18/07/2024
*_"ÓGBENYE”_*
I grew up to know that what the Igbo called and still call the economically poor person is “ógbènye”. If the economic condition is worse than just poverty, the person is called “ógbènye ọnụntụ”. But I, like numerous Igbo, never thought about the expression (ógbènye) for a day until recently when a brilliant but maverick UNN lecturer jovially and popularly called “Akị-Ọnụ” exposed me to it. It was on a radio programme. He had explained thus:
“In the traditional and well-organised Igbo society, there were the rich, the middle class and the poor just as in other societies but the Igbo people of then, under their republican Ụmụnna system, thought for the poor and made sure they are cared for. And so, they designed a scheme where the haves contributed money for the have-nots. The Igbo towns are a collection of Ógbès—what we know in the modern times as “Quarters”. So, the contribution was done in Ógbè — One Ógbè contributed their money and another/others contributed, and the whole sum was shared to the poor. So, the poor people/have-nots who received this gratification, over time, were known as “ndị ógbè na-enye” (beneficiaries of Ógbè). With that, you had it morphed to one word as “Ógbènye (for singular) and “Ndị Ógbènye” (for plural)”.
On listening to this wonderful exposition, my brains went wild in excitement and search. I had always known that every Igbo word or name is filled with deep history, memory and thoughts, which has made me never to joke with Igbo names for persons and things such that I always want to know the meaning or origin of any Igbo name no matter how flimsy or superficial. I will remain eternally grateful to Mr Akị-Ọnụ for opening the depths of his knowledge for me to have access into the minds of our very wise and deep-thinking ancestors who lived more meaningfully than we live now.
I have just heard an Osita Osadebe's song in which he sang “anyị e kechaa n'ama, anyị bụlụ naba n'obí” and I listened further to hear him again say in spoken words: “Ámá bụ nke obodo, Òbí bụ nke ógbè”. Akị-Ọnụ's explanation came more solid at that point as I imagined that the poor was taken care of by every Òbí (which only the well-to-do owned) and the contributions collated according to Ógbè.
This is real communal living, very much unlike what is obtainable elsewhere in Nigeria. It is a collective effort of the people and the credit goes to the community, not to any single individual (lord, monarch or master). It's the same way our public utilities (schools, water, electricity, markets, places of worship, etc), are initiated and completed without waiting for government. That's how we live - The Igbo.
'Ndị gboo' ka anyị wee nwee uche - biko onye aghakwala nwanne ya!
Igbo kwenu
Igbo kwenu
Igbo kwezuonu!
