THE ROOT

aIn the early hours of 25 of May 1947, in the peaceful village of Ugbobi, a child was born into a royal home of a king, and that child is baba {ADAH} that is his name.

Baba is from a polygamous home which is common in most African settings. Baba's mother is like the fifth or sixth of all the wives but the most preferred of them all and this did not go down well with the senior or other junior wives. Those that comes from a polygamous home will be the ones to understand with it means to come from that part of the world it is never easy for the children of such a home.

The settings in a polygamous home is such that every woman competes with each other in other to get the husband's attention, other words setting them selves up for a fall before their husbands, and likewise the children looking for reasons why their half brothers or sisters should be scolded for no just cause. This is just a brief explanation.

Every child born of royalty, rituals must be performed to welcome such child to the home, palace and the world at large. but when the king's concubine gives birth, non of such rituals are performed because the king is not legally married to those concubines, they are just there for the kings pleasure and any child bore by such concubines are not recognised in a royal home when it comes to inheritance in the palace.

As a prince, baba got all the privileges that he deserve as of right to him, young boys of his age beg him to be friends with him and he has the right to decline when such a child i not appealing to him.

Hmmm. What a privilege . Baba will not stop talking about his childhood and how lucky he was to be royal and not the son of a concubine that will not be recognised and at the same time no benefit or any entitlement. The concubines are not allowed to cook for the king as well, they {concubines} do not eat from the royal pot but prepare their own meals separately, the only benefits the concubines have is the comfort of the palace. This is quite interesting to know, how can one be contented with being a concubine of all things, concubine without the benefit and duty of wife but to stay and bear additional children for the king, children that will not be recognised in the royal linage, children that will not wear royal ornaments and will not be counted amongst the legally married wives.

When baba was born, he was dedicated to the god's of the land and not dedicated in the church as it is done in churches and this is because the king his father was a traditionalist to the cure. Rituals were performed in the alter of the shrine and the baby presented to the gods for safe keep.

During such dedication, there is always a lot to eat and drink in the palace and especially, when the child is a male such celebration continues for days. Kings comes from far and near to welcome the new prince and the addition to the royal throne. On the other hand, when the baby is a girl, kings from other lands or chief will ask for their hands in marriage on behalf of their sons and when the girl is of age the marriage can then take place. What a tradition.

This tradition is common in most African settings, where a girl is given out in marriage without her knowledge or consent. Hmmm.

Can you imagine being married without knowing what it means to be married.

Baba also talked about his elder sisters that were married at birth, and how such husbands always comes around bringing gift items to their brides and how he will set those husbands up and their by embarrassing them. Sometimes, such husbands gets angry and will not want to come back or want anything to do with the girl {bride to be}.

The King their father is not always happy about such complaint whenever such misconduct gets to him about what had happened to his supposed son in - law to be, he will always caution his sons against such behaviour and not whether the daughters {princesses} are ready to be with the suitors.

Baba will always say that whenever he discusses with his sisters, they will always confide in him on how they want to be given the opportunity of chosen a suitor of their their choice and not just to be imposed on a man without their consent.

Whenever Baba sit and flashes back on his discussions with his sisters, he always feels like crying for them and then kind of tradition they practice and how unfavourable the tradition is to women during their time and especially to the royal home.

This is so because everybody wants to be associated to royalty and to the common man life is normal. When a man is of age a marries from his background, that is somebody from his back ground and not above his means , and this is because he cannot afford a maiden above his means.

The princesses want such marriage, because they feel with such marriage you will marry not just a husband but your friend.

Life in the palace is never easy even for the wives, series of competition always arise amongst the wives in trying to be the king's favourite wife. It is never easy when there are various women working towards the same direction, which is to make their husband which is the king happy.

In most cases, in a bid to be at the top of their games, they always end up setting themselves up. Somebody must take a fall for an offence in the palace and with this, you end up a then wrong side of the king, this and many more ups and down in the palace.

Apart from the ups and downs in the palace, life in the palace is actually fun for all, depending on what one has in mind.