26. The Contest Between Ina (Fire) and Ojo (Rain)

A long time ago, the world was very different. In a land far away, in the town of Pelewu, lived an Ọba (ruler). The Ọba had a daughter called Agbado (Corn). Agbado was a very beautiful woman; her beauty was legendary. She was tall and elegant, with lovely, radiant eyes, glowing complexion, shiny hair, and well-proportioned body.

As Agbado approached the age when she was expected to get married, many men in the region and beyond wanted to marry her – Ọbas, princes, titled men such as Chiefs, as well as rich, prosperous, renowned, and well-placed men. They flocked to the palace to ask the Ọba for the princess’s hand in marriage without even knowing or wanting to know her first, or to court her. These men were forever talking about her beauty – how from head to toe she had the beauty that was the envy of all the other women in her town, and that made men swoon over her.

“Have you seen anything like it? Look how gorgeous she is with that lovely, glowing skin and hair, those beautiful, dazzling eyes, and that body of hers!”

Agbado hated all this. She held all these men in contempt and turned them all down. She was not the only woman who experienced this kind of situation in those days, however. For example, Kerebuje in another town, Makeke, and Amola in Kasawa, who lived with their parents, went through the same ordeal.

“I’m sick and tired of all these men coming here and asking for my hand in marriage as soon as they hear about me” she complained. Imagine that! They think that all they have to do is to register their interest with my parents because a daughter is expected to marry a man of her parents’ choice. Well, they’re so wrong. I’ll choose whom I want in my own time, and for my own reasons!”

It was indeed true that, at that time, parents, especially fathers, chose husbands for their daughters, but there were a few women like Kerebuje and Amola, who rejected this custom, and who chose whomever they wanted. It was also very common for the suitors to approach the fathers to ask for their daughters’ hands in marriage without asking the women themselves.

“How can I marry someone I don’t know or someone I have never even met? Never! I want to marry for love. I want the man I marry to love me for myself, and not because he thinks I’m beautiful, or because I’m a ‘Princess’ (Ọmọba)!”

Then Agbado met Ojo (Rain). Ojo did not send delegates to ask for her hand in marriage. He approached Agbado and wanted to know her, and the way she looked had little to do with it. He did not go on and on about her beauty. He got to know her, and gradually the two of them fell in love. Then he proposed to her. He was different – exactly the kind of man Agbado was looking for.

“Father, I’ve found the man I want to marry, so you can tell these other men to stop asking you for my hand…”, Agbado told the Ọba about Ojo. She was very excited.

“Ojo! You want to marry Ojo? Are you kidding? What a coincidence! Ina (Fire) has been to see me – to ask for your hand in marriage, and I’ve consented. These are two very powerful men – envy of men and women alike!”

“But Kabiyesi!…Father!” Agbado replied, “I have already promised to marry Ojo”.

“What are we going to do? You can’t marry the two of them! What a coincidence! Ina and Ojo are the most powerful, renowned men of the realm. Many women would give anything to be courted by one of them not to talk about being courted by the two”.

“Well, I’m being courted by one of them – Ojo – and would like to marry him, Father”

“You have to marry whomever I choose for you. You know the custom. I know that you’re drawn towards Ojo, but I, as your father, have given my consent to Ina not knowing that you’ve already agreed to marry Ojo. Fathers usually decide for their daughters, you know. We know best…”.

“I’d rather marry Ojo, Father. I’ve got to know him well, and love him, and we’ll make a good match. I know that a daughter is expected to marry a man of her parents’ choice (especially the father’s), but all
the same…”.

“Yes, it’s indeed expected, young lady, and it’ll be good for you to remember that I’m the one to choose a husband for you. We don’t want you to make a wrong choice.”

“I’ve heard that a few women reject this custom, father?” Agbado retorted.

“Not my daughter!”

“I know, father. Even if you weren’t my father, you’re the Ọba, and I’ve a lot of respect for you as the Ọba. The Ọba’s word is rule, and how would it look if his own child defies him?”

The Ọba was pleased that his daughter would not want to go against him. He was also flattered that she was sought after by the two very powerful men. Even though he had given his word to Ina, he liked the idea of Ojo being in the picture as well. He praised Agbado for not being wilful.

“At least you’ve not refused to get married, like some women have done, and even though you want to marry Ojo, you recognize the fact that as your father, I have the right to choose for you”.

The Ọba weighed the matter up and down, and then an idea struck him.

“Why don’t I let all these two young men compete for Agbado’s hand?

There is something special about Ina and Ojo. They both exude power. Let them put their powers into play in a contest!”

“Well, well, well, the two will have to compete in a contest to show who’s more powerful, and I’d be pleased to give your hand in marriage to the winner”, he said.

The Ọba knew that inviting suitors to take a test in order to win his daughter’s hand in marriage would not surprise anyone, because he liked to amuse himself at court in this kind of way. He was known for his whims and caprices, like other Ọbas.

“Do you seriously think that asking these two men to compete for my hand in a contest will solve the problem? It won’t change the way I feel about Ojo. I will always see him as my husband”, Agbado pointed out to her father.”

Agbado did not believe in contests but did not want to contradict the Ọba. She decided to go along with his wish, knowing in her mind that no matter what she would choose Ojo. “Ojo will be Agbado’s husband”, she made a promise to herself.

“Well, we’ve to meet each other halfway?” the Ọba said.

The following day Ojo came to the palace to visit Agbado, and to formally ask for her hand in marriage. Soon after that Ina arrived with the same intention. When the two men came face to face, they eyed each other as if they were enemies.

“Are you two here to ask for my daughter’s hand in marriage?” the Ọba asked them.  Ojo was taken aback.

“I’m here to do so, but I don’t know about Ina. Agbado has agreed to marry me, and all we need now is your blessing, Kabiyesi”, Ojo said quickly.

“I’m here to formally ask for Agbado’s hand in marriage”, Ina started “The Ọba has already consented. As you very well know, it’s what the Ọba says that counts”, he continued, immediately putting into action his desire, kneeling before Agbado.

“Get up, Sir! I’m going to marry Ojo”, Agbado said.  That was when the Ọba intervened.

“There’s obviously a misunderstanding here which is unfortunate.

I didn’t know that my daughter had already started going out with Ojo, and he had proposed to her, and she had accepted when I gave my consent to Ina.

“To solve the problem this is what we’re going to do. In fact, this will prove to me that you really love my daughter and will be able to take care of her. The two of you will compete with each other for my daughter’s hand in a contest, and it is not unheard of that men have competed for the hands of princesses before. If the two of you truly love my daughter this is your chance to prove it…

“The two of you will enter a contest – a race. You’ll have to fight each other in the race, and the person whose strength overrides the other will marry my daughter. The two of you are known to be very powerful – to cause fire and rain. You’ll need to use the powers you have at your disposal to prove to us that one of you is more powerful than the other”.

It was not a problem for the two men to compete in the way suggested by the Ọba. In fact, they welcomed it, and thought that it was about time they proved to everybody once and for all who was more powerful.

Agbado asked to speak to Ojo privately.

During their conversation Ojo was very understanding of Agbado’s predicament vis-à-vis her father and reassured her that everything would turn out all right for the two of them.

“You’ve nothing to fear, my love”.

“I don’t understand how I feel about you. I love you so much that nothing seems to matter. You’ve swept me off my feet. I’ll go anywhere with you as long as we’re together – to the ends of the earth! I’ve never felt like this for anyone before”.

“All I know is that the love I feel for you is so powerful and I can’t explain it either. You’ve swept me off my feet as well. Maybe the two of us are going to be swept away where there’ll be only you and I and nobody else.” Ojo replied, excitedly.

“Wonderful!”

In those days the Ọba were known for their whims and caprices – for example, asking suitors for the hands of their daughters to take part in contests to determine the winner, and purportedly to test their love and sincerity, their ability and strength of character.

There was the Ọba of Makeke who, in trying to prevent his daughters marrying anyone at all, set an impossible test for his daughters’ suitors.

The suitors had to guess his daughters’ real names.

The Ọba used this ploy, asking for contenders to guess his daughters’ names, pretending that if they truly loved them, they would take great pains to find out, knowing perfectly well that it was impossible.

There was another Ọba of another town called Lagoni who set a test for his daughter’s hands in marriage to contestants.

The Ọba knew that inviting suitors to take a test – ‘A Hot-Water Test’ it was called – in order to win his daughter’s hand in marriage would not surprise anyone, because he liked to amuse himself at court in this kind of way. He was known for this whims and caprices. However, it was obvious from the test the Ọba had in mind that the suitors would not have a chance of winning it. He did not expect or want any of the young men to pass the test; he expected them to even decline it. The test, most unheard of, was just a ploy to ward off the men.

Ọba, Agbado’s father, proceeded to give the details of the competition – the date and the venue and what the two contestants had to do.

After Ina and Ojo left the Ọba felt suddenly uncomfortable about the whole thing. It was all very well for Agbado to be courted by these two powerful men, and for the powers of the two to be put into test.

“It’s all very well said and done, but supposing in exercising their special powers to prove who is more powerful than the other, their special powers are used on you?” he confided in his daughter.

“How, Father? All I know is that I love Ojo so much that nothing seems to matter. He’s swept me off my feet. I’ll go anywhere with him as long as we are together – to the ends of the earth! I’ve never felt like this for anyone before. I know he feels the same way about me; he told me so!”

The Ọba became even more uncomfortable after hearing his daughter’s remark. Perhaps the whole thing was not such a good idea after all.

“What about Ina? What if he uses his special powers on you?”

“Again, how father? Ojo will never allow that! This is why he must win. Ojo ni ọkọ Agbado!” (Ojo is Agbado’s husband!)

The people of Pelewu were very excited when they heard about the contest that was to take place between Ina and Ojo. It became the talk of the town.

Some of them who had seen the two men in action started debating whether Ina or Ojo would win. In those days things were very different from the way they are today. Ina and Ojo were human beings with special powers. Whenever there was fire Ina was responsible, and whenever there was rain, Ojo was responsible. Nobody knew how Ojo and Ina did all they did – the powers they had. Wherever they were and each of them wanted to start a fire or cause rain to fall, all he had to do is to call on his special powers, and it would happen. Even the Ọba who was supposed to have answers to things that baffled his people could not explain it.

These special powers were already known to all of these powerful men’s friends, relatives, and admirers, who had witnessed the two men in action – Ina burning…and Ojo pouring torrents of water… and they had marvelled at this. They egged the two on. Agbado had seen the two of them in action before – when she was at a show. It was a windy day and fire was raging.

“How do we stop this raging fire” Agbado had said, afraid. Ojo had heard her and said “Don’t be afraid. As long as I’m around there’s no danger. Suddenly the clouds had gathered together, and there was a downpour. It was obvious that Ojo was responsible for it although how nobody knew. People had heard about his powers and seen him in action, but this was the first time Agbado had witnessed this.

The two men were handsome, powerfully built. Anywhere they went they drew the attention of people – men and women alike. Ina was light in complexion (pupa bẹlẹjẹ), Ojo dark in complexion (dudu bọlọjọ).

Agabado took an instant liking to Ojo – to his temperament. She found him cool, calm and collected, passionate, and caring. Ina was fiery, impatient, impetus, aggressive. He seemed to have a temper.

The contest became the talk of town. People exchanged ideas, mentioning incidents where they thought one of the two was going to succeed over the other, and then the table turned. It was always like a tug of war. For example, there was a fire and it spread and spread, and rain tried and tried to quench it. The fire destroyed a lot of things. Another occasion it was the other way around. When fire was raging suddenly there was a torrent and the fire was quenched. Another occasion Ina started burning with Ojo doing nothing, leaving Ina to continue, until when it looked as if all was lost, Ojo descended heavily on Ina and quenched it.

“Ina will win, of course….” one of the spectators said.

“No, Ojo will surely win…” another one piped in.

Agbado said to herself:

“Whoever wins the race, I’m going to keep my promise to marry Ojo. I’m going to marry Ojo even if we’re swept away like he said – even if he carries me away anywhere as long as I’m with him. I’ll go anywhere with him as long as we are together – to the ends of the earth. Instead of marrying Ina I’ll marry Ojo. ‘Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado everyone” (Ojo is Agbado’s husband, everyone).

However, when asked beforehand by anyone she pretended that she would choose whomever won, so that it would seem fair. The Ọba had ordered it and who was she to say otherwise

In the meantime, Ina and Ojo started to prepare for the contest after going to the location designated by the Ọba. The Ọba had explained in more details what the contest would be about. The two men gathered together their supporters, including friends and family, to show how their powers worked. They studied everything around and planned their strategies, eg the best ways to go about winning.

“I’m going to win!” Ina boasted.

“You’re not. I’m going to win instead!” Ojo said.

“I might just let Ina believe that he’s winning at a given moment, and then come on in full force!” Ojo was thinking, and Fire had similar thoughts.

The Ọba had chosen the location for the contest very carefully, bearing in mind the nature of the contest. The route the contestants would take from the beginning and to the end of the contest was carefully mapped out as well. It was to take place in a square and a whole area where there were farmhouses, bushes, shrubs, grasses, trees with leaves, bird nests. There was a big bush nearby where the animals – big and small – were likely to gather together to watch the ‘show’, and one or two streams and rivers, even ponds, were not far away.

In those days, when the world was very different from the way it is today, human beings and animals had a lot in common. They lived side by side, spoke the same language, and generally behaved the same way.

On the day of the contest a huge crowd gathered in the square and around the whole area of the contest. When there was an occasion such as this people went out of their way to have new clothes made for them – men, women – and for their children. They had to look their best. The contest was not only for the two men to compete for the hand of Agbado in marriage by showing their strength, but also for the spectators to compete with each other with their dressing – to show who was the best dressed.

A ‘royal stage’ had been set up at which the Ọba, Agbado’s mother and Agbado herself and their attendants would sit. There was great excitement amongst the people as they discussed who might win and marry Agbado. Everyone including the Ọba thought that that was what was in Agbado’s mind, not knowing that she had made up her mind to keep her promise to marry Ojo whoever won. When asked she just said

“I’ll choose whomever wins”. She did not want to spoil the excitement – dampen people’s spirit, because the not knowing about the outcome of the contest was what gripped them.

The Ọba and Agbado’s mother and Agbado arrived at the square, magnificently dressed for the occasion – a very unusual and important occasion. The Ọba was resplendent in his royal attire, and Agbado looked more beautiful than ever.

When they arrived, there were loud cheers and drumming, and “Kabiyesi!” resounded everywhere etc. The two men, Ina and Ojo were already present, resplendent in their own attire, looking very handsome. They went and stood in front of the ‘royal stage’

“Kabiyesi!” they said at the same time and bowed to the Ọba, Agbado’s mother, and Agbado. The Ọba welcomed everybody.

“I’m sure you’re all aware of what’s going to take place here today. These two gentlemen will compete for my daughter’s hand in marriage. I’ll hand them over to the Princess who, after all, is the one who is going to marry one of them! She’ll be very much part of the whole event. The contest is in her honour after all. She’ll be near the contestants throughout and observe their performance.”

There was applause. Agbado was hailed, and then she gave her own speech, after shaking the hands of the two gentlemen. When she shook Ojo’s hands a look passed between them like a caress.

“So, you men want to compete for my hand in marriage? I’m greatly honoured, and I’ll choose whomever wins. Now who would like to go first…Let me see! Ina, you go first”

Fire was very pleased “I’ll show Ojo who is the champion” he boasted.

“I’m determined to burn everything – all the bushes, shrubs and grasses, all the trees with their leaves, and all the houses with their rooftops.

I’ll rob the birds of their nests…”

The Ọba made a sign for the drum to be beaten, and the race started. Ina started raging. It was a very windy day, and he was carried rapidly along by the wind, burning all the things that he said that he was going to burn – bushes, shrubs…. As for Ojo, there was no sign of him in the sky. Ina continued to race faster and faster.

Agbado became afraid. She suddenly remembered her father’s anxiety about the powers of the two men affecting her negatively. However, Ojo allayed her fears:

“Don’t be afraid. Ina won’t burn you. I’ll not allow it to. Don’t forget he wants you for his wife”.

“You want me too, but I don’t mind if you sweep me away. As I told you, I’ll go anywhere with you…”

When Ojo heard this, he became very excited and used all his might to overpower Ina – to quench it at one blow with a huge downpour. Suddenly dark clouds gathered in the sky, and they grew until they formed a thick mass. Then torrents of rain began to fall. The contest had really started.

Agbado was amazed by Ojo’s strength. It excited her to no ends, and she started to sing, stating categorically that Ojo was Agbado’s husband, forgetting that she had said at the beginning of the contest that she would marry whomever was the winner:

Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Ina pupa bẹlẹjẹ Light-complexioned
Teere na
Ojo dudu bọlọjọ Dark-complexioned
Teere na
Kaka ki n fẹ’na ma f’Ojo o Instead of marrying Ina I’ll marry Ojo
Teere na
Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado Ojo is Agbado’s husband
Teere na
Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Ina pupa bẹlẹjẹ
Teere na
Ojo dudu bọlọjọ
Teere na
Kaka ki n fẹ’na ma f’Ojo o
Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado
Teere na
Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado
Teere na

When Ojo heard the song, especially the part where Agbado stated categorically that “kaka ki n fẹ’na ma f’ojo o. Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado (instead of marrying Ina I’ll marry Ojo. Ojo’s Agbado’s husband), he was very happy. However, Ina was not, and because of this he made up his mind to try harder.

By now they were approaching another area of the contest – the big bush where the animals – big and small – were gathered together to watch the ‘show’, and one or two streams and rivers – even ponds, were not far away. Ina started again, and all the animals ran away from their burrows, not knowing where they were heading because their paths in the forests were being destroyed. He started to burn grasses and crops, and lay waste to this area of the contest. Unfortunately, small animals were also burnt. Everybody thought that Ina would win the contest. Agbado was very frightened indeed.

“Don’t worry, my dear” Ojo reassured her yet again. “Count on my strength”, and immediately he used all his might again to quench the fire. Agbado’s fright was replaced yet again by excitement at Ojo’s powers. She was so impressed by his strength that she started to sing again:

Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Ina pupa bẹlẹjẹ Light-complexioned
Teere na
Ojo dudu bọlọjọ Dark-complexioned
Teere na
Kaka ki n fẹ’na ma f’Ojo o Instead of marrying Ina I’ll marry Ojo
Teere na
Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado Ojo is Agbado’s husband
Teere na
Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Ina pupa bẹlẹjẹ
Teere na
Ojo dudu bọlọjọ
Teere na
Kaka ki n fẹ’na ma f’Ojo o
Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado
Teere na
Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado
Teere na

She decided to sing another song to show that Ina was being jealous of Ojo, and that in spite of this she would still go ahead and marry Ojo because Ojo is Agbado’s husband.

Ina o, orara Aranta
Ina o, orara Aranta
Ina pupa bẹlẹjẹ Aranta
Ojo dudu bọlọjọ Aranta
Kaka n fẹ’na ma f’ojo Aranta
Ojo l’ọkọ agbado Aranta
Ojo l’ọkọ agbado Aranta

The three of them continued on their journey, the two men vying at each other and Ojo always coming on top, quenching Ina, Agbado singing wholeheartedly. Ina would grow higher and brighter, and Ojo would fall in showers and put it off.
By now they were approaching the final area of the contest. Fire started again – rapidly until the whole of the area was filled with smoke.

People were frightened, and were thinking:

“Ina will surely win”

Suddenly showers of rain descended and grew bigger and bigger and all the spectators, humans and animals alike fled for shelter. They ran away and hid until the great torrents of rain was over.
Agbado was very happy, and started singing as before:

Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Ina pupa bẹlẹjẹ Light-complexioned Ina
Teere na
Ojo dudu bọlọjọ Dark-complexioned Ojo
Teere na
Kaka ki n fe’na ma f’Ojo o Instead of marrying Ina I’ll marry Ojo
Teere na
Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado Ojo is Agbado’s husband
Teere na
Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Eni tere na tere
Teere na
Ina pupa bẹlẹjẹ
Teere na
Ojo dudu bọlọjọ
Teere na
Kaka ki n fe’na ma f’Ojo o
Teere na
Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado
Teere na

Ina o, orara Aranta
Ina o, orara Aranta
Ina pupa bẹlẹjẹ Aranta
Ojo dudu bọlọjọ Aranta
Kaka n fẹ’na ma f’ojo Aranta
Ojo l’ọkọ agbado Aranta
Ojo l’ọkọ agbado Aranta

When Ojo stopped the people cheered “Ojo is the winner! Ojo is the winner! Ojo is Agbado’s husband!”

However, they found that Agbado, the beautiful young girl was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Ina who had been quenched by Ojo before he could reach the end of the race. The three of them had vanished from the face of the earth!

“So, Ojo has carried away his bride in the thunderous torrents of water” the Ọba said. He was very sad that he would not see his daughter again and regretted setting up the contest.

“I should’ve just let her marry Ojo. Perhaps it’s not a good idea for us, fathers, to be the ones to choose husbands for our daughters”. However, he remembered Agbado’s words, and took comfort from them:

“Whoever wins the race, I’m going to keep my promise to marry Ojo. I’m going to marry Ojo even if we’re swept away like he said – even if he carries me away anywhere as long as I’m with him. I’ll go anywhere with him as long as we are together – to the ends of the earth. Instead of marrying Ina I’ll marry Ojo. Ojo is Agbado’s husband everyone” (Ojo l’ọkọ Agbado)

From then on when it’s rainy season and corn is in abundance one hears people saying “Ojo ni ọkọ Agbado!”