In the Animal kingdom, the king’s daughter refuses to marry the suitors that came for her hand in marriage, she had a big fantasy of riding across the village on an elephant.
She said that any suitor that brings a life elephant to her will have her as a wife, so the king announces to all the animals in the kingdom and all of them were so discouraged about it but the tortoise went to the king and said, “I will marry your daughter, I will bring a life elephant and have her as my wife”.
I came before to marry her but you people chased me away but this time, I will marry her, so he also proceeded to the elephant house, because the tortoise and the elephant were good friends.
So he went to the elephant house and said “The king of my village will be having an OFALLA in the next two days and he said that you will be the chief of the occasion.
An OFALLA is the biggest festival in Igbo land, so if any traditional ruler should invite you, you are highly honoured.
So the elephant was so delighted and enthusiastic to be there already, the tortoise told the elephant “The king instructed me to come and pick you in the next two days so be ready early enough.
The day arrived and the tortoise didn’t make it early to the elephant so the elephant was bit pissed off like you said I’ll be the chief of the occasion but you came late to pick me ” the sun is already setting down, so the tortoise told elephant don’t worry we will get there on time.
Tortoise was walking slowly and the elephant was not comfortable with that. He said, please can you hurry up, let’s get there on time.
Then the tortoise asked, “Please can I climb on your back so that you can carry me along, so I will get there on time.
The elephant agreed so when the tortoise climbed on the back of the elephant he requested again, “Please can I tie this rope in my hand around your neck so that I can be stable on your back” the elephant agreed too, so they started the journey on getting to the palace the tortoise started singing.
“Nnam Eze akpata m Enyi” (My king I have brought the elephant).
So the elephant replied ” Nwa mbe isi n’ ikpata onye? ( Who are you taking to the king? ) What are you trying to say, the tortoise replied Asi m ani ya Dube enyi chebe enyi” Enyi n’ aga na anyi so gi na azu.
I told the land to guard you, Mr. Elephant. We are strongly behind you. That means you misunderstood me. I was simply telling the land to guide your feet and keep you safe. Mr. Elephant, proceed we are strongly behind your back, you are going to be the chief of the occasion.
So the elephant was deceived” he agreed and they got to the palace, the tortoise handed over the rope that was tied around the elephant to the king and the significance of the rope tied around the elephant means that the tortoise has the ownership and dominance over the elephant.
Now in Igbo land if you are presenting any life animal to someone there must be a rope around the animal’s neck, to show true ownership of the animal and dominance too.
So that was how the tortoise deceived his friend elephant, and by the time the elephant noticed what was going on it was too late because the kingdom had already captured the elephant so the king handed over the daughter to the tortoise and the elephant became the beast of Burden, they were riding on the elephant across the village.
In this story, Mike Ejeagha was trying to derive a moral lesson which means “Be careful of the friends you go places with because some of them cannot be trusted.
For starters, Michael Ejeagharibe, better known as Mike Ejeagha, is a renowned Igbo folklore musician with over 37 Albums and five singles to his credit. His 1960 song “Ofu nwa anaa” shot him to prominence.
The native of Imezi-Owa in Ezeagu local government area of Enugu state, who clocked 94 years on April 4, 2024, brought glory to N’digbo and kept the ancient ways of our ancestors alive through his folklore music.
In Igbo land, due to his trademark of telling long stories in his music, you would be told ‘Akụkọ Mike Ejeagha’ to a long story. His trending song, “Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo”, an excerpt from the original song, Ka Esi Lee Onyeisi Oche, was released 40 years ago.
