A City On The Hill ~ The Ink Well Prompt #89
Omajaja is a community built on the hills of Idanre where it was believed that the human race began. Down there in the valley of the paramount hill lay a footprint, as large as that of a bear. The footprint never fit any human foot in the existence of Omajaja. Once every year, the Olu of Idanre will have a feast where men and women of different ages and stature will fit their legs into the large footprints of the paramount valley.
The palace orator, Adegun is quite knowledgeable about the oral tradition of the people of the great hill community. During the festival of sizing the footprint, the orator will sing the praise name of the progenitor of the community.
Osemawe, the son of the night,
One who left the chiefs,
To attend to his hen,
Only to be dethroned as King,
A man fearless of other men,
Now deposed of royalty.
Like one who had venom in his saliva,
He spat in disagreement,
Everyone, to his heels,
Abdicate the throne of his father,
Osemawe, the great king of the hill,
One whose foot cannot be compared.
Aremo, the first child and only son of the paramount ruler, having visited other communities came home and campaigned against darkness, especially the one promulgated after midnight. He knew from the onset that it was a difficult step but he was ready to go the mile.
Courageously, he stood before his father and the chief-in-council and said:
I speak as the voice of the common man of Idanre. Light is not a curse, darkness is.
His campaign made him an enemy of his father but it was popular because the poorest of the people supported him. Several attempts to make him back off this idea proved abortive. Aremo was determined, he was already setting the standards as the would-be king if his father passes on.
Olu of Idanre, one midnight needed to speak to his son about the campaign. He thought that since such discussions can not take place in broad daylight, he tried to call Aremo at midnight because he could not trace the way to his room.
This singular experience made King Olu reconsider the taboo against using light at midnight. Now that he had discovered it, there is a need to convince the chief-in-council to accept the new idea.
As the chiefs gathered at the king's chamber to discuss matters of communal importance, Aremo walked gently through the chambers, in a bid to leave the palace when he heard chief Olumiluwa calling him out to bold his peace as he would be addressed by the council.
Respectfully, Aremo turned to face the chiefs, with both hands holding his staff of office as the crown prince of Omajaja. The decorum in the chambers sent a cold air to the face of everyone except Aremo.
Chief Olumiluwa spoke with so much vigor and care as he addressed Aremo to stop his campaign against darkness after midnight. He gave illustrations that seemed baseless to Aremo. One thing Aremo did not do is that he did not disrespect the old men. He listened to them with the utmost attention.
Chief Olumiluwa was taken aback as Aremo did not utter a word. He asked what Aremo thought about what he had said.
Grrrr. Aremo cleared his throat as he prepared to respond to Chief's short address.
Our fathers. It is with an open eye that the crocodile swims to catch its prey.
The parable came as a surprise to the chiefs.
How many of you can run for help at night when danger arises?
The chiefs looked at one another. One said to the other:
Aremo has a point there, you know.
In the long run, the Aremo hit the nail on the head:
Elders of Idanre. A city on a hill cannot be in utter darkness in the name of culture. The culture is made for man and not man for the culture.
Chief Adaraayaki was astonished at the level of wisdom that Aremo spoke that he demanded that Aremo should shine more light on what he had said:
Only evil thrives in darkness. Let's give the light a chance and see how fast the growth of our community will be.
King Olu shouted him down.
Quite you little ant. How dare you say such a nasty thing about the tradition of our ancestors?
The King appeared to be bitter by what Aremo had said.
One chief after another spoke to the matter but in the end, Aremo won.
Everyone was allowed to put on lights at night. When this had been done and neither narrative happened, Aremo arranged with his friends in the city to bring electricity to Idanre hills.
His doggedness was the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
I like this line, "I speak as the voice of the common man of Idanre. Light is not a curse, darkness is."
The story is cool.
Thank God that Aremu won. He has won the fight to lite light in his town which was a decent fight. How would one detest putting on light at night? It is not called for at all...
Light does not come without a fight. Thank goodness Aremo stood his ground and ensure his agitations came to fruition
Aremo succeded in bringing light in to his community. It was a nice story.
Aremo is the spirit in the life of everyone who sees a need to effect change in the society.
A good story that takes place in a mythical place, @mrenglish. Also the characters keep the characteristics reserved by myths for exemplary beings. A brave young man wants to enlighten his community, the ending suggests that there will be a strong reaction to that desire:"His doggedness was the last straw that breaks the camel's back."
Certainly. Without his doggedness, there was little he could have done to bring light to the hill city.
Did I not meet up with the requirements for this prompt?
You did. We're pretty sure it will count towards your 60 days of appeal.
If you are asking, and only posting for the "rewards", then you probably should rethink that again. Wasn't that the reason which made you do what you did, and got you into troubles in the first place?
Have a nice day!
I love the fact that Aremo was brave and was able to stand up to his father for what he believed in.
Bravery is not enough though, his ability to think of a change is the catalyst for his action.