Ancient Ọhafịa society took male bravery seriously. Men who were unsuccessful in war were condemned to live very shameful lives. They couldn’t wear the beautiful ọkara cloth, and neither could their wives. And if they dared to do so, they could be stripped of it even in public places. They could not wear the parrot feather in their hair, a mark among the Ọhafịa of an accomplished man. Their peers could raid their barns at will and cart away their yams, and they couldn’t seek redress. They were branded ‘ụjọ’ (cowards) and taunted at every turn.
It is no surprise that many young Ọhafịa men preferred death at war than living in disgrace at home. But we never talk about the Ọhafịa women who sometimes stepped in to help their less-than-courageous husbands win glory and escape life-long mockery.
Two of such women, celebrated in song and poetry in Ọhafịa, are Nne Mgbaafọ and Inyan Olugu.
Nne Mgbaafọ was an Ọhafịa woman married to a man whose name was Ndukwe Emeụwa. Ndukwe wasn’t the most fearless of warriors. One day he accompanied his cohorts to a war in Ibibioland. There he was captured, and his cohorts had to return to Ọhafịa without him. Mgbaafọ pleaded with the town elders to send men to go and attempt his rescue. Nobody was interested in that. Ndukwe wasn’t a man of consequence, anyway. Three weeks passed. Nothing. Nne Mgbaafọ finally decided to go on a solo rescue mission. She dressed up like a male warrior. Armed herself with a machete and a gun and set out for the land of the Ibibio, alone. The Ibibio were struck by her bravery and her devotion to her man and agreed to release Ndukwe to her. The story goes that on their way back to Ọhafịa, the fearless Nne Mgbaafọ killed a man, chopped his head off and gave it to her husband to present to the elders at Ọhafịa as though he himself had done it. Thus, Ndukwe escaped the class of ụjọ (cowards) and joined the class of ufiem (brave noble men).
Inyan Olugu was another brave Ọhafịa woman very much in the mold of Nne Mgbaafọ. She was married to a man named Itenta Ogbulọpịa. If you think Ndukwe wasn’t an accomplished warrior, wait till you hear about Itenta.
Itenta was a very lily-livered man. He wouldn’t even agree to go to battle with his mates. Inyan Olugu got tired of living in disgrace and resolved to get human heads for her husband. By herself. She asked him to accompany her to go and harvest palm fruit on a piece of disputed land on the border with the Nnong-Ibibie (i.e., Ibibio people). Itenta protested that Inyan was looking for a way to get him killed so she could marry a more suitable man. Inyan kept up the pressure until the man agreed. Inyan slung her husband’s gun across her shoulder and led him to the disputed land. Then she ordered him to get up a palm tree and harvest some fruit for her. Inyan Olugu then hid in the bush with her husband’s gun and waited. Soon some Nnong-Ibibie men circled the palm tree and began yelling at Itenta to come down. Inyan silently took aim and shot at the men, killing five of them. The rest fled. She then severed their heads and presented them to her husband. His ticket out of the class of ụjọ.
For this act, Inyan Olugu was given the title Ogbu Etuwui Di Ya, i.e., She-Who-Kills-And-Gives-The-Glory-To-Her-Husband…..Seê _ Morê
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