Head-Thieves, Deaf-Mutes And Liars...Part 1
Day...Wednesday the 12th of August, 2015...
See...See...the scroll lines of local TV stations!
At last... At last... A man... In flesh and blood... Bearing just one head atop his cherished neck... A human being.... Not some "spirit"...but some physically-tangible chief from a particular chieftaincy house in Ile-Ife has "announced" the demise of the king! Weeks had passed! Weeks soaked in denial! A land soaked in blood!
The admission by the lying chiefs of Ile - Ife that the king of the town, Oba Okunade Sijuade has died has finally put to rest speculations about his death.
Obviously, neither this monarch nor the fastidious adherents of the "traditions" of his clan has two heads. Nor can they possibly live without one! I am certain other persons relegated to the ranks of "subjects" by the dictates of Yoruba "traditions " place as much premiums on their heads...and their necks...as "custodians " of traditions that chop off human heads.
Of course, these bestial beheaders place low values on human heads so long as those heads are neither theirs nor those of their spouses and kids! To them, your head commands as much value as a mere "escort" to a royal corpse!
The revered announcer, his fellow chiefs, and government officials that persistently looked the other way as we screamed and yelled about this evil...
There was nothing done by the APC government of Osun state of Nigeria to calm the nerves of citizens of the state by way of public address. Not from Mr Governor... Not from his deputy...or even the commissioner of police!
I never imagined that a democratically elected government would so eagerly trade the heads and necks of its citizens on the altar of political correctness!
So much lies were thrown around sequel to the death of this Oba that at a stage, some of us almost believed that we were overreacting!
My analogy is crystal clear... If they could lie about the death of their Oba, they could also lie about the practice of burying their kings with human heads!
In Yoruba culture, a child caught telling a lie is often severely admonished to desist from same as elders remind him that "a kid given to lying would eventually steal"! Little wonder there is so much synergy between lying and stealing in these criminals!
I have zero respect for head-thieves!
Believe it or not...but each time I try to type the word "chief" in this Ife saga, the letter "t" keeps coming up instead of "c"! If the word "thief" so readily replaces the traditional prefixes of these liars in my head, who can blame me?! For they have told so many lies these past few weeks to fill up a grains silo!
And the fresh curfew just declared in Ife is a mere ruse...
A Red Herring!
The bestial custodians must have collected all needed severed heads by now! They wouldn't have gone public with the official confirmation of the oba's death otherwise, would they? All that waiting...and tarrying... and denial... was to bid their time to gather all those human heads, was it not?
We are not deceived!
And for the grand pretenders of the social media, we now have a clearer picture of your position on burning national issues...especially on human rights!
Ranging from persons who chose to rationalize and justify this evil to those that carefully refused to offer comments...as they maintained an ignominous silence!
So, as you tag me after this day, I can only shake my head, respond with a wry smile, and click "Hide" on your post...lest the sheer odium of your hypocrisy continued to offend my sensibilities!
Dr Tosin Akindele is a medical practitioner and public affairs analyst.