By Henry Akubuiro
One of the most detailed collections of Nigerian short stories can be found in the book, A Selection of Nigerian Folktales: Themes and Settings (2018), edited by Bukar Usman. It is a product of a nationwide research commissioned by the Bukar Usman Foundation, which involved a number of intellectuals, and took years to produce. This particular collection is just one of the many works that emanated from the project, which took the researchers to different parts of the country. A Selection of Nigerian Folktales… contains illuminating stories with different concerns – from boomerang, contest, and enfant terrible stories to explanatory, fisherman, fortune, friendship, heroic, hunter, magical, marital, moralising and old woman tales. It also contains orphan, palace, trickster, war and miscellaneous tales.
In the absence of formal education in the olden days, our forefathers used these tales to impart knowledge on a myriad of issues across generations. From the trials, failings, triumphs of some of these characters, the African child would go to home after each moonlight story session with many takeaways, which, in turn, reflected on how he saw the world and those around him and, above all, his interventionist role in making his society a better place. These children grew up to become great farmers, artisans, hunters, traders, blacksmiths, builders, and whatnot, without the benefit of formal education. Influenced by their environments and tales emanating from oral tradition, they defined their place in the cosmos and left legacies that we have built on in today’s world.
The cause of every society is advanced by heroes and heroines – those distinctive humans who give it all in their drive to open fresh chapters on history and civilisation and, for some, rewrite stories about humanity with grit and panache. Faced between the devil and the deep blue sea, the hero thinks outside the box to surmount obstacles. When courage deserts the community to overcome a demon or solve a nagging problem, the hero rises up to the occasion with confidence, wit and bravado. The communal spirit of the hero is one of the most dignifying parts of his existence.
Usman writes in the book: “Heroes are persons of superhuman and, sometimes, supernatural powers. They do the unusual. They are loved because of what they achieve for those who take pride in their uncommon deeds and sacrifice. Heroes are drawn towards heroic acts, in anticipation of the great prize and ovation their heroism would command. The more incomparable the acts of a hero, the more he is held in high esteem…. A hero may be a person or animal of great resource but it takes more than natural endowments to perform heroic acts.”
For instance, in “The Stubborn Stranger and the Monster”, a fearless man from a distant village, on a visit to another village, defied the advice of his relations not to display any act of heroism against the monster. He, rather, plotted against the monster by spraying some glue and burning charcoal along his route, which got it trapped, leading to its attack by the villagers and ultimate downfall. The villagers celebrated the heroism of the stranger for risking his life to trap the monster.
The hero in “The Wise, Little Goat” is a daring little goat, who ventured into the dreaded hyena village.
Hyenas are noted for being one of the most ruthless predators, notorious for eating their victims alive.
The fearless goat announced to the chief of the hyenas that the goat community had sent it in advance to prepare the ground for them and their herd of cattles to move into the territory in droves. The wise goat even made them build several large pens for their anticipated cattle. The predators were, thus, compelled to soft-pedal. The wise goat was allowed to go to the market and purchase a gourd of honey and some animal skins. On its way home, two inquisitive hyenas trailed it, but they paid a big price when the wise goat confused the lion to skin them. The startled goat community, on seeing the wise goat safely back, made it their chief.
A dangerous, big bird tormenting a village meets its waterloo in the story, “The Evil Bird”, after forcing the people to live in constant fear for a long while. The community summoned courage, one day, and selected a juju priest, a hunter, a strong wrestler and a wise, little boy to confront the insatiable, ravenous creature. They confronted the bird in the forest in a ferocious battle. Surprisingly, it was the clever, little boy who succeeded where others had failed by trapping it and cutting off its head as a souvenir to the embattled villagers, who were stunned by his cleverness.
Another fascinating heroic tale in Usman’s A Selection of Nigerian Folktales… is that of «Okonaafor, the Brave Warrior», famed for being capable of defeating a thousand soldiers at the same time, hence, «The neighbouring communities were afraid of Okonaafor›s community. None dared to go to war with his community; rather, they resorted to befriending the community and its king.» But, taking advantage of his long travel afar, the neighbouring community, one day, attacked his village and killed most of the young men, and captured the king, alongside many domestic animals. Okonaafor returned a few days later to find his village deserted. He met some scared survivors in the bush, who narrated what happened. He took the battle to the enemy village, exterminated them, freed his people and returned to the village a hero. For ages, heroes have always played the messianic role, which is why they are valorized in every African society till date.