We shall make Elephant our King ( A o m’Erin J’oba)
I have watched and read with keen interest how the APC governors visited former President Goodluck Jonathan on his birthday 20 November 2020 and invites him to return to politics , join APC and become the president to complete his term of 4 years . These were the same set of people that rejected and vilified him in 2015.
Immediately, i read this, i was transported to my childhood days when we, children gathered around each other to listen to African folktales, one of the inheritances bequeathed on us by our forebears.In those days, there were no smart phones, no luxury of Ipad No Facebook, no Internet, in fact there was nothing like social media and no Corona virus, but for me, I will say it was good old days , there were genuine human interactions and real fellowship. I grew up where we lived communual lives loaded with love and trust. The one folktales that readily came to my mind at that time was the story of ” we shall make Elephant our king” . For the benefit of those who have not heard the story , I will repeat it here .
There was famine and trouble in the the land of mankind that defiled solution and as the saying goes ‘ the rats were not squeaking like rats and the birds were not singing like birds anymore ‘ that means everything was in comatose in the country.
The kings and his chiefs consulted the herbalist for the solution to the problem. The herbalist divined his oracle and the oracle spoke in clear language , they must find a live Elephant as a sacrifice for things to change, without this sacrifice, it will get worse. The problem now is how to bring live Elephant for sacrifice . They deliberated throughout the night, still it was difficult until someone suggested Tortoise can do the job for them. Tortoise of course was a highly intelligent and a cunning animal.They sent for Tortoise and explained their predicament, Tortoise being a cunning animal told them not to worry but demanded that they have to pay him with lots of porridge ( Asaro) upon the completion of the assignment . The whole of them shouted in unity that they will and also made a vow that Tortoise will always be remembered for his good deeds to mankind.
Tortoise prepared himself very well , he made plenty of bean cake (Akara) saturated with honey and fortified himself with charms. It set for the jungle in search of Elephant .
Now, Elephant dwelt in the jungle peacefully, a very wise and gentle animal , he was not a threat to other animals, he commands respect among animals, he walked majestically in the jungle , he had no fear of anything, Even, Lion, King of the jungle was not a threat to him , all the animals both young and old loved him. He lacked nothing save that he was not made the king of the jungle
On that fateful day, Tortoise sighted him in his fortress and began to sing praises of him , he told him that no animal can stand before him, Tortoise delivered a powerful eulogies particularly about Elephant meekness, kindness, his sound memory and wisdom. Tortoise now delivered his mission from mankind that Elephant fame has spread abroad and that the human beings have decided to make him their king and he offered the bean cake loaded with honey as present from the people to him. Elephant tasted the honey and loved it , he licked his mouth and requested for more . He told Tortoise that he didn’t want to be king but Tortoise brought out another bean cake which Elephant quickly devoured and requested for more. Tortoise demurred and made it clear that unless the Elephant follow and accept to become king there won’t be any more bean cake loaded with honey . Tortoise started singing and dancing ” we shall make Elephant our king” the songs were so melodious and sweet; Elephant started dancing to the melody and against his own judgment, followed Tortoise to the city heading to the Palace.
Now the people have dug a big pit and covered it with mats, in front of the pit was a beautiful throne pretentiously prepared for his majesty the Elephant . On sighting the throne, his instinct warned him of the danger ahead but Tortoise threw him another cake with honey and started the melodious song again and the people now joined the chorus to welcome his majesty the Great Elephant , Elephant was overwhelmed and believed that it may be true , his virtues have been appreciated by mankind afterall , he will become king of mankind at last. ” it is good to have virtues” he jumped forward with his trunk and danced to the throne and fell into the prepared pit . The rest was history, the sacrifice was made .
The illustration above was the deceit by the APC governors to lure an innocent Goodluck Jonathan into APC and contest for presidency. It is a trap that he should not fall into . He has done his bit for Nigeria , he is now an elder stateman, now respected all over the world . He voluntarily relinquished power even when there were allegations of rigging of the election in favour of APC, but in the interest of peace, to avoid bloodshed , he conceded and accepted the result . He called President Buhari to congratulate him. No president has ever congratulated the opposition in the history of Nigeria, as a matter of fact, it was the first time that incumbent president allowed opposition to win, what a gentleman, what a perfect example, even president Trump stated that it is difficult to concede . Jonathan did it and for that , his name will ever be written in gold in the history of Nigeria.
Where is Tinubu that helped APC and foisted Buhari on Nigeria , his salt has lost its taste in APC? The call by APC to Jonathan is a deceit and attempt to smear his legacy. Those governors are people of questionable character who has committed one atrocity or another in this country.
Since Goodluck Jonathan is a christian, I will end this article with a quote from the Bible. Proverbs 1:10 KJV ” my son if sinners entice thee, consent thou not” NLT ” my child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them. Former President Goodluck Jonathan should turn his back on the deceivers. They did not mean well for him.
Niyi Aborisade , a legal practitioner in the UK is the president of the National Movement for Positive Change
