Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba

by

Obododimma Oha

Children like tales, especially those with adventures. I remember how we used to rush our suppers to go and sit and listen to the folktales told by an uncle or a grandfather. One character that featured regularly in those tales was "Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba" (King of Iduu and Oba). What was he known for? What were his regular attributes any time he was mentioned in those tales? Let me try to remember:

(1) He was very, powerful, mean, and used to pull out the teeth of his enemies  for fun to celebnrate New Yam festival;
(2) He was a kind of God; anyone that called upon him was sure of being protected; his image was enough fear;
(3) He was very wise and impartial;
(4) He was there invisibly or visibly, and he was only influencing things from the background.

So, this kind of figure was a given; it was taken for granted,unless it has to be invoked once in a while in the tale to resolve conflicts. Since we knew that he was mean and impartial, we could predict what he would do  if he was brought in at any point in the tale. Who says that such givens are not good for very winding and seemingly endless tales?

One character that often called on him or the kingdom itself was tortoise the trickster. Whenever he played one terrible trick and was sinking, or when one big animal that he cheated was about to take him out, tortoise would then call upon Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba and would be safe. In other words, it was a trick, too. Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba was deceived; the assailant was deceived, too. As far as tortoise was concerned, the fellow ruling Obodo Iduu na Oba, who called himself "Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba," was an idiot and a big fool. He could go to hell with his "Eze". That was not the business of the trickster. The "Eze" was a stupid fellow!

Calling on Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba was an exploitation of his powers, for personal advantage. In other words, other people, who may be downright bad, were using him. But he did not know. But we knew and we enjoyed the exploitation.

What kind of wisdom was this, to just sit in the kingdom until one was used and even misused? By our simple reckoning, it was crass foolishness. It was as if one had become a mushroom, which could be eaten by a milipede and picked by a hunter of mushrooms. It was not wisdom but naivety surrendering to the world.

Some historians maintain that "Iduu" is the Igbo name for Benin Empire and so "Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba" was the name of the emperor of Benin. I  do not know much about this and do not have any evidence. I would, therefore, restrict myself to this figure that manifested in the tales we listened to as children. Facts could be very slippery and so one should be careful.

Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba was ruling a great and expansive kingdom. His influence was far and enormous. One, in fact, wonders how he was able to manage these, but the most important thing was that his image was dominant. If he was invoked in a discourse, one should be afraid and wake up. In that  case, even if the action was taking place far far away in one remote jungle, the Eze was watching. In that case, the totalitarian ruler was almost omniscient and censorious. Play your tricks as long as you like, but wait for him. He was there waiting with a big stick at the end.

Was the tellers and transmitters of the tales promoting dictatorship and censorship? This is debatable. But one thing was certain: there was admiration for Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba. He a kind of God as we stated earlier, but he was quite fallible and human. It is Hegel in Philosophy of History that stated that Africa admired dictators and was full of tyrants. He stated that this lover of mischief was not a known historical part of the world. Did you hear that, Eze Obodo Iduu? Before you are finally erased from books written by Hegel, ask my uncles and grandpa to change your attributes in the tale. Humane dictators are no longer fashionable.

One prominent issue was the protection of criminals by the name and image of the dictator. Tortoise was one such criminal but who often passed as a law-biding citizen and an admirer of Eze Obodo Iduu na Oba. But the fact was that tortoise did not give a damn about it and was ready to use a terrible trick to ruin it. So, unknowingly, Eze Obodo Iduu was also a protector of criminals in his so-called "kingdom."

If our common attitude to dictatorship is the main issue, what about indirect statement about the installation of dictatorship into young minds and into societies? You would agree with me: these are worrisome and our celebration of characters like Eze Obodo Iduu requires caution. The main point is that we must watch those narratives and the ways they mould and remould lives; in fact, the ways they handle lives.