he disapproves of my critical articles. Interestingly, the very next day, I took a flight from Jos to Lagos and my seat was right next to the Minister of Information; Alhaji Lai Mohammed. We got talking during the flight and he had read the article. He faced me and said “Oh! you wrote that! I read it in the papers yesterday!” after which he proceeded to “enlighten me”(the words he used) about the issues I had raised.

While in Jos, I had stayed in a 3 bedroom flat with 2 of my very good buddies. Of course, typical of young people, we were hardly every 3 people in the house. On most occasions, we were about 5 and during the weekends, our friends came from all parts of the Plateau to feast and enjoy the days of their youth at ours. Sometimes, we were as many as 15. That very morning, after I dropped the call with my dad, my friends were staring me in the eyes and reading. From absolutely no where, one of the friends we had made Mohammed; an Adamawa boy declared“Fearless Waziri”. The name stuck! Till date, If I move around the Federal Low-cost area of Jos, more people know me as Waziri than Joel.

Lessons from Ogun

The Ejemu, foremost chief of Iwonran Town,
He who smartly accoutres himself and goes to the fight.
A butterfly chances upon a civet cat’s excrement
and flies high up into the air.

I grew up in the heart of Osogbo. Osogbo The land of tie and dye; the pride of walnuts and hometown of the brown Kola-nut.

My old man had fallen in love with my now late mother as a young Christian in OAU. They got married and just like many young lovers of their era, chose to elope to the west; 6 hours by road from Edo state where they both grew up. My journey into the amazing world of ogun and what ogun represents began as far back as my Junior secondary school days.

One of my fine art teachers had come into class and given us the assignment to write a term paper about the Osun Osogbo festival. I mean, I grew up in a conservative Christian home. My father is a leader in church and my mother was a strong catholic and religious devout.

I went to the state library and interestingly, I met (now late) Prof. Osunlana Olanrewaju. We spoke at length about the Osun festival. I ended up writing one of the best pieces I had ever written in my life. More interestingly, I found the rites amusing and the reasons behind them intriguing. I remember my fine arts teacher mentioning my name in class and exclaiming “Oseiga, I am amazed”. This incident however, opened my heart to a whole new dimension of the Yoruba culture that could not be quenched. I was tagged custodian of African Culture before the end of my university year. My time at Ile-Ife in 2013 also sealed this fate and knowledge.

Of the gods that exist in the Yoruba culture, I find Ogun quite interesting.

Ogun, Chief Lakaaye
Chief Osin Mole
The deity who made the forest his home,
The deity who made the forest-heart into a township,
The deity who made a refuse pit into a market.

Ogun is a primordial orisha in Yoruba culture who first appeared as a hunter named Tobe Ode. He was the husband of Oya. He is said to have been the first Orisha to descend to the realm of Earth, to find suitable place for future human life. In some traditions he is said to have cleared a path for the other gods to enter Earth, using a metal axe and with the assistance of a dog. This explains his praise name; Osin Imole which means the “first of the primordial Orisha to come to Earth”. He is the god of war and metals.

In his earthly life Ogun is said to be the first king of Ile-Ife. When some of his subjects failed to show respect, Ogun killed them and ultimately himself with his own sword. He disappeared into the earth at a place called Ire-Ekiti, with the promise to help those who call on his name.

I had first come in contact with the deity Ogun during my stay in Ile-Ife. I had made friends with one of the locals who was also a student of English language at the Obafemi Awolowo university. He was a huge believer in the African traditional religions and protegee of an Ifa priest. We visited the Osun groove of which I followed out of my share curiosity. The tour guide of the day spoke so keenly about each of the deity. Ogun had caught my attention most especially due to the strength and vigour he seemed to have exhibited. Ogun’s fearlessness, fierce glare, harsh mannerisms, warriors stance and impeccable bravery in battle where characters that raised my interest in Ogun.

To me, Ogun sometimes represents the war that we all have to fight inside of us. Everyday is a battle, each day we are fighting against self-doubt, low self-esteem, feelings of inferiority, and unworthiness. On some other days, we are fighting for ourselves, for our right and for what is just. In situations of personal and ideological war, I have learnt to pick up these attributes of Ogun, look my challenges in the eye and face them head without any doubts or fears.

My View on death! Who owns my life.

One of my favourite musicians of all time happens to be the late Fatai Rolling Dollar. I have always loved that man, right from the days of my junior secondary school . One of my favourite songs happens to be Feso Jaye. “Feso Jaije, aye fele bo ja ko se so (Take it easy with life, life is very fragile; If it cuts, it cannot be mended)” .

I live a very simple life. I am a huge smiler and typically the quiet one. I mean, i speak when I need to and when I have the desire to however, ordinarily, I mind my business. From time to time, I love a good whisky but in many instances, I like to keep my peace. I find death really amusing. The uncertainty and mystery behind it intrigues me. I am not afraid of death. I do not fear death! We will all die anyway. Just like the ancient Yoruba proverb that likens the world to a market place in which we spend some time and then go home. Do I believe in life after death? Yes! Do I believe anyone can take my life? No! You can only take what you have given! No one can take my life.

All men (and women) die! One day, you are going to be in your death bed, waiting for that ultimate trip of life. As much as you wish not to cause trouble to your loved ones, you secretly wish they were around you leaving back their other priorities. When you ask them to not mourn for you, you are going to hide it that you actually want them to miss you too. Hopefully that is. Maybe you can’t even utter anything you die to speak out. Then, you are going take in your last breathe and refuse to exhale it back. But, you are not dead yet!

This is the death of only your name. You become “the body”. Once you are buried, you start dying slowly. Your bedroom is now occupied by somebody else. Your clothes will either be dumped or donated. Your phone is dead. Yet your WhatsApp groups flood with texts. You are talked about in past tense and it’s no longer awkward. If you are very loved at the office, they declare a “Work from home day” for everyone after which your position goes up on the company careers website as open. Slowly, your voice will fade out of memories. Your face will be limited to the photos you leave behind. Every marks about your existence will be replaced. And then one day, you die, uneventfully, without anybody’s notice.

Death itself is not death. But the beginning of death.

A little by little progression to the real little rascal. So of what use is the fear of death after all? All human beings are subject to decay, when death calls, even monarchs must obey. What use is the fear of death?

After all, what’s the worst that could happen to a man in battle? Death! I do not fear death!

(Twitter @joeloseiga)