The unceasing rain had given no hope for
tomorrow. All creatures had been subdued and made to lie low in their various
shelters. The swaying trees paid obeisance to the harsh wind, accompaniments of
thunder and lightning made nature an orchestra, singing a symphony to the
dictates of its maker; the Unmade.
The death of the former Biafran Naval
Commander was recognized by the gods of the land upon whose sands he had fought
to defend his people. Everything was in a state of comatose, the burial
arrangements, the grave digging and all that pertained the dead,
‘You know, your father was a man of the
sea’, said his uncle to him, ‘so, it is no surprise that the whole sea wants to
empty itself on the land.’
The death of a hero was mourned by nature
that day. The village mourned and the land wept. A convoy, from the hospital
where his corpse lay, to the village summarised it all. He was coming to where
it all started. Where he had played with the sand of the earth and eaten the
produce of the land. He was giving back to the earth what the earth had given
him; his body became one with the earth. A sudden halt pulled me out of my
reverie. It was the turn of mortals to pay respect to the dead. We had come to
the entrance of the passage, the gate to Nenwe. Pphhhshhh the gunpowder burned
and then Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! He was welcomed by the famous okpo-nali the traditional Nenwe gun
salute. His spirit had been welcomed into the spirit world. Boom! Boom! Boom!
The gun powders boomed and the ground shook. Everybody comes into the world
with some level of respect. Some increase theirs; others decrease theirs, while
some are just there. His?
That day nature respected mortals, and kept
to itself and mourned. The threatening clouds could do no more than threaten;
the sun could do no more than smile, and the wind, just whispered. The harmony
was perfect. Nature had given mortals the right to bury their dead. As the coffin touched the earth, the land was
honoured to receive the remains of its child that had come home after a long
journey on the earth. And the ground wept.
