The Combatants

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THE most important stage of this war practice sessions was the wrestling matches. This was so because the sport of wrestling, apart from being a veritable tool for combatants, is part of our heritage. In fact, every year, on the last Eke Market Day preceding the Oriri Azu Festival, young men and boys of Obodo Nta gather at the bank of Okirikiri River and lock horns in wrestling duels, while elderly men, elderly women, young women and girls watch with ecstasy to see who would take the upper hand in this game of strength.

The wrestling bouts are staged in different divisions — according to age grades, and, in rare cases, according to the weight of the wrestlers, age notwithstanding.

The winners of the wrestling bouts in the said divisions are awarded with the title of ‘Ezi Nwa Okirikiri’ (The Real Son of Okirikiri), after the name of the god of Okirikiri River. In addition, they are asked to choose any maiden of their choice as their wife-to-be, and not even the chosen maiden’s dissent can alter the public declaration.

For boys not yet the age of majority, their chosen maidens are betrothed to them instantly, and must await their gradual ascent to maturity before the nuptial knot is tied. Once, a young boy, by name ‘Nganga,’ chose a maiden who was almost twelve years older than he, and the wrestling arena was thrown into a paroxysm of laughter. But the rule is sacrosanct. And so, the young maiden, despite her reservations and supposed public ignominy in getting married to a boy she could as well have given birth to, had to obey the age-long tradition.

If a boy or a young man woos a girl and she turns down the overtures, they await the wrestling match day for a second chance where they wrestle with all their mights to throw their opponents and, then, impose their choice on the girl.

I watched Ógù, the younger of my twin boys, throw all his mates with the bravado of a real warrior. No one was his match. In fact, as years rolled by, he beat even his seniors in a wrestling match, and they nicknamed him, ‘Ozodimgba'(Chimpanzee) because he was the king of wrestling.

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