By
Obododimma
Oha
Mụ ndee! Mụ na ndee! Mụ na ndee!
(alternatively written as “Mụ na ndi a! Mụ na ndi a! Mụ na ndi a” in Standard
Igbo and roughly translated as formally saying: “That group versus I! That group versus I! That group versus I!”) is a major signature
saying attributable to the late Igbo traditonal musician, Pericomo the son of
Okoye of Arondiuzuogu. The saying represents Igbo understanding of opposition
that is unavoidable and fundamental to human existence, especially when we live
and act the drama of life in the presence of others. Pericomo’s music, which
could be described as very deep in the expression of ancient Igbo culture,
unapologetically talks to us about the challenges to expect from life and how
to mystically confront them. Mụ na ndee
captures opposition at something we should expect, not only every office
politics being found everywhere, and how to wrestle courageously with the angel until dawn, but the need to
soldier on, even when one is stepping on hot coals with bare feet.
That the
oppositional is at the heart of everything in creation is fundamental and is
the basis for dialectical thinking. Darkness versus daylight. God versus Satan.
Male versus female. Fire versus water.
Life versus death. Starting a fire versus extinguishing it. Going versus
coming. Freedom versus slavery. Look everywhere, anywhere, and you would see
opposition. Only the unenlightened and the crude cannot open the eyes of their
minds to see opposition, to see antagonistic otherness. So along with Pericomo,
one would sing, “Mụ na Ndee, mu na ndee!”
Mụ na elu, mụ
n’ala!
Elu could
mean “the Heights,” “The highly placed,” or “The mighty.” That is realistic. We
wrestle with the mighty and the lowly placed, the local and the global, the
great and the small in this global village square! We wrestle with the great
and the small in the village square of the community and are expected to win
the wrestling match without asking the Supreme Cult to decide the winner by
merely raising hands for or against. Mụ
na ndee! Even my self against my self!
Mụ na ọsọ, mụ
na ije!
I have to run
and I have to walk, even though I am not a masked spirit. And my running has to
be walking, and vice-versa. Speed is important. Time, too. One has to reconcile
both, especially if they are clashing! Keep this colonial who is also a
postcolonial l running from one colonial master to the other. Keep this confused fellow running his walk and walking
his run. Mụ na ndee! Mụ na ndee!
Mụ na nwoke;
mụ na nwaanyị!
It is not femininity and masculinity at war. But the
masculine also emerges feminine to complement. So, it is the femininity of my masculinity
and the masculinity of my femininity. Mụ
na nwoke mụ na nwaanyị, for my masculinity is undecidable and multiple, not
the one you see.
Mụ na ndee, mụ
na ndee!
Here and there; here that is there. It is that group
beheading me and that group waiting
endlessly for justice. It is one group of mice eating gradually into my
goatskin bag and another group singing the anthem. It is that group asking for
me dead or alive and another group just making noise on social media.
Mụ na Aso
Rock, mụ na Ojuelegba!
Reptile on and in
the rock swallowing millions. Ojuelegba talking about a national orita
asking for restructuring. Amotekun that
reptile! What is Oxford English dictionary still waiting for? It is an
important Nigerian word that can even be used as a verb! And I have to
reconcile my Aso Rock swallowing ability with an Ojuelegba trumpeting. The
Inner Circle versus the Outer Circle.
Mụ na AU,mụ na UN!
Mụ na America, mụ na Africa!
Mụ na ndị amị,mụ na ndị ọchịchị nkịtị!
Mụ na ndee, mụ na ndee!
So, you see the spirit of Pericomo, your social
philosophy is now our social philosophy. You were philosophizing for us. The
past philosophizing for the future. It was truly true that it was you and the
past and you and the future. Being with and being against. Mụ na ndee!
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