Traditional title and new wife

I asked him to give me a hint but he refused and said let us discuss them tomorrow when we are properly rested. We had just returned from visits to ten houses that lasted from morning till night. When you are a political aspirant in this country you don’t know anything called rest. You are […]

I asked him to give me a hint but he refused and said let us discuss them tomorrow when we are properly rested. We had just returned from visits to ten houses that lasted from morning till night. When you are a political aspirant in this country you don’t know anything called rest. You are just going up and down the place like a madman, condoling with this one, congratulating this one, greeting this one, consoling that one. No rest at all!
I was eager to hear what the new ideas were. Gohe, Maikahon Karo and I sat down for lunch the following afternoon at my guest house. We went there in order not to be disturbed by the constant stream of visiting politicians. “What are the things that you want to suggest?” I asked Alhaji Gohe even as we were opening the dishes of food. He did not answer; he went on and filled his plate with jollof rice, added fish and chicken, then filled his glass with cold fura. He ate several spoonfuls before he said, “Alhaji, you must take a traditional title. In this state, no one campaigns for public office without a traditional title. This state is rural and the people do not understand the posts you held in the city. They don’t know what a director is, but if they hear that you are the Sarkin Yakin Gebe or the Dan Malikin Gangare, they respect you more because they know what that means.”
We reached a quick agreement on that one. We would raise a team to visit the District Head of Gebe and seek the title of Sarkin Yaki for me. We agreed that afterwards, we will also seek another title from the Emir which covers the whole emirate.
I asked Gohe what the second suggestion was. He was in no hurry to mention it. He diverted the discussion to many other issues before he finally said, “Okay, my second suggestion is that when we are faced with a political problem of a traditional nature, we should resort to the method that our grandparents used in order to solve intractable problems.” I asked him which method of our grandparents he was referring to and he said, “If a conflict persists for a long period of time, our grandparents applied a traditional solution to it. If a man shows his dislike for you over a long period of time, there is a solution to it.”
“What are you getting at?” I asked impatiently. Gohe said, “We have tried various means to get His Excellency the Governor to support your aspiration but he has shown that he prefers Goshin Bauna to succeed him. What is it that Goshin Bauna has done to earn H.E.’s confidence? There are three things. He has been loyal to him. He handles money for him very well and H.E. believes that Goshin Bauna will cover up his secrets when he succeeds him as the governor. Well, there is a way for us also to assure him that you can do all three.” “Which way?” I asked, now really eager to hear it. Lack of support from the Governor is the biggest obstacle in my aspiration and I am about to hear a suggestion of how to overcome it. I couldn’t wait.
Alhaji Gohe picked up the flask of kunu, poured it into a cup and sipped twice before he said, “You can marry H.E.’s sister. Luckily you still have a vacancy. You have only three wives, so you should fill up the number four spot with H.E.’s sister.” I was taken aback. Marry another wife? At this age? I am already having trouble coping with these three. With these endless rounds of campaign trips that we are doing, go here today, go there tomorrow, even when I am in town I may not enter the house until nearly dawn, how can I bring a new wife into my house? The old wives can manage because they have been there for long but will a young new wife agree, that you are always travelling and even when you come back you are very tired?
Maikahon Karo could deduce from my face what I was thinking. He interrupted my thoughts and said, “Alhaji Gohe’s suggestion is excellent. It is the best way to neutralise H.E. By the time his sister is brought into your house, there is no way he will support Goshin Bauna again. After all his mother is still alive and will not allow him to support another person over her son-in-law. It is a very good idea and we should implement it immediately.”
I said, “Haba, which sister of H.E.? Is it the one that wrote that nasty letter to him? H.E. hates that sister, from the tone of his reply to her. If I marry that one, his dislike for me would even increase.” “Not that one,” Maikaho said. “He has other sisters. There is one younger one; she just finished secondary school. Very beautiful thing, white like milk. Yar’guguwa knows her. She can arrange everything.”
I stood up and was almost shouting. “Yar’guguwa! How can you bring Yar’guguwa into this? You know she was the school mummy of my second wife Goggon Makka, which is even the main reason why she is with us in this politics. How can we ask her to get another wife for me? And you too Alhaji Gohe, you want me to add another wife; is Goggon Makka not your younger sister? What is all this you are suggesting?”
Both of them were laughing. Gohe said, “Of course your second wife is my sister but she will not mind if you marry a fourth wife. Her main rival in the house is the one that came after her, the third wife, so if you add the fourth wife it is against the third wife, which will make her happy. Right now the first and third wives team up against her, so if the fourth wife comes she will become her ally.”
Maikaho added, “Alhaji, this suggestion we are bringing, it is because we want to be doubly sure that you will win this election. An aspiration like this, everything must be put aside so that we achieve it. It is not your convenience that is the question here. It is winning the primaries and the election. Anything that will help us to win the election we must do it, and this particular suggestion from Alhaji Gohe is a very good suggestion.”