Tales Of Ogidan

[The Light Bearer 💡]

Tales Of Ogidan.

Episode 1

Just like it was yesterday, I still remember with precision how I got here. How I was wandering aimlessly and hopelessly before I met Olori - The Master. For the third time that month I was laid off from my job. A job I had managed to secure. Before then, things had been going on pretty well for me, at least so I thought. When Awako came to the market square that day I ran alongside other laborers with high hopes that I would be taken. Eledua seemed to beam his rays of luck on me as Awako chose me to be a part of his workers. I would follow him on trips and help him get passengers. My duty was simple, I was to make sure they got to their destination safely, neither they nor their goods must be left behind, or so I thought. Having my eyes on the trunk at intervals to ensure no bag or sack is rolling off as we journeyed through the dusty road of Awuje land. I try my best to be diligent but how do I explain to Awako that it is not my fault that the traders keep sleeping? That was my duty, or so I thought.

Before calling in passengers for the night trip Awako would drop some powder in the air and speak some words into it

As you enter this vehicle today, may you sleep off as I tap off your virtues.

May you stay asleep as I rob you of your goods and goodness.

You agree with everything I say to you.

Gbo gbo ire yin ko di temi Awako looni oo. (May all your virtues become that of me, Awako today.)

Latii ooni lo mo gba ire yin kun temi o. (From today, I add all of your virtues to mine.)

To to to, ko se be. (May it be so.)

Ase. (Amen,)

This was the incantation Awako would always make every night, it was one of two. There is another. He would lick a substance from a black gourd and do another round of incantations.

Oyin ni mo to la o, (I am licking honey)

Gbo gbo oun ti emi Awako ba ba yin so ni ko se o, (All that I Awako say to you becomes established)

Ko ba yin lara mu o (May this spell work on you)

To to to, ko se be (May it be so)

Ase. (Amen)

I had seen him doing this every evening since I started working with him. He explained my duties to me on the fourth day after he saw I wasn't catching the hint.

"Look here young man, you are not just to ensure the vehicle is filled by day, by night when the marketers and the travelers are returning to their abode, you must be on the lookout for the highest carrier" He had told me.

Later I came to know what a carrier and a keeper mean. A carrier is one with potential, most times, they do not even know it. In Awuja village, there were lots of carriers, many of them already tapped, some untapped. But even the tapped ones have loads of virtues in them that can make one rich. In the same way, we had lots of empty shells like myself moving around. It was not until later did Olori explain the cause of my constant ill luck to me.

A Keeper on the other hand is one entrusted with virtues or talent to trade with. The difference between a Carrier and a Keeper is that A keeper is a steward with extra responsibilities. Everyone is naturally born a carrier, but not all Carriers are keepers. Before a carrier becomes a keeper He must have proven to be diligent and productive with what he has. Remember, to whom much is given, much more is expected.