“𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝑷𝒂𝒑!”
“Hey Son, how are you doing?”
“𝑫𝒂𝒅, 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒔, 𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅?”
“Who…one of who?”
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉…”
“Yeah, that was sordid, and…ehmm.. brutal. May his soul rest in peace”
“𝑫𝒂𝒅! 𝑾𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓?”
“No, no, no, no..that is the muddle the publication created and it is unfortunate.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏’….”
“No, son…that was never a case of two cult members fighting. That is why I blamed the author of the breaking news.”
“𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏?”
“No, not because the news was broken. Now, listen. Let us debate this as we used to. I want you to know many things about the Kegites club that got me in as a member since 1983. Talking about breaking news, in journalism, it is called ‘accidental falsehood’.”
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕? 𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅?”
“Imagine a headline in the news “Junk Food Kills” and a picture of Mcdonalds is being shown. What registers in the mind of the reader is that McDonald’s food is junk, right? That may be injurious to Mcdonalds’ as a full brush to tar junk food would be an instant registration which by intent is accidental but falsehood. So, using a picture of the slayed chief (in his full official kegites regalia) would easily make the reader assume that the kegites are rival cultists, fighting each other.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕…”
“Hold it, son. The picture with the ‘Breaking News’ evoked a wrong viewer’s mentality, such that millions of readers would likely run to town with the same notion that you had.”
“You are right. Even the Kegites Club International, Ilya Ovia, University of Benin Council of Chiefisis came out with an official position on the gruesome murder. Did you see it?
“𝑵𝒐, 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒚?”
“It said that the late Chief was, before his coronation, “screened and cleared of any association with any nocturnal group, a group within or outside the University of Benin.”
“There you go, son”
““𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 “𝑲𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒎” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑲𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 “𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍-𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍-𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂’𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂’.
“Exactly! The kegites have nothing to do with a dint of cultism whatsoever. We don’t hide our performance, we conduct our gyrations openly with pomp and pageantry. We are just jolly fellas promoting African culture in the raw form of our traditions.”
“𝑺𝒐, 𝑫𝒂𝒅, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒔?
“I cannot hundred percent beat my chest to the contrary. There could be some kegite members who, out of their choices, choose to be Ayamalele. But I can assure you…
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝑨𝒚𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒍𝒆?”
“Ayamalele is the kegites’ coinage referring to secret cults. If any Kegite member is caught in one leg in, as our member and the other leg as a cultist, it is summary dismissal for such members.”
“𝑫𝒊𝒔-𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑?
“Yes, dekegged. I, as a member, can go to the rooftop to shout that I am a member of Kegites, within the gathering or outside. If a kegite member belongs to another group that is nocturnal, he or she cannot and would dare not announce his or herself as an Ayamalele. No, never to the knowledge of the Kegites Club!”
“𝑾𝒐𝒘!”
“Yes! A calabash would be broken, symbolizing his or her excoriating dismemberment. The Kegites has zero tolerance for anything Ayamalele. We have a song that is more of our declaration or denouncement of a secret cult.
“𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈”
“Let’s sing it together:”
𝑀𝑒 𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑒,
𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑒 𝑜
𝑀𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑒,
𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑒 𝑠’𝑒𝑔𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑘𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑢𝑛 𝑜
𝑀𝑒 𝑙𝑒 𝑠’𝑒𝑔𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑢 𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑢 𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡 𝐶𝑢𝑙𝑡
𝑫𝒂𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈…
“You call Egbe Elemu a virus?”
“𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝑫𝒂𝒅… 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 -𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉”
“Which one is Positive virus ooo? I thought like HIV and Corona are viruses that are harmful…”
“𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆-𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝑵𝑨 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆-𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆…𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆-𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝑵𝑨 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍’𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒐𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔.”
“Lawd! All these because I am a Kegite? Wait, is virus a good thing?”
“𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝑫𝒂𝒅! 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚’𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝑲𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒚𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉, 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝑫𝒂𝒅?”
Right! I like to admit to the correct and positive virus running in my system (laughter).
“𝑫𝒂𝒅, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒔 𝒂 𝒌𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒂 𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆-𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝑵𝑨
“That is huge, son”
“O ta l’enu”
“O gb’enu tan”
-𝘉𝘺 𝘓𝘚𝘍 𝘍𝘢𝘺𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘢 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘢 (𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯)
𝘗𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘜𝘚 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯
