My people, the Ameru, tell a story of the Chicken and the Partridge.
The two were great friends and lived together in the forest fending for
themselves and their young. One day it
was very cold, they were in desperate need for warmth but had no skills of
making fire. Fortunately they knew of man who lived in the village, the chicken
was sent to borrow the fire. When the Chicken reached the village, she met a
woman who was preparing fermented porridge using grinding stones. Before asking for the fire, the chicken started
feeding on the droppings, known as makie, around the grinding stone.
After some eating, the chicken walked out, stood at raised
ground and shouted to her friend, “Nkware
gutirii mwankiῙ ῙῙ”, (Partridge there isn’t any fire here”), and
went back in to eat some more. The Chicken never returned to the forest.
Ms Chicken realized the readiness of food is more important than
fire for warmth that day. In the forest
there was Freedom to whenever and at whatever time but there was No guarantee
of food, it was a hustle. Also one’s security was bear, predictors were many. Food
was more important to the chicken than all the freedom; she therefore made a sacrifice
Food over Freedom. She probably did not know man was also a predictor but what
if he was? He was just one, better than the mongoose and tens of others carnivores
in the forest.
But man turned out to be more vicious predictors of the
chicken than all other monsters in the forest combined, he consumed most of the
eggs and gave just a few for hatching. Therefore Ms Chicken had to produce more
eggs to ensure survival of its species compared to forest life. What more the
food wasn’t Free after all. Ms Chicken was being fattened up for slaughter. It can
be argued that man saved chicken from Extinction if she had picked the fire and
went back living in the forest like other animals. Yes, the population of this species
is bigger than that of man himself. However
I opine that the chicken could probably have developed a Survival tactic in her
natural habitat and increased its number substantially without the aid of man. Would
the chicken be Content if they weren’t as many but FREE?
What is Freedom? It’s
exemption from restraints. The fundamental tenet of a democracy is Freedom. Freedom
from what and to do what? In a colony, man cannot move, associate or pretty
much do anything without consent of his master. Same case as being a child, or
living under a dictator. But then one day all these rights are granted and you
celebrate, Freedom at last! It’s all an ILLUSION, man is Never free; he has
never been and Never will be.
Independent states may not serve a Master per say but new
masters emerge that are more ruthless. The new masters, kill, maim, loot money
and land, divide us, detain, say unsavory words, live large as we wallow in
destitution. Man puts up with all this crap in the name of building a nation
and securing a future for his offspring. We realize the new master is like the
old one, now on steroids. There is No Freedom. You cannot move about at certain
times of day or night, you risk arrest. You cannot associate at certain places
or with people. There is a law prohibiting every goddamn thing a Free man
wishes. A teenager who yearns for Freedom from overbearing parents soon realizes
how Responsibilities chokes much of the air out of Freedom.
Hell! Even believe in a super natural being did not offer
Freedom from the vagaries of life, fear
of unknown , pain and agony as man had envisaged and Death won’t either.
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