Eihuri came from a large and prominent homestead in Ahacheche village...
It was very clear that Eihuri was extensively schooled in cookery by her parent, right from her tender age till the time she got married to Abaukaka of Omoyeye clan.
She possessed the ability to prepare pounded yam that was fluffy and yet retained enough texture which made it amendable for it to be moulded into desirable size, for swallowing. This was greatly complemented by her ingenious way of preparing melon soup with Grass cutter meat.
Eihuri had distinguished herself as a celebrity of a kind when she was 12 years of age. Elderly people talked loudly about her emerging beauty. The hair, skin legs, teeth, her courtesy were taken one by one and analyzed by the young men in her village and even beyond with avid admiration. Everybody dreamed to posses her when she would have become an adult....
The oracle had earlier revealed that some white skinned people would set foot on Bura land. It also cautioned that they should not be attacked as they would retaliate with superior weapons. By early 20th century, as predicted by the Oracle, the first wave of uninvited white men had established their foothold on Bura land. Their aim was unknown to their hosts. After they had settled down in a place which later known as Iduoivo - White men base, it dawned on the hosts that their guests were prepared to stay for a long time. They came along with assorted material which the people found exotic and alluring. They included bottled wine, mirror, shoes, guns etc. The people were amazed and they didn't hide it. The guests went ahead to display the assorted weapons in their possession. It was apparent that the respect they showed for their guest was induced by fear. Another aspect that quickly caught the fancy of the people of Bura land was the skin of the new arrivals. They described it as delicate and white like unripe pawpaw (egwu whe whe irengwa ere re). Initially they were moved to openly express sympathy for their guests as thy used to feel for the albino in their midst...
Ijeeji and Adano were acutely aware that they had to go back to the Oracle once more. Some aspect of the prophecy regarding the death of their four children still remained a big puzzle to them. The divination was silent about the original issue presented before it which was the new way of worshiping their Ohomorihi - the Rainmaker - God that had been brought to Bura land by white skinned people an Anikinami - foreigner or people from the land of Alkanem. Ijeeji wanted to know how the two religious bodies would affect their existing way of life. Although he was very serious about the situation, his younger brother had not been readily forthcoming in the ways of their ancestors in recent times.
Adapted from The Sacred Pond. A must read!
Authored by Mualimu H. Al-Rasheed Bello.
Reviewed by Prof. Sunday Ododo. (See book review here)
The book re-assures the reader that A better Nigeria is possible.
To grab a copy, email ebiraview@gmail.com or
Call 0803 380 0673.
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