MYSTERIES IN OKPANAM HISTORY: the Veneration of the Ram

                       By Larry Happiday

This ancient Greek ram rhyton was used in pouring libation to their gods. Pic Credit: Wikipedia

There are man mysteries that are accountable in Okpanam history. Among the many mysteries that still remain curious events are: the emergency of ram as the town's chief totem; the death of one-man kingship; the voice at Ogwugwu; the role of birds (eneke) in the deliverance of Okpanam from the massacre of Nigerian army officers during the civil war years and the role of some elders and a strange white horse in that series of "coincidences"  that saved the people from mass murders as seen in the neighbouring town Asaba. In this series, I intend to write on these events, interview elders who should know about them and get you the details first hand. Keep a date with Okpanam Forum.

Ram: Forbidden by the people of Okpanam

Veneration of the Ram In addition to ogbono and ugu vegetable, the ram is one of the most respected but not worshiped objects in Okpanam. In fact people from Okpanam are teased by all their neighbours as the land that eats the sheep but forbids the ram. The joke being that the sheep is the mother of the ram. Why is the ram forbidden as meal in Okpanam folklore? That forms part of our investigation in these series.

generally, the ram ocupies a very prominent place in history of various communities and peoples. The ancient Jews used it as a very highly prized animal for offering sacrifices. In Ukranian folklore, the goat and ram are said to be very clever animals that used there intelligence to outwit wolves.  In Greek mythology, Odysseus was acclaimed to go to Hades, the underworld where he was said to have offered the ram as the animal-of-choice. Interestingly, in Bible accounts, the ram is also considered an animal of sacrificial value as seen in Abraham and Isaac's story as well as in Moses teachings concerning sin offering and other offerings. Similarly, Elijah is noted to have been fond of ram horn. But, in the end, the Biblical stories of Jesus shows him as the lamb (baby sheep) rather than the ram. Although the ram generally symbolizes power, the ram in Okpanam mythology connotes a different kind of strength.

Considered a symbol of strength and animal of great value in sacrifice

Major Chukwma Kaduna Nzeogwu: Kuduna-boy of Okpanam origin who led the revolt against corruption in Nigeria. Did he ever eat ram?

The Ram as Warrior
It is yet uncertain which war made the ram a hero in Okpanam. It is also quite a puzzle why the ram is a hero but not the white cow or the eneke bird, other folklorist animals that are said to have been active participants in various wars that affected Okpanam at various times in their history.  Suffice it to say that the ram was said to have played the role of a saviour to the people when it vigorously stamped out the tell-tale footprints that would have given the fleeing natives away to their advancing pursuers. In appreciation of that saving act, the people were said to have conferred on the ram the status of a saviour. The appreciation was to make it a friend, not be eaten but respected for its alleged role in that war.
There are missing puzzles in the tale though. Is there any way of telling the feet of the sheep from the ram? Could the animals have merely been playing away in the absence of their owners and thereby, serendipitously stamped out the footprints of the fleeing natives? And as every teasing joke goes, does the ram that came from the womb of the sheep have a different constitution from its mother? Or could this have been a patriarchal society's way of perpetuating its male status over the female?