The moon is high and round. Its silvery light washes over and illuminates all in the homestead. In the centre of the homestead is a small bonfire. Some women are roasting corn and pears. Not far from the bonfire, sat a group of children and adults. The attention of the group is focused on the old man with a cow tail flung casually over his left shoulder.

 

The group is expectant. Their concentration is total. The night has gone suddenly very quiet.

 The old one clears his throat noisily.

   “Chapkrii“ he bellows with a gesticulation of his left hand.

“Waaaaarrri”, the listeners reply in chorus.

“Once upon a time”, he begins, drawing out the words slowly.

“And time came upon time,” the group replies.

 

 “The tortoise and the he-goat used to be best friends,” began the old man, a dry smile of superior wisdom on his lower lip.

 

The above is one of the many traditional African storytelling scenes, which Wooden Gongs and Drumbeats seeks to recapture.

 

Funny, witty, light-hearted and highly amusing, Dahi also brings together some of the idioms and proverbs commonly used in Africa.  These are, as they say, the salt with which prudent speakers spice words and statements. Their measured and apt usages are also widely regarded as the hallmarks of sober oratory.

 

A must-read to all interested in understanding the African worldview!

 ________

Chris Dahi Onuchukwu was born Adindu Chiedozie Onukwue in Umuahia, Nigeria, on 13 October 1958. The second son of the king of Ubakala,  Umuahia,  the Uba II of Ubakala, he was raised in the palace, where he learnt at first-hand all about folklores, idioms, proverbs and wisecracks. His father, a city-based businessman before his installation as the Uba II of his people, did not want to give up his business to become a fulltime traditional ruler.  Consequently, at the age of eight, Dahi was taken by the traditional elders to stand in for his father as the upholder of the people’s tradition.

 

Despite being a de facto traditional ruler at a tender age, Chris Dahi never lost sight of the benefits of modern education. He graduated from Government College, Umuahia, in 1976 and later studied Sociology at the University of Jos, Nigeria. He has worked variously as a painter, insurance man, newspaper writer, television programme researcher, radio commentator and broadcaster. He is married with two children and currently lives in Belgium while his family lives in Abuja, Nigeria.