BY

PRINCESS SHERIFAT AKOREDE

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there lived a kind king and a lovable queen in a big city in the depth of Yoruba Kingdom in Africa. The king was a descendant of an old and powerful dynasty called the Akelu. King and Queen Akelu of this Yoruba kingdom were blessed with seven beautiful, kind and intelligent daughters, named Omolola, Olabomi, Temilade, Adebukola, Abimbola, Adetoro, and Titilope. Even though, the king and queen loved their children very much, they were not happy that they did not have a son to inherit the throne and carry on the dynasty. According to the tradition of this kingdom, only male children could inherit the throne and rule the land. Therefore, none of the seven princesses could inherit the throne and rule the land. And the control would have to be transferred to another household.

Everyday, as soon as the king and the queen woke up, they would pray for a son, for the heir to their throne before they were too old to bear any more children. So, one day, the queen announced happily that she was pregnant again for the eighth time, and that she was sure that God had put a male child inside her this time. The king was very happy and prayed every minute of the day that his wife may finally give him a son.

Soon enough, the day of delivery arrived. All the knowledgeable spiritual leaders and the most experienced doctors and nurses in the Kingdom were summoned to King Akelu’s Palace. The spiritualists were charged with the duty to pray that the baby would be a boy, while the medical people were to make sure that nothing went wrong with the delivery. The king paced the large reception hall back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth and his chiefs tagged along, offering their assurances that the baby would be a boy.

The king, followed by his entourage, would walk towards the large bedroom where the queen was being delivered of her baby. He would listen at the door and hear voices. Suddenly all the voices shouted out in what sounded like a very loud group cheering. Before he could stop himself, the king flung open the door to the room and demanded to know what caused the cheering. Then all the women in the room flung themselves onto the floor and hailed, “Kabiyesi o! Kabiyesi! Kabiyesi o!” three times. The head nurse stepped forward and handed a small velvet wrapped bundle to King Akelu, ‘IT’S A BOY!’

The King could not believe his ears. Holding the bundle close to himself, he walked to the bed where the queen laid smiling proudly, he said, ‘we did it! My Queen, we did it! God has answered our prayers. Our name will never perish in this land.’

All the people in the Yoruba Kingdom rejoiced with their king and queen for seven days. And on the eighth day, the naming ceremony was to take place. It was declared a holiday for everyone in the kingdom. It was a day of festivities where food and drinks flowed freely among the people and everyone danced to drums and other musical instruments played throughout the land.

The new prince was named Jaguda, which meant, one who fought his way out of the wilderness. He began to grow into a strong healthy boy. He was also very brave, probably a little too brave. He was not afraid to venture into the deepest forest where all types of dangerous animals and creatures lived. He could swim in the deepest rivers, dive to the bottom of the sea and battle the dangerous twirl of the ocean waves. He pleaded to go hunting with the most daring hunters of the land. The king watched him with pride. He was certain that his son would make a great and powerful king after him.

Then one day, Jaguda decided to venture on his own into a forest that was known to be inhabited by wicked spirits, strange creatures and the deadliest animals. The forest was called Igbo Aginju. He did not let his parents or his guards know of his mission. Only a handful of his young friends knew and they escorted him to the narrow path leading into the forest. His friends begged him not to go, but Jaguda would not heed their pleading and obeyed his curiosity. When Jaguda disappeared from their sight, the sun had not even reached its zenith and its beam barely licked their skin. The youngsters lingered around the tip of the forest half-heartedly playing games while the sun was slowly roasting their skin. They waited till the sun was just a yellow powerless globe in the sky. When they did not see Jaguda reappear, panic overcame them and they ran to the palace to inform the king and queen about it.

Upon hearing this, the queen burst into tears and the king ordered his soldiers to go and bring his son back from the forest immediately. The soldiers followed Jaguda’s friends to the mouth of the narrow path from which the prince entered the forest and they also bravely entered it. They searched the forest till the moon was fully enthroned in the sky without any sign of the prince. They returned to the palace to report to the king and queen. The king was very upset and the queen was hysterical with terror. The king added more soldiers and ordered them into the forest.

“You should not come back into town until you have found my son!” He commanded.

The soldiers did not return that night, or the night that followed, or the one after that. For days, there was no news of the prince or the soldiers. The king and the queen did not sleep or eat throughout. They were grief-stricken. The seven princesses could not stop crying and wailing over their only brother, whom they all loved immeasurably. Everybody in the city was mourning with the Akelu royal family. The chiefs, lords and ladies of the Akelu Kingdom visited the palace everyday and offered their support and prayers for the safe return of their royal crown prince.

On the sixth day of the prince’s disappearance, the queen was almost unconscious with grief and worry. Food was forced into her and the royal physician had to sedate her and the king so they could get some sleep. When they woke up on the seventh day, their son had not yet been found. Sitting in the palace reception hall on the lower throne, the queen started another round of sorrowful wailing and crying, while some elderly townswomen consoled her. The king, sitting head down on the highest throne, was also being consoled and encouraged to be optimistic by the town’s elderly.

Suddenly, loud commotion was heard coming from the palace courtyard. The king got down from his throne and rushed out into the courtyard closely followed by the queen and the others. They saw Prince Jaguda sitting on the shoulders of two soldiers grinning happily from ear to ear surrounded by countless people. The soldiers sent on the quest to find him were shouting out victory war songs and the townspeople were doing frantic joyous dances. The town’s drummers were letting their talking drums beat out praises of the soldiers and the Akelu royal family. The royal court drummers and trumpeters quickly joined them.

As soon as Prince Jaguda was put on the ground, Queen Akelu scooped him up and buried him into her bosom, showering him with tears and kisses. When the queen released him briefly to see if it was really her son returned to her safely, the king also gathered him into his strong royal arms and hugged him so tight, the boy almost passed out. Hearing the entire clamor, the seven princesses also came into the courtyard and surrounded the young prince with affectionate embraces.

That day, the king ordered food and drinks to be provided for a big festivity for the township.

Back inside the reception hall, King Akelu demanded to know where his son had been for seven days and seven nights. First the soldiers explained how they had organized themselves into search parties to cover all parts of the deep forest. And when they still had not found him on the sixth night, the War General, titled Balogun, decided to venture into the deepest and the most dangerous part where no human being had ever gone and returned. That was where, Prince Jaguda was found, among unknown and unearthly creatures, spirits, and strange animals. Balogun narrated how he fought all night with those strange beings both physically and with spiritual power and was able to rescue Jaguda by dawn.

Then it was Prince Jaguda’s turn to relate his mysterious adventure in the most dangerous and powerful woods in the land. He recounted his seven-day sojourn in the mystical forest, how some strange creatures gave him new power that would make him the strongest man, the fastest runner and the bravest man in town. He had eaten and slept during those seven days with jinnis, imps, fetishes, demons, human outcasts, evil witches and wizards. He told them about the strangest of all the creatures that could have been a woman if she was a human being promised him. She had informed him that he was selected by the creatures of the unknown world to carry out a mission for them. So they used their super power to lure him into the forest to be prepared for his mission. And that he was to live out the true meaning of his name as his life unfolds.

As Jaguda recounted his tale, the king, the queen, the seven princesses and all present did not realize that they had left their mouths hanging down in stupor. And they did not fail to notice that much had changed about the warm, gentle and humble prince. He seemed more matured, arrogant and wilder.

After a short while, life returned to normal in the Yoruba land. Prince Jaguda was growing into a strong tall man and the seven princesses were blossoming into beautiful young women. The kingdom continued to prosper. The king and queen were very happy.

Then one day, Prince Jaguda left the palace alone and went to the city’s market. He walked up to a woman carrying a shopping basket filled with purchases, suddenly; he grabbed it from her and fled. The woman cried out, ‘thief! Ole! Ole!’ making a feeble attempt to run after him. People around were so stunned that no one came to her aid. The following day, Prince Jaguda went to another section of the market and snatched the money pouch from a merchant who was trying to make a purchase in front of a shop. He fled the scene with high speed. Everyone around was so perplexed at the sudden and unusual act that no one made a pursuit. The third day, Prince Jaguda made yet another trip to the market and snatched some valuables from another victim. There was an outcry of thievery in the market, but no one was able to run after him. Everyday, Prince Jaguda would rob the people of Yoruba land of their valuables in broad daylight and escaped. Those who tried to catch him could not run as fast as he did. He outran them all.

Soon reports of this atrocity reached King Akelu, but no one knew who the robber was. The king then sent some palace guards to the town market and ordered them to find the culprit and bring him to the palace. Jaguda heard of the order and he changed his disguise every time he set out on his criminal mission.

The royal guards started patrolling the marketplace and protecting the people. And Jaguda continued his harassment of the townspeople. Whenever he struck, the guards were unable to catch up with him as he moved deftly between houses, cutting through people’s compounds and jumping over fences.

One day when one of the most athletic guards caught up with him, Jaguda beat him up senselessly and fled to his criminal hideout. On another occasion, two guards and a townsman caught him and tried to drag him to the palace, but Jaguda overpowered them, beat them up thoroughly and still got away. And every time, he went on a robbing rampage, he used different plans and tricks, so he managed to outsmart everybody in the city. Even though, the guards had not been able to apprehend Jaguda, some of them had gotten a glimpse through his disguise and thought they recognized him. However, they thought that their eyes must have been deceiving them or that the robber strangely resembled their crown prince. They believed that it was impossible for their beloved crown prince to be the notorious robber who had been terrorizing the community.

Jaguda, who had become a fully-grown man, had been receiving training in preparation for the task of ruling after his father was using those skills to steal and rob from the people he was supposed to rule and protect. He soon started breaking into people’s homes and robbing them. This made the king more unhappy about the state of affairs in his land.

Then one day, the market women got together at a meeting and came up with a plan to catch the robber. They baited him with some valuables and laid ambush. Jaguda fell into their trap and they caught him. Everyone was shocked when Jaguda’s disguise was removed and discovered that he was the notorious robber. Crown prince or not, they dragged him to the palace accompanied by a large mob.

When they reached the palace and presented the crown prince to his parents as the menace to society, the queen cried out in disbelief and agony, then she fainted and fell into the arms of the ladies at court. The king stormed and descended from his throne in a flashing movement and grabbed his son roughly,

‘What is this they are saying, Jaguda?’ he demanded, ‘is what they say true? Are you the thief, the rogue, the robber who has been terrorizing this town?’ Jaguda could not respond, he merely stared shamefully at the floor.

Everyone was in shock and disbelief. After the Queen was revived, she kept asking her son over and over again why he was stealing when he had everything at his disposal. He was not deprived of anything. The king was also grief stricken.

Prince Jaguda finally responded, ‘Dear mother, dear father, I didn’t intend to bring you this dishonor and I can’t explain why I was robbing and hurting our people, except that something inside me kept pushing me to do those evil things...’

The prince bowed his head further and laid flat on the floor in prostration before his parents.

‘I ask forgiveness from you and the people of Akelu for my misdeeds. Please, forgive me. And I would ask to be banished from this beloved land so that no one would have to suffer my attacks again.

As Jaguda, pleaded, an old wise woman among the people, stepped forward and knelt before King Akelu.

‘Kabiyesi, Ka-a-a-biyesi o. May the royal crown dress your head for a long time, and may your shoes stay on your feet for a long time,’ she delivered the formal royal greetings in Yoruba land. Then she continued, ‘this young prince has spoken well. If your lordship permits, I will explain why he did all those evil things. All eyes turned to the old wise lady. The king signaled his permission for her to speak.

‘Kabiyesi, Kabiyesi, do you remember years ago when Prince Jaguda went into the forest and was not found until seven days and seven nights later?’ she asked.

The king, the queen and many of the courtiers replied in unison, ‘Yes, yes.’

‘Well, if your lordship remembered clearly, Prince Jaguda told us right here in this palace that the unearthly creatures who captured him said that he had a mission that he had to carry out which would show the world the true meaning of his name.’ The king and queen looked at the wise old woman with apprehension and they answered, ‘yes, we remember.’

‘Kabiyesi, the name Jaguda had been selected by these creatures and spirits millions of years ago to mean “thief, robber, and snatcher of valuables. Their request was granted so any child who is named Jaguda from now on will become a thief and a rogue. Our prince has carried out the mission he was sent.’ The queen, tears streaming down her face, then cried out, ‘so what can we do to change my son back to a good and honest person?!’

‘Yes, wise woman, what do we do now?’ the king added.

‘First,’ she began, ‘we have to pray and fast from dawn to dusk for seven days, and on the eighth day, you have to find a new beautiful name and change the prince’s name. You must also organize another naming ceremony for him just as it was done when he was newly born into the world. You must provide food, beverage and festivity for the people of this land so they can forgive him.’

The king and queen quickly accepted the wise woman’s advice and ordered for the arrangements to start. Jaguda was renamed Olusola, Adewale, Jagunmolu, Akanbi Akelu and his good nature was restored. The kingdom prospered and everyone lived happily ever after.

From that day, when a new baby boy was born in the land, no one named him Jaguda. And all the children who had previously been named Jaguda were given new names with positive beautiful and inspiring meanings, such as Ayomide, Olagboyega, Olushola, Oluwafemi, Adetunji, Aderemilekun….

THE END

Kabiyesi: Your Majesty!

Yoruba: A language widely spoken in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, parts of the Caribbean, including Brazil and in the Diaspora. It’s a tonal language spoken by approximately 40 million people

Olusola: Blessing bestowed by God

Adewale: The Crowned returned Home

Jagunmolu: A triumphant Warrior or Solder

Akanbi: First son or A male child determined to be born

Akelu: He who cares about the citizens or the land