Ancestral Staff

My great grandfather was the Oji Ofo,
a traditional title that is not contestable;
in short, the Traditional Prime Minister.

Like the biblical account says
that God said that The Staff
shall never go off King David's linage,
so the Ofo – ancestral staff,
will never go off my linage.

Aghast!
The modern day
BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS
around
are intimidating these title holders
in the different villages and towns
and are
destroying the Ofo
and other sacred divinities.

They are destroying our cultural heritage,
in guise of exorcising the land
of demons and all that evil.

To them,
they see the DEMON and EVIL
to be in our traditional practices,
but the obverse is the case:
the DEMON and EVIL are in the heart.

A people their hearts are pure,
their land will be pure,
but a people their hearts are impure,
their land will be impure.

The demon is not in the Ofo,
but how many of them know this?

Odimegwu Onwumere, Poet/Author, Media/Writing Consultant and Motivator, is the Founder of Poet Against Child Abuse (PACA), Rivers State. Mobile: +2348032552855. Email: [email protected]