She was a king!

At the museum of Moibi, There is a statue of a woman with a bow and an arrow on her hands. There’s a huge scar at her back going from her shoulder to her spinal cord. There are also five women standing behind her. One of the women wore a crown. The sculptures are so beautiful and magnificent. They are gigantic and strong, unbudging like a mahogany tree planted by the riverside.

“Dad, who is this woman and why does she have women behind her?” Seven years old Amina who stands beside her father asks the museum attendant making him smile as he explains,

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Thirty years ago, in a great kingdom called Moibi, women were treated as properties. They had no rights of their own and they were seen as items owned by the men. They were beaten, molested and injured by people they called their husbands, fathers, nephews, brothers and Uncles. Young girls were abducted on the road for marriage. The poor men abducted the girls themselves while the rich men sent servants to do the job for them. The abducted girls were kept in a hut under the watchful eyes of their abductors. They were raped each day by their abductors. After they’ve been raped, their abductors chose the ones they liked and took them for a wife while the rest were thrown out to the street to find their way home. It was a way of choosing a wife in Moibi. It was a normalcy. Girls of various ages including under aged girls who should still be at the bosom of their parents were abducted. The king did nothing about it, instead he encouraged the act. Women were used to pay debts. Many fathers gave their daughters out as a payment of debts they owed. Women were also used as gifts to reward the men who had done extraordinary things in the kingdom. The King would call all the citizens to the palace to rejoice with the men and then, the men would be asked to pick two girls of their choice from the crowd as their gifts for making the kingdom proud. The picked women would then become the men’s properties irrespective of their ages and feelings. It was the men’s right to do whatsoever they pleased to the women. The males beat any female related to them including their mothers unnecessarily or for trivial issues. Women couldn’t say a word about how badly they were treated. They took it as fate and tried all their possible bests not to offend their husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles and nephews.

In the midst of all these lived a young lady named Ladi who was a victim of both assault and molestation by the man she called her father. She was the only child of her parents and one would think she would be well taken care of, even pampered but the opposite was her fate. Her father turned her and her mother into a punching bag. Whenever her father was drunk, he beat them with anything he came across, be it rods or stones. Once, while she was still a little girl, she had been cut with the shard of a broken calabash by her father. This was how it happened, He had asked her to get him a cup of water and she had brought a small calabash in one hand and a pot of water in the other hand. She poured the water into the small calabash carefully so it would not spill. She then dropped the calabash on the small stool beside her father. Her father had stared at her with furious eyes and had slapped her really hard on the cheek. Like that wasn’t enough, He threw the calabash on the ground and water splashed all over the walls.

“How dare you drop the calabash with your left hand?” He had thundered as he picked a large shard and cut his own daughter at her back from her shoulder to her spinal cord. The cut was so deep and Ladi had lain on the floor in her blood crying. Her mother had picked her up and tried to stop the wound from bleeding.

“Why did you make your father angry?” Her mother asked. “Why did you drop the calabash with your left hand?”

“I was holding the pot of water in my right hand, what other hand would I have used to carry the calabash?” Ladi had cried.

“You could have dropped the pot on the stool and ran to bring the calabash. Must you bring everything at once?”

“So you’re saying it’s my fault?”

“Yes of course!” Her mother had scolded. Men were always right and everything good was from men. Everyone blamed women for any bad that happened in the land. Ladi at that age felt it wasn’t right but she couldn’t do anything about it. She watched her father inflict pains and injuries on both her and her mother for good twenty years before he died. The last beating he unleashed on her mother left her mother partially blind.

During his burial, Ladi’s mother was dragged along to the burial ground by the town’s men. In Moibi, whenever a man died, his living wife or wives were buried along with him. It was a taboo for a man to die while his wives lived and so the women were buried alive with their dead husbands. Once, a woman had tried to run away but was caught and was dragged to pieces by the King’s chariot. Ladi knew her father’s death would demand her mother’s life also and so her mother was buried alive right before Ladi’s eyes. Ladi watched everything like a drama acted on stage.

The brutal death of her mother hit Ladi hard on the face. She couldn’t get that nights’ event out of her mind. She still remembered all that happened including how the toads sang an elegy for her mother with the crickets backing up. The cloud crept to the earth, everywhere was dark and misty that night. The moon refused to shine like it couldn’t behold the horror that would take place before it’s eyes. The stars were also scanty on the sky. The fog and darkness met and embraced together making the night look so dreadful and scary.

This was injustice! She thought. She couldn’t get the thought out her mind. Some days later, She spoke about it to her four close friends to know if they felt the same and they did.

“But what can we do? This must be our fate?” One of them had said.

“No, if this was our fate then we must fight it. We can’t continue this way. This is injustice on the part of the women. Days ago, a girl was beaten to death by her brother simply because the food was salty. My mother was buried alive few days ago. How can we continue this way?” Ladi had protested.

“So what do we do?” One of her friends asked.

They began writing notes on papers and pasting it at night all over the kingdom. They disguised in men’s clothing as they pasted the papers on the walls and trees at the village square. The next morning, people began reading the papers. The men laughed their heads off, “what a joker! How can women be treated as equals with men? Ridiculous!” They had said but the women saw things differently. They believed what was written in the letter. They wanted to see the author of the notes.

As more papers were pasted, the thirst to meet the writer of the notes increased. Ladi knew about this so she sent her friends out to speak with any woman they came across reading the notes. She told them to ask the following question and give the following message, If the replies were positive.

“Do you believe what the writer said?, do you intend to meet the writer? can you be trusted? ”

If the response were convincingly yes, they would be directed to Ladi’s house.

The men knew nothing about this because they paid no attention to the notes. They attributed craziness to the writer and often used the notes for comedy and mockery.

Ladi was surprised and glad by the number of women that flooded her house while the men went for their various activities. She sat them down and stood in their midst. She made them understand that what they were experiencing was unjust and unfair. She spoke passionately, making sure her every word sank into the subconscious of the women. She made sure the women were provoked in their spirits.

“Yes, you’re right. Yesterday my husband threw a pot of hot soup on my face because I didn’t prepare his favourite soup.” A woman had said and there was a huge grumbling from the assembly.

“My uncle raped me and when I told my father, he beat me up and accused me of seducing my uncle.” A girl added and there was another round of grumbling.

“You see. Everyone of us here are victims of molestation. If we don’t do something, we would continue to live this way.” Ladi said.

“What do we do?” Was the question she got.

“We fight!”

There was a huge silence as every woman was lost in thought.

“We can’t continue this way! This is terrible! Who knows whose husband will die tomorrow? It’s either you die while fighting or you die with your husbands. This is an issue that concerns every woman in Moibi. We need to build a good future for our generations and we can’t do that if we sit with folded arms. So who’s with me?” Ladi asked.

Her four friends stood up and said “We’re with you!” Ladi smiled and then said, “who else is with me?” Then the queen got up and said, “I am!” There was a huge murmur. No one knew the queen was in the gathering.

“Your Majesty!”

“You’re right Ladi. This is so wrong. I can’t continue to watch my women suffer. I’m not even exempted. I’m suffering in the hands of my husband too. He excludes me from important matters and he never listens to my opinion. He told me to my face that I was his object.” The queen muttered stirring up angry murmurs.

The women then began to agree seeing that the queen was on their side. “We’re with you Ladi!” They said.

Ladi was very glad. The women then planned on how they would achieve their aims. They concluded that Ladi and her friends would go and find a good spot in the forest where they would build up homes for the women. Every woman had to swear with her life that she would keep the plan to revolt a secret.

They made up plans on how they would store up food in the forest house until the day of Baya, an annual wrestling festival for every male. It was held in the palace for fourteen days. Females weren’t allowed in the baya festival, even the queen had to leave the palace for that period.

“We leave when the men had gone for the baya festival!” Ladi concluded. The women agreed and left singing for joy that day.

Just as they had planned, they built up wooden houses in the forest. Many young girls had shown up to help in the building. This was done when the men had gone to work. Many women offered foods and weapons to be stored up at the forest house including the queen. During those time, Ladi trained the young girls that helped in building. She taught them the act of archery and encouraged them to be warriors.The men were unaware about all that was happening for they paid little attention to the things that concerned the women.

The festival of baya came and the women made their way to the forest house. The training continued and more women joined in the training. Soon all the women became experts in archery. They made spears and arrows from trees to defend their new home.

The men returned from the festival two weeks later only to meet the town devoid of women. They informed the king about it and the king sent some men to search for the women. They searched to no avail. When they were about giving up, they saw two girls plucking fruits. They ran after the girls, but the girls ran to the forest house where Ladi and her four friends stood. Ladi asked the men to go back and inform the king that no female would return back to Moibi. The men were furious and tried to enter the forest house but Ladi and the girls whipped them out with whips of thorns. The men ran out shouting hysterically to the palace.

“The women has gone mad o!” They told the king. “Even, the queen is among.”

The king couldn’t believe his ears. He furiously went to the forest house, with the guards. He threatened the women to come back but Ladi told him the same thing she had told the men. Even the queen told king Bawka that he was a failed king. “You allow the women to be subjected to this unfair treatment. We are humans just like you. Why do you treat us this way? We aren’t properties.” The queen had yelled.

King Bawka stared at them like they were all mad. “Guards, take all these women back to the kingdom and let them serve their punishment.” He ordered. The guards moved forward to drag the women but Ladi and the women fought the guards. This was so surprising. The king stared in horror as the women fought bravely, killing and injuring the guards. The weak women! How could this be so? The king thought. He watched with abject wonder. Then Ladi walked up to him and kept her cold sword under his chin.

“I could kill you right now but I won’t just because of your title but If you come here again, I promise, you won’t leave here alive.” she had threatened. “Now run like a dog!”

The king ran out of the forest shamed and furious. How could a woman talk to him like that? An ordinary property? He sent a troop of his best warriors to destroy the forest house and capture the women. A young girl spotted the troop from afar as she watched from a tall tree. Ladi then planed a guerilla attack on the guards. The women warriors laid in ambush. With that, they were able to defeat the guards. The king was furious, he sent more guards and the same thing happened. He sent the third party of guards and all were killed except one guard that escaped with severe injury.

“My King, the women are laying ambush in wait for us. They attack us in the night while we are camping.” He revealed before he died.

The king then sent more guards with a complete different plan. They went to the top of the mountain where they could see the women laying ambush. They began shooting arrows to the women.

“What’s happening?” The queen asked.

“The men had found out our plan.” Ladi replied. “Every one retreat, take the injured women back to the forest house. Everyone retreat!” She screamed as she stood shooting arrows back to the men while the women ran back to the forest house. Then suddenly, three arrows struck Ladi on the heart, neck and stomach. She fell to her knees as blood spilled out of her mouth.

Her four friends who had been busy carrying the injured women to the forest house ran to her. They carried her back to the forest house as blood gushed out of her body. They laid her on a bamboo bed while the women crowded around here. The injuries were severe so she couldn’t be treated with herbs.

“Great women of Moibi,” Ladi began with choked voice. “I don’t want you to be discouraged. Continue to fight and make sure you win. Don’t be disheartened by my death. I’m very proud of you all and I die a fulfilled woman!” Ladi coughed out blood as she breath her last.

There were loud wails from the women as they held her body. They wept bitterly. Just then, they heard a great noise. They knew the men were coming for them.

“Women! We all heard what Ladi said before she died. If you don’t fight now, you’ll die in the hands of the men! There’s no backing out!” The queen proclaimed as the women stood up and ran to the men who were running toward forest war. They knew they might all die but they hoped that by their death they would be able to build a perfect world for their daughters. They hoped to show the world to learn to value women.

★ ★ ★

“And that’s the story of the women you see. This is Ladi and the women at her back are her four friends and the queen.” The museum attendant concludes.

“Wow! Ladi worked really hard.” Amina exclaims.

“Yes! She did. She did what many men couldn’t do. She stood up and fought for the women. She was dauntless and courageous. It’s because of Ladi’s action, the world is a better place to live in for women. If Ladi had accepted everything as fate like other women, who knows what tribulations women would be going through now. Ladi did a tremendous thing. She led the women to war. She was a king!” Her father replies.