THE CLOCK

Episode11: WHEN THE CLOCK STRUCK PROGRESS

Let me tell you about Ada, a young vibrant and brilliant girl. Ada had five siblings of two girls and three boys. Ada's dream was to become a medical doctor, while her younger sister, Beke's dream was to be a nurse, tage motten died when Ada was twelve and shortly afterward, at age sixteen their father betrothed Ada and her sister to men who were as old as their father. Ada's brothers were sponsored upto university to attain their dream careers. want to use this occasion to highlight my concern about how women are treated in this Akamu clan. Although, I'm not here to trade words with men, nor to disprove the dictates of our tradition but to ask why women are always at the receiving end of the strict and iron hand of our tradition. Women have been giving meritorious births and nurture to men, yet ironically, the same men turn around to treat them as second-rate, subservient and expendable. This issue, undoubtedly, did not start today, but now the women of Akamu raise their voices in one accord to protest the unmindful marginalization of women in a world where true thinkers have revealed that all people, men or women were born equal," she stopped short as male elders and men stood to protest.

"Adabeke, is this why you called us out of our profitable ventures to strip us n***d in the open?" One of the members of the Council of Chiefs called Chief Nwakibe asked, highly perplexed.

"E-e-m-m, Chief Nwakibe, please let the eagle perch before you try to catch it," Eze Nwagu advised proverbially. "E-e-m-m, Adabeke, please continue, even though we've not been able to understand the thrust of your contention," Eze Nwagu cautiously intervened.

"Thank you, my leader and mentor," Mrs. Adabeke Ugonna greeted and continued. The main thrust of my concern is that the affairs of women of Akamu should change for the better. We are not trying to wrench from men or even ask for a little portion of whatever rights tradition has bestowed on them, not at all; but to ask that aspects of tradition which women find unfriendly, degrading and dehumanizing be removed from tradition," she stopped short in mid-speech as another titled elder interrupted angrily.

"Come Adabeke," another member of the Council of Chiefs called Chief Okafor, reacted angrily. "What do you think we are here for on an Eke day, to listen to a woman interprete tradition to us?" He asked with disdain. There was a sustained rumble of noises as arguments ensued among the crowd. Some men and elders could be seen walking out of the gathering. But the chief spokesman of Eze Nwagu called Chief Nkwo brought the murmuring to a stop. "Akamu, kwenu!" He bellowed and the order returned. "People of Akamu, please, let us maintain patience till the end. Remember that a word is like a piece of cloth, it goes wherever you throw it. So, let's hear her out. Later, we'll deliberate on the issues raised to determine their direction and purpose. So, Adabeke, go on with your speech.

"Thank you, Chief Nkwo, thank you very much," Adabeke greeted. "Travelling, they say, is a part of education. There are many here among us who have never left the shores of Akamu since they were born. They look up and see the thick clouds all around and conclude that Akamu is the beginning and the end of the world. But how mistaken, how grossly mistaken they are!

Those who have travelled know that Akamu is but a drop of water in the mighty ocean of human habitation. We fear change because we fear the unknown. This is what lack of exposure and awareness has caused in our land. Ignorance is our bane, and that why we stick to tradition as a pauper sticks to the only item of of contrary traditions. Eze Nwagu, elders and people of Akamu, perceived value which he finds at his disposal. Set our women free tell the story of their lives," Mama pleaded.

permit me to call some representatives of the women of Akamu to

"Go on, we are watching and listening. Ibi says that it has come; but doesn't know when it will go," Chief Okafor said, and the crowd burst into loud laughter.

"People of Akamu, I greet you all," a woman dressed in mourning clothes sauntered into the open place reserved for speech making and demonstrations. "My name is Iruka and as you can see, I'm a widow and still mourning my late husband," she said.

At that, the crowd murmured in sympathy. "When my mother died some years ago, my father mourned her for a month, for just one month, after which he married another wife in the third month.

When asked why the hurry, he answered that Akamu tradition allows it. But when my mother's sister's husband died, she mourned him for nine months before she died, because of the unhygienic condition in which she was forced by the dictates of tradition to live. Immediately, elders and men were drafted to the hut where she lay with her unkempt hair, dirty smelly clothes and unwashed body and was carried away and throwninto the evil forest. They claimed that she did not deserve a betting burial because she had become an abomination to the land for not completing the mourning duration of twelve calendar months," she revealed and began to weep. All the women present also began to weep uncontrollably. "Even myself, I've just mourned for three months and my health is already failing. I fear for the worst." she said, and she and the women burst into a renewed round of weeping.

"Women of Akamu, weep no more, but rise, rise up to claim your respectable positions in the pride of growing civilization," Adabeke shouted and all the women roared in agreement.

"People of Akamu, I greet you all," another woman called Mgbeke came up on stage. "My name is Mgbeke. I'm sure that many of you here know me very well. I, too, am a victim of unkind tradition. Apart from economic survival, I believe that social happiness is also another source of well-being. Let me go straight to the point. My father had us all females, six of us. Being the first child, my father decreed that I should remain without marriage to bear male children that will perpetuate his lineage. When I protested, he threatened to invoke the full wrath of tradition should I go against his decision. It was then I stopped going to school and became a daily guest to men who used me like a dog and sucked me dry like a piece of orange. I bore eight children from different men and unfortunately for my father, all of my children are girls. He is there lying bedridden from the grief of knowing that there would be no man to take his place when he dies. Besides, the problem I'm facing now is not that of stigma but of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) that have been assailing me for many years now.....

" she said, but was cut short by the loud

voice of Adabeke.

"Women of Akamu, weep no more," she cautioned as the women burst into tears again. "I say, weep no more. It is said in proverb that if one does not know what killed his father, what killed his father will kill him," she said even as another woman came on stage to testify to her unfortunate fate.

Women atter women came on stage to expose the unjust and barbaric custom under which they were subjected. After all the testimonies of the offensive side of tradition had been given, Adabeke then gave a rundown of some of the hidden ugly sides of the traditions of Akamu people.

"I thank God that the disappointment of my illness turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it became an eye opener to the increasing backwardness of Akamu women. Many of you were opportuned to meet and chat with the lady doctors who treated me when I was ill in St. Monica. If you recall very well, you will remember that Drs. Nech Obinna and Nkiru Chinemere introduced themselves as my schoolmates at Akamu Community Secondary School. Let me tell you that Dr. Nkechi Obinna who was thought to be an orphan is the owner of the hospital, though managed by the Catholic Missionary Society. Men listen to her, work for her, get scolded by her when negligent and get sacked when found incompetent. Yet here in Akamu, the forces of tradition place women as second-rate citizens, which ought not

be.

Today, we have women ruling over whole countries, controlling large corporations as managing directors, controlling affairs of tertiary institutions as rectors, provosts and vice chancellors as the case may be. But here, because an average Akamu man prepares a small cassava farmland for his wife, he relegates her to the background. What we need now is a reformation of offensive traditions and customs that restrict women like caged birds from soaring into yonder heights of emancipation. Women, rise up for your rights and stop acting like husbands of fellow women. It is an ridiculous that because a woman cannot bear male children, she then will be subjected to the force of male domination to marry a woman or more of them into her matrimonial home and permit them to meet men in order to bear children for the woman's husband, for the sole gratification of her male husband. This is complete dehumanization and a sorry departure from the natural order of things. It is unacceptable. So women, rise and proclaim your freedom. Be not discouraged, it is humans that set traditions, and it takes humans to pull them down. Though the men shout us down and refuse to listen, soon, very soon, civilization will overtake their narrow-minded views and they will hear with regret what their children once wanted to tell them from the mouths of strangers," Mama concluded.

The next item on the programme was heavy entertainment. But the women were sad and could be seen abandoning the sumptuous meals. Even the wrist watches mama bought for them were withheld. There was no woman willing to serve the men. Some women raised their hands to speak and were acknowledged. One in particular asked a very touching question.

"Mama Nwankwo, you promised to tell us a story you

titled, 'The Clock', do tell us about it, the woman pleaded.

"The clock; yes, I said I would, but that can wait for now. Let us not complicate issues and reach desired ends with diminishing returns. I can feel the birth of a new age in the life of our people.

Tomorrow is another day; we pray it'll be more auspicious," she said with a steady voice of prophecy.