Lessons From The Life of a Fighting Man: Innocent Chukwuemeka Chukwuma
Introduction
Work in progress…
Nwá a mụ̀rụ̀ į́ tā ọ́kpụ́kpụ́ sį́té ná nwátá, onye átálá yá má ézé yá dį́ ókè nkọ́
A child born amid the political crisis leading up to the Biafran War and given the name “Innocent” by his parents to reinforce to everyone around them, including themselves, that despite the tribally motivated persecution happening all around them, they indeed maintained their innocence. Although they and their child were Igbo, they had no hand in plotting any coup or in killing anyone.
One must then be forced to wonder: to what extent is the perception of one’s group one’s own individual image? To what extent does it, or can it, affect them? In what way has the naming of this child, albeit unconsciously, only succeeded in reinforcing and planting the seed that, no matter how far removed one wishes to be from the plight of their own people—even from the false perceptions which they have a right to refuse—they can only succeed in attaching themselves further, or being further attached, to the very idea they wish to detach from?
To what extent has the naming of this child as INNOCENT successfully declared him guilty of being Igbo for the rest of his life? Does he disprove or display this fact of identity? On that note, we shall see.
Lesson: Nobody should blame a child who was taught from babyhood to chew bones if their teeth get rather sharp.
Éló sị̀rị̀ nà nwátà gbúó yá íjè, yá á gbúó yá ózí
A left-handed child, a sign of uniqueness, some may say, or simply another indication of a quite ordinary human being, a more modern mind may pre-empt. However, in the eyes of his parents, for their own times, this instinctive use of the left hand which their child possessed was quite an anomaly. The protective fear of superstitious inclinations almost led to Chukwuemeka being crippled in his predominant hand in the quest for a fix by his parents, but they failed to correct a situation that was not incorrect by naturally occurring standards in the first place.
As one cannot cure nature of what it knows to be true, one can neither relieve a child of their destined functions nor the features that address their destined uniqueness. Thankfully, when the weight of curing the incurable was evaluated side by side with the common sense of having a healthy child, the parental caution and love of both parents prevailed, allowing them to let their child be. To cease trying to prevent the mushroom from taking on its natural movements.
Innocent Chukwuemeka was left to the overwhelming victory of his natural instincts to remain a left-handed child, giving room for enough early practice for the constant side-eyes, doubts, and challenges he would be faced with from society in the life ahead, where a table full of many demands to be placed upon his uniqueness already lay waiting for him, beckoning him forward.
Lesson: The mushroom said that if the child prevents it from walking, it will prevent the child from doing its chores.
Lesson 3
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Lesson 4
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Lesson 5
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Lesson 6
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Lesson 7
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Lesson 8
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Lesson 9
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