OJUJU: THE VILLAGE OF FORBIDDEN LOVE - EPISODE 9
Three months later, Amisha sent his servants to go round the village and inform the villagers that there would be a general meeting and everyone must be in attendance. The following day, all the villagers were present in Ojuju shrine as they know what would befall them if they fail the do so
Immediately Amisha walked in, they all knelt down and sang
"Long live Amisha! Long Live Ojuju!"
Amisha sat down a throne like chair in front of the people are addressed them
"There are seven key issues that I need to address so that the village can run smoothly and progress" Amisha began
The first issue is the issue of drought that we are currently experiencing. As we all know, due to your rebellion , Ojuju has plagued the land with drought. This is supposed to be a planting season but you all can not even plant because there is no rainfall. I have been begging Ojuju on your behalf and finally Ojuju has decided to have mercy of you. Today we would have abundant rain in this land and tomorrow you all can go back to your farms" Amisha said
All the villagers jumped and started to dance while praising Amisha and Ojuju
" I am happy to see you all are happy. Ojuju is not a wicked god. If you obey it tenets and laws, you all will experience great peace but Ojuju will not hesitate to strike when you disobey" Amisha warned
" We would never disobey Ojuju ever again" The villagers promised
" Good. Secondly as you all know, I perform two roles. The role of your Priestess and your ruler. I would need a cabinet to assist with ruling the kingdom. However my cabinet would not be a body of empty chiefs who knows nothing beyond the physical. On that note, I hereby de-robe all the previous Chiefs and Elders. Today I shall be appointing my own cabinet. They shall be powerful both physically and spiritually. After Ojuju and I, they shall be the most powerful in the land. They shall be known as the daughters of Ojuju and shall rule the land with me" Amisha declared
" Your wish is our command " The villagers replied
" A daughter of Ojuju can never be under a man's rule hence they will never marry for life. They are permitted to have children unlike me but they mustn't marry. They are permitted to pick only one man of their choice who would give them children and also satisfy their bed cravings. The children would bear the man's name but must live with the daughter of Ojuju. The man is not permitted to live under the same roof with the daughter of Ojuju. He only comes when she needs him. He must also provide all her material needs and that of the children all his life. The daughter of Ojuju can sleep with the man any time she wants and he can never say No to her. He can never get married to another lady except the daughter of Ojuju is tired of him and set him free. Only then can he freely marry another lady or have kids with another woman. Any man who fails in this regard will meet a sad end. His duty would be to provide pleasure to that daughter of Ojuju for the rest of his life until she says otherwise" Amisha said
There were few murmur from some quarters of men but none was bold enough to say otherwise. Some section of women loved the idea and were already craving to be amongst the daughters of Ojuju.
Amisha went round the villagers and selected twelve young beautiful ladies who were still virgins and declared them the new daughters of Ojuju
"You all will undergo a three months spiritual exercise so as to enable Ojuju work through you and in you. For now go and pick one man each who will be your vessel of pleasure for life until you are tired of him" Amisha told the happy ladies who were selected
The ladies went into the crowd and picked the finest of young men they fancied and Amisha first led the young men on oath. After which she warned them
"Now that you have sworn before Ojuju, you can never marry another woman or sleeps with another. You must address the daughter of Ojuju as 'my mistress' and whatever she says to you, you must do while saying 'your will is my command'. You must pleasure her very well at all times that she needs you without complaining. You must never raise her fingers to work. You must work hard to provide for all her needs and that of the children you will bore for her. This you must do all the days of your life except she sets you free and pick another man. You must be prepared to give your life in exchanged for hers if the need arises. Is that clear" Amisha asked them
" Yes great one " They all replied
Amisha asked her new cabinet named daughters of Ojuju to seat on special chairs close to hers and they did happily
"The third issue. Is the issue of the worship of Ojuju. Every first day of the week will now be known as Ojuju week. That day, every villager must gather first thing in the morning before eating in this shrine to worship Ojuju. There shall be no farm work that day. It shall be also a day to rest and bond with your family" Amisha said
"We agree to your will great one" The villagers chorused
"The fourth issue is we are going to have a team of warriors. They will be specially trained both physically and spiritually. Their task is to protect this land and also lead missions to conquer other lands for Ojuju. Every extended family in this village must provide seven able bodied men and three agile ladies for this purpose. The warriors can not marry until they serve the village for ten years. After which they are retired and will be honoured with wives, husbands and lands. When they retire, their extended family must then replace them with another seven individuals. During their time as a warrior they would never farm as they would be well taken care of. Only Ojuju, I Priestess Amisha and daughters of Ojuju would be higher than them in command. Every other villager would be under their command" Amisha declared
" Yes great one" The villagers replied
"The fifth issue is the issue of tribute. Every family must provide every market day which is four days the following to my servants. A big basin of garri, yam, a small basin of rice, one bush meat, vegetables, tomatoes, dried river fish, oil and other food items. This would be used to take care of the warriors, assist the daughters of Ojuju and also for the consumption of I and my servants. Also it would also be to help the elderly in the village who can not fend for themselves and have no one to fend for them" Amisha said
" Yes great one " The villagers replied
" The sixth issue is the issue of laws of the land. This would be read to you later by the various family heads and defaulters would not be spared " Amisha said
" Yes great one " The villagers said
" Lastly I have thought about our annual s@crifice and I have spoken to Ojuju. Henceforth no free born of this village would be used for s@crifice " Amisha said and the whole village erupted for Joy
" Now when we go for wars to conquer territories, the people of that land conquered shall be brought here as sl@ves. It is from these sl@ves we would pick our annual s@crifice to Ojuju. However we must be fair to these sl@ves. Any of them who is able to marry a maiden or son of the soil of this kingdom would become a full citizen of these village and can no longer be s@crifice or even called a sl@ve anymore. They would then have all the rights of a free born in this village. When they are newly captured, they would be distributed to all families to live and serve those families. That family becomes their master until they are free" Amisha said and the happy villagers started shouting
" Long live Ojuju! Long live the greatest Priestess Amisha! "
Amisha did some Incantations and said
" I advise you all to run home now, a heavy rain is about to fall"
The villagers jubilated and suddenly for the first time in a long while, it started to rain again as Amisha had said. Everyone ran as fast as they could back home while children played and danced inside the rain.
The next three months was a period of training for both the daughters of Ojuju and the warriors. For the warriors, they became very skilled and fortitude spiritually.
The daughters of Ojuju on the other hand were initiated by Amisha. She gave them special powers such that she can enter their bodies at anytime she chooses and act through them. Soon the daughters of Ojuju became feared and reverence by all as all the villagers saw them Amisha in another body due to their spiritual and physical powers
If this story gets twenty comments and twenty likes, I would drop another episode today. If it does not, we would wait for tomorrow
To be continued