Nigerians, Remember ‘E Kere Oru Eke’

EDIFYING BY OKEY IKECHUKWU

There is no one called “E kere oru eke”, so do not rack your head trying to remember “who” we are talking about. The expression simply means “Tasks are divided, or shared.” It comes from the Igbo infinitive form ‘I ke oru’ (literally and loosely translated as ‘to divide work’ – or division of labour). The underlying roots of this expression is that roles and tasks are assigned to individuals based on their abilities, endowments and inclinations. It implies three things.

The first is that certain individuals are better endowed for certain tasks, based on their natural and acquired skills, gender, background, general inclinations, temperament, and ability to manage situations or challenges and much more. Some other individuals are not endowed in the same way as others, in specific areas. And, finally, that it is an act of impropriety for anyone to strive for, or claim, and occupy roles for which he is not suited. Thus, not everyone should be allowed to carry out a task because he wants it, or because he is eager, available and willing to carry out it out.

The opposite of this principle is fight for, or struggle over tasks (‘I zo uzo oru, or ‘I lu ogu”oru’), in any given situation. The latter refers to the seizure of roles and tasks for which one may not be the best endowed. Disregard for Rules of Engagement in any particular endeavour is one expression of this wrong principle. It refers to a tendency to act with impunity and impose one’s will and undue self-inflation, without real substance. The short, pithy, declarative saying/proverb, “The Ijele does not dance for money,” speaks to the fact of the ontological primacy of the Ijele.

Masquerades like Ulaga may dance and receive acknowledging cheers and money. The Okwonma, or Agaba masquerade will terrorise the crowd and make people run for their lives. But the Ijele, as royalty embodied, has Right of Way at all times. That is why, as I have often argued, the Ijele is not a masquerade. Masquerades vacate the village square, once the Ijele steps in. “The Ijele does not dance for money” is a way of urging self-respecting individuals not to compete below their level. It could also be uttered in righteous indignation by a title holder who is reacting to an invitation to debauchery.

The foregoing also explains the Igbo saying: “The python never vacates its lair out of fear.” You may also hear this proverb in reaction to a presumptuous challenge, and dishonest self-presentation, by some upstart. Do not expose any food item you know to be on a goat’s natural men, because it will eat up you crops if the plants are part of its natural menu. So, homesteads are advised not expose their yams, by locking their barns. If the goat gains access to your barn of yams, it does not seek permission to eat its fill. Now, imagine that your goat found its way into a neighbour’s barn and spent one hour there. If it winds up dead, either in the barn or in the neighbourhood, it will be because of the wrath of the barn owner. Hence the proverb ‘A goat that died in a barn was not killed by hunger.’ (‘Ewu nwuru n’oba abughi aguru gburu ya).

Do we now have goats in our national barn of yams? Are the people fuming and pining piteously? Is seething bitterness walking the land? Are some individuals with plenty of cash and bad manners not staggering into political, religious and/or cultural gatherings and becoming dominant? Is the nation not now pervaded by a new normal, wherein violation of the principle of ‘E kere oru eke’ has made leadership to no longer be seen as a job, with prescribed ways of doing it? Do we see broad visions, knowledge, wisdom, insight, relevant exposure and understanding 21st Century principles of leadership success across the length and breadth of the nation? When, and how, shall the awakening come?

It a fact of life that the breaking of the kolanut in Igboland rests on the same principle of ‘E kere oru eke.’ Not everyone is deemed qualified to break the kolanut for others to eat. Violation of the authentic process for the breaking of the kolanut, or an intervention by an unqualified person, (called usoro iwa-oji), voids the ceremony and wrecks the ontological credentials of the kolanut thus violated.

The same principle of ‘ike-oru’ was at play in the Igbo saying that disputations end, once and Nze title holder intervenes on any matter. But that was before the title itself turned up at the evening market. Today, the terms “His Excellency, Distinguished and Honourable” do not always denote the intended original meanings. Just as the original Nze title holders, and still a few of them even today, stand for principle and uprightness, their Excellencies of yore and a few others of today, are insightful and forward-looking leaders. At all levels, covering the cultural, religious and political, we can say today that what is bigger than the snake has entered its lair (‘ife kariri agwo a batago n’onu agwo’, so the latter has made a hurried exit.

It is with the foregoing in mind that we should think again about our heroes of today, who are receiving all manner of Awards by hungry plaque distributors. They are being swindled out of their questionable cash takings from the common till on a daily basis, all over the country. Are most of our heroes of toady men and women of courage? What incredible proof of their authenticity do we have, and in what fields of endeavour? Are some of their most advertised achievements done in the name of the suffering people, or are they ‘records of expenditure’ in service of elite political patronage? Are they true heroes who, though sometimes unpopular for their focus, serve the common good? Where are the leaders today who will not follow the majority when they are wrong? Are the virtues of courage, clarified moral standards, spirit of sacrifice, focus on the common good, and the readiness to face concomitant adversity not missing everywhere today? E kere oru eke!

Charlatanry is one opposite expression of heroism. It may come in the form of imitating the reflexes of a hero, while you are in fact, the one ‘staging’ your presumed greatness. Another may boldly rig elections, receive applause for such daredevilry and subsequently display the material benefits of his escapades. But to what end? Having rigged and won, having plunged the society into trouble, and as the victory is celebrated, there is this: Leaders of questionable credibility have all violated the principle of E kere oru eke. Villainy and charlatanry are vices, not virtues. And vices lead to unpleasant results, no matter how long it takes for the results to come. Living on the fringes of social and spiritual morality has never developed any people, throughout history. It has also never created a healthy communal, religious or family life. It is dangerous to social morality and the economic wellbeing of the people.

It is possible that some public office holders now measure their profile by how easily they can have their way in all things, and at all times. It is also possible that we are led, at the political religious and cultural levels, mostly by people who ignore the principle of E kere oru eke. Yes, it is possible that we are in an incomprehensible muddle, because we are mostly under the spell of a noxious incubus, managed by groups from all over the country who do not constitute any new, forward-looking force that is rooted in 21st century values at the personal and group levels. Are these leaders genuine products of the old, core values? Is it true that we are yet to stop deceiving ourselves in Nigeria? Is it true that we are yet to stand forth and say: “E kere oru eke!

The political profile, economic rating and attitudinal excesses now associated with the leadership elite of today is a danger to us all. This is without denying the fact that even the people themselves are often the greatest danger faced by the few public office holders who wish to do the right things while in office. We need a reaffirmation of the principle of E kere oru eke in the nation, and at all levels. For as long as most ‘workman’ do not know their trade, do not keep to the trade for which they are best suited, and ply that trade to the best of their ability, for so long shall we remain in the trouble in which we have found ourselves today. Not everyone is suitable for every task. The fact that you are a great wrestler, for instance, does not mean you can tell a medical doctor how to do his work. The fact that you own a car does not qualify you to tell a well-trained auto engineer, or mechanic, how to do his job. Mass endorsement of what is wrong will not, and cannot, make it right. E kere oru eke!

When the rules guiding the solemnity of religious gatherings, the dignified ambience of village meetings, etc. are routinely violated, when roles assigned to specific individuals whose natural abilities, experience and exposure make incapable of fulfilling same, the danger of annihilation looms. To change the rules for the breaking of the kolanut because there is a big man who wants to break the kolanut, for instance, is wrong. To give the Igwe title to a never-do-well, simply because he has enough cash to throw around, is not right. To retain heads of various government agencies for too long, especially under people who are not seeing public office for the first time, is to put a heavy stone over the future and fortunes of the leaders of tomorrow. Our people say that there is a way you will carry out a legitimate errand and still be labelled a bad child. In every situation of conflict, misunderstanding, injustice, agitation and social tension, there will always be found the refusal, one way or another, to abide by the principle of E kere oru eke.
A leadership title does not automatically make anyone a leader. See the proof in most states and local governments of the federation. We are breeding a new generation of triumphant value-violators.