The Rising and Falling in Africa

By Okello Johnstone

The Rising and Falling in Africa is a chronicle of a traditional African society and its culture, long before colonialism during the era of slavery up to date. The story reveals the effects of slave trade and colonialism on races in ancient Africa and how the continent rises from primitivity to civilization and eventually loses its sense of originality with a wrong conviction of races besides misuse of political power, public funds, and facilities.

This is depicted through Omalo, a traditional West African king, whose generation suffers the effects of slave trade and colonialism in ancient Africa as punishment from Amadioha Ofufe, the gods of the land, after king Omalo failed to participate in part of the lands tradition. Ibu, however, takes over power from the colonial rulers in Buwanga chiefdom, as foretold by Were Khakaba the gods of the East through a seer, succeeded by Jonathan who is executed in the end. Although, his grandson finally saves his country, Democratic Republic of Lumakanda, from ignorance and poverty under its first female president, thereafter reviving the safety of the nation for all races of the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Aug 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543747188

Okello Johnstone

Johnstone Okello literary called Bulldozer was born and attended primary and secondary school in Western Kenya. He attained Chinese Language Certificate from Xian Jiaotong University and Bachelor of Computer science from Xidian University in China. Due to misconstrues on perception of races in Africa and beyond, need for amendment arose.

Book preview

The

RISING

and

FALLING

in

Africa

OKELLO JOHNSTONE

62664.png

Copyright © 2018 by Okello Johnstone.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore

CONTENTS

THE BLACK MAN

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

VIEW OF RACES

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

DOMINION AND TRIBES

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

ONE WORLD

Oh !

What a

globe nature has

given ! A world once

completely divided and lost

Into ethnics,races and tongues.

largely differed traditions and ways of life

tuned the path of the world’s numerous daughters.

Come by ! Take a look ! The horizon is one.

A people are going the same way

The neighborhood is promising.

The way to civilization is

love peace and unity.

For United we

Stand

…

Part One

THE BLACK MAN

Chapter One

Harmattan season set in on the twelfth moon of the season just before abolition of slave trade in the ancient African continent. Harmattan winds took over the west subcontinent of ancient Africa with vigor. The dry winds blew clouds of dust in a tornado a sign of communication from the ancestors. The right time for female genital mutilation ceremony had come.

King Omalo walked restlessly before his twelve-seasons-old daughter. He stood for a minute, put down his rod, removed his leopard skin cap and stretched his arm to reach out to his daughter. King Omalo stared right into his daughter’s eyes and shook his head in despair.

His daughter was surprised at his ever-engaging father’s act of anguish. She felt agitated in her heart and could not hesitate to ask,

Father confide in me. What exactly is bothering you? I've never seen you in this mood.

"Perpetual my daughter. You are right, a bush meat does not run in the hot sun for nothing; it is either in pursuit for something or something is pursuing it. Can a lactating lioness in labor come to a halt? There is a big problem at hand." King Omalo said in a faint voice to the point of shedding tears, only held back by a tradition that brands it an abomination for a man to cry.

My King! What kind of problem is it that is taking your peace far from you? It must be a mountain for I have never seen the most powerful king tremble like a blade or grass in the harmattan winds. Please tell me more. I could be of help, Perpetual asked in fear.

"As our people say, a picture paints a thousand words. You are my cause for alarm. The female circumcision ceremony is about to take place in a couple of days to come. Tradition dictates that all the umuada of the land have to take part in the ceremony.

It is more than obvious that you are my only daughter since my two other wives are all barren and your mother cannot give birth anymore after your birth. Misfortune after misfortune betided me since childhood and I had to shut up as a man but for this one, I will not. The Ogbwanje spirits from the Atlantic Ocean are after my throne. May the gods forbid.

Female circumcision is not that safe for all I know. Every season we lose over thirty girls due to excessive bleeding. My heart goes faster and even faster when I think of you as my only daughter going for a risky ceremony. The wrath of Amadioha Ofufe the gods of our land will befall us if any of the umuadas fails to take part in the female genital mutilation ceremony. I fear for you. I fear for the people. I fear for everything! I mean everything!"

King Omalo was loosing his temper. His chest was bumping in and out like a panting athlete. He took his cap and rod and left to the hut.

All the while, Perpetual was shocked with her mouth as curved and open as that of a fish. She new not whether to cry or not. The fact that she was to be circumcised at the fate of loosing her life made her sadder. She wondered what Ofufe the gods of the land could be so cruel at times.

She remembered of the weird stories her late lovey grandmother used to narrate to her. She once dreamt of a strange religion with a very powerful, forgiving and generous god who was divided into three immortal beings, one of them as a son with a physical mother without a father and another said to be the father of existence. How she wished Amadioha was like this god. She ran to her mother in tears.

On the female circumcision ceremony day, King Omalo looked extremely worried to the extent that he almost forgot to attend the ceremony if not for ichies, the council of elders who passed by to pick him up. The ceremony was lively and full of happiness. Women were singing and chanting jubilantly. The most common song that hit the atmosphere was Arabanko

A moment later, Akinga the shrine chief native doctor silenced the crowd in readiness to begin the initiation ceremony. King Omalo sat with his head lowered like a nomad’s cow standing in heavy rains. He knew he was about to commit an abomination to save a life and dignity of the weaklings, for the weakling has no right.

Akinga noticed from the crowd of a hundred and ten girls, the king’s daughter was missing. He took his beaded walking stick fitted with a set of small bells and stubbed it into the ground. He went into an incantation mood blubbering strange words that sounded like bubbling sounds. That was the god’s language, as he said. He then shouted in surprise,

"Chaaai! Your highness! Igwe! My king! The eye of the gods can see far and much better than the eye of man. My king, there is a problem, a big one for that matter. As the wise ones put it, he who is against tradition is the enemy. Igwe the gods are crying!…" Akinga was interrupted by King Omalo before the silent crowd,

"Please the great servant of our land, what is it again? Why should Ofufe be crying? Make us understand something." King Omalo said suspiciously.

Akinga bowed before the king and continued,

Your highness! Your daughter is absent and the gods eye is watching. We better avoid calamity than look for its solution. As our ancestors said, prevention is better than cure.

King Omalo looked at Akinga and gave him a signal to proceed with ceremony. Tradition demanded that Lolo, the king’s wife, should open the ceremony with a short speech accompanied by a traditional motivational song before the genital mutilation practice was carried out by a female specialist.

Afterwards Akinga stormed in for sanctification and purification. A mature cow at the age of lactating and a mature fowl almost at the start of laying eggs were slaughtered and their blood sprinkled by Akinga with lots of incantation.

The girls, accompanied by a traditional female medicine expert and a few warriors for protection, were then taken to the evil forest for a period of three moons for marathon training on how to be a good housewife. Only those who survived the whole process and made it back alive qualified to get married.

According to tradition, Perpetual was no longer a woman of substance and dignity and was to be banished from the community, never to marry from her father’s kingdom since she defied initiation but King Omalo was ready to protect her to the last drop of his blood.

Fifteen days after the initiation ceremony, a woman came to King Omalo’s place screaming down the whole village,

"Igwe! Long live your highness! There is calamity my lord. My firstborn daughter died twenty-five days ago. Before her grave dried up, my second daughter followed the same route after a series of convulsions and this morning my third daughter was attacked and swallowed by a crocodile when she went to fetch water by the riverside in my absence.

My king this