A Riveting piece by Joy John-Okpala

We Were Fine. We broke bottles, we broke plates, we threw stones. We dragged words like horses pulling chariots. We didn’t respect boundaries, we were antagonistic, but we were fine. We had our Lords…Or Kings, so to speak. When we did everything against nature and man, we were brought before them. They ruled, judged, ordered. We took them without protest….after all, they’re the sovereign, we thought. We were brought before the Baale, if we were Yoruba; sometimes the Oba, if we exceeded. Then the Ndi Ichie, if we were Igbo; or the Igwe, if it got worse. They judged harshly, sometimes peacefully. Harshly, when one was wrong; Peacefully when both were either right or wrong. Or none. We were considered barbarians by a higher ‘them’. We all know who they are. They came. They swept it all away. I don’t know if with a packer though. We always settled our disputes, we didn’t waste much time, we didn’t spend much money, we didn’t die while our matters were still being handled. They brought their system and dropped it on us like Boko Haram and their passion. We could have pushed them away, refused, relented, but we didn’t, after all, they’re the sovereign, we thought again. We accepted it. We imbibed it. We were no longer fine. It could have helped us though, maybe, somehow, maybe not. Then our children matured. They didn’t know how fine we were before, they were only aware of what we had become. And they aspired to be part of it. At least I did. Then… They brought it back. But this time around, with a cloak on it. Most of us couldn’t recognise it. Our Baales and Ndi-Ichies became Mediators, our Obas and Igwes became Arbitrators; Our natural, homely, mode of settlement became the Alternative Dispute Resolution. We’ve accepted this too. But it seems this time around, we would be just fine.

                                By Joy John-Okpala