Author Information
The Seven Against Gogo
The Seven against Gogo (1)
ODENGALASI, UZOMA NWAEKPE Esq.
uzonwekpe@yahoo.com
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Then Nguzi, myth spinner and chanter
Tuned his harp, and sang again
Of the seven that went after Gogo.
He said:
After Gogo saved Nwaanyioma,
He took him as wife.
Gogo, great healer, spirit and man
Swept the young maiden to the land of spirits
And locked her in shackles,
Starved and punished her,
A reprimand to mankind.
Words came to Ogbudu the priest
And he sent for Nwaeze
Who was father to Nwaanyioma
The tormented maiden,
And told him they were to prepare for a rescue.
These were words of their oracle.
Seven special men were needed
To fight against the strength
Their enemy may muster.
Unlike other people,
Gogo was not ordinary.
He was indeed a spirit
Born of spirit parents.
He happened to fall in love
So much with human beings
That he begged his parents
To let him go and live as man.
Painfully, they agreed
And Gogo was said to be born in Eluala
Or he merely came to live there
No one was sure.
There is even a popular story
which says that he killed
And ate his parents.
Again, like most stories about him
Nobody was sure of its truth
But those who knew him could almost vow
That he goes to spend time with his parents
Who are water spirits,
Under the water.
But he was said to deeply hate the avarice and pride
Seen in the sons of men.
It was by no means easy
To get the kind of men needed
For the task facing Nwaeze and Ete.
Besides,
Each of the champions
Was to come with two companions.
These were the kind of men needed
A perfect archer.
A very wise man,
Who must also be filled
With a rare story telling power.
A very good wrestler
Strong as a rock,
Slippery as a fish.
The best hunter they could find.
An eye-cleared dibia
Who would also be able
To tell the future as the past
A great and wonderful singer.
The most voracious of all eaters.
They were all to be very good swimmers.
Only two of these
Came from Ete.
Ugbene could throw any man in Ete
And in all Igbo
He became the first champion.
Ogalabu,
Though young
Had wisdom beyond his time and age
He was known already
The best storyteller
And he knew all lore of the land
And those sang by earlier fathers.
The young women say
He would also be able to sing
The ones to be sang in the future.
He was the second champion
Found in Ete.
A certain man
Heard about the search,
And came in from Amaiyi.
He could with his arrow,
And from a distance
Shoot off a lizard egg
From a coco yam leaf
Without scratching the leaf.
No other man was found
Better than him.
Jaja was the third champion.
It was not difficult to pick
The best hunter in Umuoji
As a member of this group.
In his abilities
He stood above his peers.
In him, was found,
A combination of all
It was a special gift to him
From the gods above.
From the foot marks of an animal
He would tell you what animal it is
Where it ran to,
And how it may be caught.
He knew all the hole boring animals
And looking at a hole
He would tell you what animal
It is that made it
Its habits
And how best to capture it.
He knew the nests of all birds
And merely by their sounds
He could identify them
And would tell you where they are
And how to trap or catch them.
His traps never come away empty
And he was a near perfect shooter
A kind of man they needed.
Ipe was the fourth champion.
Diocho would have been the dibia with them
But he did not know the future.
He was the one who told them
About another dibia
Who they convinced to join them.
This man knew the future
As he knew the immediate past.
Nge became the fifth champion.
The fame of a certain singer
Who is able to stir men and spirits
But who lives in the other end of Igbo
Had reached Ete
Long before this search.
It was easy for them
To think that he could be got
As the other champions were gathering
And getting ready for their journey.
A lot of questions and journeys were taken
Until he was traced in his home.
Singing and playing,
He had once stopped a band of murderers
From killing him.
His voice and the music of his harp
Was irresistible to all ears.
They sought him out and he joined them.
Obinnaya was the sixth champion.
Gathered in Ete
The champions had to wait
For three moons
As the search for the greatest eater was on.
They went everywhere in Igbo
But found no one like the man they needed.
After a tiring search
Many gave up.
However, in the other parts
Where giants lived beyond Igbo
They found a man
Who could fit into their picture.
Able to eat up three grown goats
And as much cassava as one could prepare
This giant was a perfect fit.
They, when they went for him
And watched him swallow
Four big pots of water without effort
Were convinced that Etedi
Was part of the task indeed.
As large as three large men
This unusual giant
Agreed to follow them
After Gogo, and Nwaanyioma.
Akirikada was the seventh
And last of the champions.
They were all very good swimmers.
It was the year after Akadike was born
And about five years
Before Oba came to Ete with war
That these champions set out
With their companions
In search of their daughte
