By
Obododimma
Oha
One
interesting choral song that features prominently in Igbo folktales, especially
in connection with the trickster, mbe
or mbekwu, the tortoise, is “Ajambene”!
The choral song goes thus:
Mbe e jebe....Ajambene!
Mbe e jebe....Ajambene!
Jee jee jee
Jee jee jee ....Ajambene!
O tụlaa mma elu.... Ajambene!
O tụdalọ ya ala....Ajambene!
O jebe ije dike....Ajambene!
(Roughly
translated into English as:
Mbe swaggers
on....Ajambene!
Mbe swaggers
on.... Ajambene!
Swaggers on
swaggers on swaggers on!....Ajambene!
Swaggers on
swaagers on swaggers on!....Ajambene!
He throws up
his cutlass....Ajambene!
He throws it
lower!
He walks the
walk of the hero!.... Ajambene!)
Is it not
interesting that ajambene (roughly
translated as “nonsense” or “rubbish”) is associated with tortoise the
trickster? On this trickster whose ways are known to be funny can be placed
funnier excess luggage like “ajambene” of discourse. Mbe the tortoise,who actually represents us in the world of
tricksterhood and foolishness, is the one who acts out ajambene. He lives it. And so, when he walks his walk of a “hero,”
throwing up his cutlass and catching it as it descends, we can be sure that he
is representing us well in the funny world of ajambene!
A hero has to
be equipped like one, and has to walk like one. A hero, especially a pretender, has to mimick action and pass as one.
TV
A “hero” of
what? Maybe not just of culture but of his role in culture. A hero of himself,
acting in an ajambene way. Is the
trickster not a hero of culture, if he can paradoxically outwit himself
sometimes? So, mbe remains an ajambene
hero, throwing up his cutlass and catching it! Ajambene!
But I like
the idea of a journey, even though a symbolic one. The trickster is on a
journey, throwing up his cutlass and catching it, ajambene! Who knows his next
victim, ajambene! If the trickster misses
the cutlass and it touches the ground, trouble, big trouble or even bigger one, ajambene!
Also, “Ajambene”
is reconfigured in Igbo public discourse to mean “nonsense,” as in the
following:
1. O na-akọ ajambene (He or she is talking
nonsense.)
2. Ha niile bụ naanị ajambene (They all
make no sense to me)
3. Ihe niile ha na-ekwu bụ sọọsọ ajambene
(All that they are discussing amounts to nonsense! Or “All that they are
talking about is rubbish”).
As one could
see clearly, (1) to (3) only present ajambene
as something worthless or stupidly diversionary. Thus, ajambene is understood
to many in culture as a useless and sheer waste of time and energy! Whenever an
Igbo person wants to distance self from a fruitless or irrelevant talk, that
talk could just be seen as ajambene, or the other side of the debate as the
diversionary ajambene, meant to
prolong an issue as clear as daylight! In that case, ajambene to mbe and his gymnastics of heroism!
But we can do
more than being practitioners or actors of ajambene,
especially in our debates on social media, the new village square where ajambene
often features. Granted that debates on social media can influence behaviour
(oh, sure, they do and many governments ruling badly are afraid of being
exposed!), but ajambene of the
debates needs to be minimised and debaters assisted politely to agree with
sound points and stay around! Talking ajambene
the mbe way or throwing up the
assumed cutlass of heroism would make debaters quit easily.
Ajambene belongs only to the world of the nonsensical.
Ajambene throws up nonsense and catches it, thinking it’s
heroism.
Ajambene likes remaining behind as ajambene, when all around is changing fast.
Ajambene likes foraging as a wild person in the jungle,
justifying the ancient ways!
Ajambene is infuriating and we must leave it and move on.
Ajambene!
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