By Akachi Adimora Ezeigbo
from the Ancients
wise words
he who consumes
the testicles of a ram
owes ibi a debt –
scrotum disease :
penis pilfering
prohibited:
penalty?
ram albatross
early symptom:
loss of favour
and patronage
the risk is all yours
to your peril
a scourge.
The rhythm of
Igba dance
once tasted
disqualifies
a performer from
digging Odogwu dance
dance of the basket
separates chaff from grain
one does not face two directions simultaneously
you cannot be
tortoise as well as
turtle:
ask former Russian muscle man
Alexander Litvinenko
bold defection
bought him
one way ticket
to the land of no return
fly does not
play near spider’s web:
ask Russian gadfly
Anna Politkovskaya
grasshopper keeps
some distance
when it hears
the raucous music
of okpoko bird:
ask Dele Giwa
ask also race victim
Ahmadou Diallo
antelope does not leap
into lion’s den:
ask Ken Saro-Wiwa
lizard does not
visit a hedge
where cat
takes a nap:
ask Bola Ige
Who does not know
that jackal does not
forgive an affront?
ask freedom choirmaster
Moshood Abiola
and his faithful consort to
martyrdom: Kudirat;
as also that colourful
politician, Chuba Okadigbo
it has not always been
like this
the end is different
from the beginning
the end justifies the outcome
the means
justifies the beginning
when an ally acts
as acuser
when adviser becomes
critic
murky murder
mounts by the minute
clouds each concern
promotes unaccountable uncontrollable
police state
in the guise of
democracy-
demon-crazy-
spearheading
relentless attacks
on individual liberty
on genuine freedom
About the Poem
Ram syndrome echoes Psalm 15- “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell on thy holy hill?” You must have clean hands to. It echoes Psalm 97:10 – “Ye that love the Lord hate evil” …./one does not face two directions simultaneously /
Ram Syndrome is very apt for the time we’re in – the pre-election year checkered with carpet crossing, breaking of alliances/allegiances and making new ones and in the new place, you begin to attack your former colleagues! Ezeigbo cries out in this poem that such behaviours, such actions, they come with penalties. You cannot be engaged in eating the secrets of another being and expect your own secrets to go untouched – you enjoy eating the testicles of a ram, don’t worry, it won’t be long before you start grappling with an enlarged scrotum -/fly does not play near spider’s web/ Ezeigbo writes, /ask Anna Politkovskaya/
There are many possible things in this world, Ezeigbo points out in this poem some of the things that are not – /you cannot be tortoise as well as turtle/; You cannot be an adviser and a critic – /when an ally acts as accuser/ when adviser becomes critic/ murky murder mounts by the minute/ clouds each concern/promotes unaccountable uncontrollable police state in the guise of democracy – demon-crazy /; /spearheading relentless attacks on individual liberty/on genuine freedom/ this is because /antelope does not leap into lion’s den/
The poet tells us that it’s not possible to straddle a fence. If you enjoy eating ram’s testicles, be sure to be afflicted with ‘ibi’ an igbo word for enlarged scrotum, medically known as, ‘hydrocoelle.’
An activist must have clean hands. If you love God, hate evil. He who can ascend God’s holy hill, must have no skeleton in his cupboard.
‘He who eats ram’s testicles owes ibi a debt’ is an Igbo adage that Ezeigbo uses the thread to spin a web, like a skilled spider.
She brings assassinated victims from home and abroad to drive home her argument that it’s foolhardy to play double games. People don’t get assassinated for nothing.
They were not the only ones plying their trade. Why should they be the only ones killed, assassinated?
There must be something there. If you dig deeper, you might find something of interest, a reason, an explanation. Ordinary people don’t get assassinated. Could it be that they danced the ‘igba’ dance and threw caution to the wind and attempted to dance the ‘odogwu’ dance as well?
The poem while not denying the evil of bloodshed, the cold bloodedness of taking another’s life, it’s more interested in what can bring an end to the sourge by pointing out that there’s a cause, thus sending out warning to the living not to fall into the same mistakes these assassinated ones fell.
To understand the poem fully, take out time to examine the backgrounds of those mentioned.
About the Poet
It was sometime in early 2015 (I cannot recall the month) that I attended a festschrift in honour of Prof. Mrs Theodora Akachi Adimora Ezeigbo in the Akoka campus of the University of Lagos.
(festschrift is a German word which combines two words:fest – celebration and schrift – writing meaning celebration of literary work. Now, its meaning includes a collection of the literary work of an individual writer and a collection of the works of different writers)
I sat in awe of her (Ezeigbo’s) achievements and literary work as her colleagues reeled them off.
Ezeigbo taught in the Department of English, University of Lagos from 1981-2015. A three time HOD of the department, she became a professor in 1991.
The woman of Letters studied English and Literary Studies up to Master’s degree in the University of Lagos, but earned her PhD from the University of Ibadan in the same discipline.
Ezeigbo is a long and short story teller in prose and verse. She’s a novelist, a poet, dramatist, essayist and even a journalist!
A fellow female dramatist making waves now, Dr Bose Afolayan (Once upon an Elephant ) calls Ezeigbo, A new Voice in the Theatre, I call her, A Social Crusader.
In her work, Ezeigbo goes beyond criticism to proffering solutions. She’s deeply involved in the emancipation of the woman and helping the woman find her identity, which I am for because marriage can swallow up a woman’s identity. A woman has to work extra hard to find her place, her identity.
Ezeigbo has written widely and has won numerous awards. In fact, a table in her office, in Unilag in those days, looked like a market stall for awards and medals – there were so many.
Although retired from Unilag, after over 30 years of teaching, the educational world has refused to let her go. They released her from the front door and grabbed her back from the back door, into the Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Ebonyi state. Here, she both tutors students and mentors new lecturers. She’s also involved in Ebonyi State University, Abakiliki.
Mrs Ezeigbo is married to Chris Ezeigbo, a professor of Engineering and they are blessed with three children.
I didn’t interact much with Mrs Ezeigbo when I was a student in Unilag, but years later when I got close to her, I wrote something concerning her: she’s an angel, humble, gentle and Nice with capital N!
