THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IGBO FOLKLORE : “THE GWO GWO NGWO DANCE CHALLENGE”

 

INTRODUCTION

If you have been active on social media of recent, I am very certain that you must have come across a certain dance challenge brought about by the comedian, Chukwuemeka Amuzie, popularly known as Brain Jotter.

In his viral skit, he transformed a song “Ka esi ree onye isi oche” (how the chairman was sold) released by Pa Mike Ejeagha, by creating the humorous “gwo gwo gwo ngwo” dance challenge from it, in which so many celebrities on tiktok and Instagram have hopped on it.

The actual meaning of this Igbo song have been debated by so many. Some have said it was gotten from a yoruba myth. Others have concluded that it was just a story told by the musician.

You've heard their sides of the story.

But there's one that you've not heard.

The truth!

And that is exactly what I'll be telling you in this article!

My friend, It was not just a story told by Pa Mike. That story is an Igbo folktale that I grew up hearing as a child and just like every other Igbo folktale, this song has its significance.

And I am glad you found this article because I will be exploring the meaning of folktales and its significance to the Igbo traditional history in relation to the “gwo gwo gwo ngwo” dance challenge.

I’ll tell you the story too!😁… Just stick around!☺️

WHAT IS FOLKLORE?

These include stories, customs, and beliefs that are passed from one generation to another.

Example, according to a folklore, you shouldn’t sweep your house at night because you are sweeping away your destiny.

(😂…. I really don’t know how true that is. I got that from a folktale told by my grandma)

Folklore is a combination of the words "folk"  and "lore" which dates from 1846. The former refers to a “community of people”, and the latter comes from the Old English word "lar", meaning “learning” or “knowledge".

Folk, in this sense, is also used in terms like folk music, folk dance, and folktale and for the purpose of this article, the term “folklore” will be used interchangeably with “folktale”.

These folktales are introduced to a traditional Igbo child from infancy. This means that every traditional Igbo child (like myself) starts appreciating folktales from infancy to adulthood.

One can rightly assert that Igbo folktales and songs are therefore an integral part of an Igbo man, especially those born and nurtured in Igbo traditional way of life.

Most of the FOLKTALES are told at night after the evening meal, mostly under the moon light. The younger ones will gather around the narrator who would then indulge them with the stories and most times, no one shows any signs of getting tired of either telling the story or listening to it.

This can be “likened to an integrated classroom. Children, teenagers and adults attend and participate in it.”

I remember when I was younger, during the visits to my village, I dare not blink an eyelid before the evening meal, lest I miss out on the folktale for the night.

😂😂

Good old days!

The most interesting part of these folktales is that there is always a song that is sang in the story. It makes it more engaging and interesting.

Popular Igbo folktales include:

-Tortoise and the king’s drum

-The proud princess who married a spirit

-Why the Hawk kills chickens

-How the tortoise got its bumpy shell, and of course,

-The tortoise, the elephant and the King’s daughter, which is the title of the folktale we are focusing on today!

Folktales have two temporal setting; the setting can either be in a natural setting or it could be in the supernatural world.

It also has stereotypical formal opening and closing.

The opening can be:

“o nwere otu mgbe” (Once upon a time) which the audience will reply with “otu mgbe eruola!” (Time-Time)

Or;

“Otu ubochi” (One day)

Or, the regular chant:

Oti -Oyo

(Story, Story) – (Story!!!!)

In the end, the lesson derived from the folktale is either announced to the audience or left for them to figure it out.

Although no one can say for sure the origination of folktales, but it is said that they are as old as the history of man!

SIGNIFICANCE OF FOLKTALES TO IGBO TRADITIONAL SOCIETY

Having explained the meaning of folktales, it is important to understand its significance to the Igbo traditional society and why the Igbos hold it so dear to them as a tradition.

Folklore plays a very significant role in the Igbo traditional system. It represents customs and traditions that have been passed down through generations of the Igbo people.

They form integral parts of the African oral society and they usually relate to the various cultural and traditional aspects of a society from which they evolve.

By their nature as well as their definitions, they are regarded as fictitious, fabulous, mythical, totally removed from real life situation and events.

They perform salient functions which will be elaborately explained below:

1. They represent creation of man, life, and even death. Through these tales, the Igbos pass on their beliefs about how their people came to be. While the tales focus mainly on animal characters, they represents many aspects of everyday life.

2. They served as the primary source for learning everyday life lessons, before the missionaries arrived, although it was an informal method.

Certain tales such as “How the Tortoise Got Its Bumpy Shell” warn children against greed and instead encouraged honesty, and the mutual support of those around an individual as it is considered essential for the Igbo people.

3. They are also a sort of religion for the people. The folktales tell of how things came to be in the natural world. From the creation of the earth to the reason a snake hisses instead of talking, almost anything can be explained by an Igbo folktale.

The Igbos believe the world is peopled by invisible and visible forces: by the living, the dead, and those yet to be born. 

Reincarnation, for example, is seen as a bridge between the living and the dead.

So, these folktales explain what functions the heavenly and earthly bodies have and offers guidance on how to behave toward gods, spirits, and one’s ancestors.

In essence, folktales are to the Igbo people, what the Bible is to a Christian.

4. It was used to teach the people Igbo proverbs and their meanings, as no folktale is ever told without proverbs, idioms and riddles. These help to keep the audience in suspense and at the same time thinking of the meaning or outcome of the tale.

For instance, in certain folktales, the tortoise represents a breach of reciprocity of norms which is always implied by the proverb – “aka nri kwoo aka ekpe, aka ekpe akwoo aka nri” meaning (One good turn deserves another).

5. They also inculcate values into the people. They teach Igbo people how to become better persons in society.

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, he brought in folktales which was a way of giving the reader a sense of what Igbo values are. They include: The Vulture and the Sky, Mosquito and the Ear, Leaves and the Snake-Lizard, How Tortoise Got His Bumpy Shell, and Mother Kite and Daughter Kite.

Each story had its own meaning, and its own reason for being in the story. The stories are powerful, and Achebe uses their power to captivate the reader.

However, just as the people stopped practicing their original Igbo religion and switched to Christianity, when the missionaries came, the folktales also stopped. 

This is why you hardly see those gatherings under the moon-light, except you go into rural areas.

They represent larger, real life stories, but are hidden in the folklore of Igbo people. The folktales often times represent the invasion of colonizers into the Igbo society. Colonizers are portrayed as greedy, and abusive of their power.

One of the strongest examples of this representation in Achebe's Things Fall Apart, is the folktale “How Tortoise Got His Bumpy Shell.” In the tale, the colonizers are represented by the Tortoise and the Igbo people are the welcoming Birds.

THE IGBO FOLKTALE WHERE THE “GWO GWO GWO NGWO" SONG CAME FROM AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STORY

Having understood the significance of folktales to Igbo history in general, it is necessary to note that every folktale told has its significance.

On that note, we will be looking at the story which Pa Mike Ejeagha has portrayed in his song - “Ka esi ree onye isi oche” (how the chairman was sold), which transformed into the "gwo gwo gwo ngwo" challenge you watch on the internet and laugh!😂

This song is the chorus which accompanied a particular Igbo Folklore.

So, take your seats, I want to tell you the story!😁

The title of that folktale is “THE TORTOISE, THE ELEPHANT AND THE KING’S DAUGHTER” (Mbe, Enyi na nwa eze)

First of all,  the line “Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo” in  that song was not included in the song from the story but it simply represented the sound of the elephant's footsteps.

Again, that song was a conversation between the Tortoise and the elephant in the folktale.

Come with me, I’ll tell you the story! Straight out of the village elder's mouth!😁

Story, Story!

Once upon a time, in a far away land, humans and animals used to live together. However, because humans were the superior beings, they ruled the animals.

There was a particular king who reigned in the time of Tortoise (Mbe). He had a very beautiful daughter. She was so pretty and perfect that it was often said that she was created on the “nkwor” day, which was a day of rest when “chi” (God) took his time to mould her.

However, she rejected all the suitors who asked for her hand in marriage. She always said they were either too short for her, or too ugly for her, or too fat for her, or not rich enough for her status.

This way, she ended up rejecting more than a thousand handsome men, including humans and animals.

She was the heiress and her husband was supposed to inherit the throne from her father, so her father, the king, became worried that he would die and leave the throne empty without an heir.

So, he invited all his family and cabinet members. He told them the reason for his worry. He needed his daughter to get married to someone as soon as possible.

They came to an agreement, (both the king, the cabinet members and the princess) that anyone who wants to marry the princess must bring an elephant.

Note: The elephant was the strongest animal in the kingdom and very huge too. So, whoever brought him in would be considered as brave and strong, and thus, fit to marry the princess.

In due time, the King’s guards informed all the young men and animals in the kingdom who wanted to marry his daughter that they must bring an elephant to qualify.

Mbe (tortoise) was considered as a very deceitful animal. He was cunning, yet very smart such that he always had a way of achieving whatever plan he made.

When Mbe heard the news, he was very elated. He was a bachelor and and of course, he also had eyes for the beautiful princess. But he was very small and couldn’t capture the elephant as that would imply his death. So, he came up with a plan.

He went to the elephant’s house and told him that he was asked by the king to inform him that he would be the chairman of the occasion in the upcoming Ofala festival which is to be held the next day and that they would go together.

The gullible elephant felt so honored and was very happy that the king chose him.

The next day, as the elephant and the tortoise started their journey to the king’s Ofala festival, the tortoise was too slow, which made the elephant complain that by the time they arrived at the king’s palace, the ceremony would be over and he would not be able to serve as the Chairman of the occasion anymore.

Of course, this was mbe’s plan all along. So, he asked the elephant to allow him to climb onto his back so that he could walk faster and they would get to the festival on time, which the elephant agreed to it.

As they continued their journey with the tortoise on the elephant’s back, the tortoise pretended as if he was about to fall off several times.

The elephant asked him to hold on well so that he wouldn’t fall but mbe told him that his hands were too small to hold on well. And that would only be possible if he used the rope he was with to tie around the elephant’s neck so he could hold onto the rope instead.

The elephant whose only focus was to get to the Ofala festival on time to honour to the invitation as the Chairman of the occasion agreed to Tortoise’s request and the tortoise tied the elephant neck with a rope.

When they got to the palace, Mbe started singing out loud beckoning on the king.

( This is where Pa Mike’s song was coined from. So I’ll write out the lyrics of song as well as the translation, implying the conversation between the tortoise and the elephant. So if you have the song with you while you read this, you can listen to it and understand it.)

Tortoise: “Nnam eze, a kpotam Enyi oooo!!!!, Nnam eze, a kpotam Enyi oooo!!!!”

(My king!!! I have lured in the elephant oo!!! ×2)

Elephant: "Nwa Mbe, isi n’ikpota onye ooo???? Nwa Mbe, isi n’ikpota onye ooo???

( Eehn, Tortoise, who did you say you have lured in??? ×2)

Tortoise: "A sim ani ya chebe Enyi, dube Enyi oo.. o dika asim akpotam Enyi oo. Asim ani ya dube Enyi, chebe Enyi oo, o dika asim akpotam Enyi oooo.

(I said that the land should guide the elephant and keep him but it sounded like I said I have brought the elephant ×2)

He continued:

“O kwa Enyi ga bu isi oche oo.. O kwa Enyi ga abu isi oche oo

(It is you, Oh Elephant that will be the Chairman of the occasion ×2)

“Enyi na-aga, n’anyi so ghi n’azu. Enyi na-aga, n’anyi so ghi n’azu”.

(Elephant, keep going, I’m right behind you ×2)

The gullible elephant accepted this explanation from mbe and kept moving forward towards the king’s mansion. And as he was moving, his thunderous footsteps gave the sound of “Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwom”.

Again, whenever Mbe beckoned on the king that he has brought the elephant, the above conversation will ensue between Enyi and Mbe and Tortoise will deceitfully calm him down.

This kept happening until they arrived at the king’s door. The tortoise told the elephant to wait outside while he went inside to inform the king that they had arrived. The elephant agreed.

However, the tortoise told the elephant that he didn’t trust him and that he might leave before he came back. So, he tied the elephant to a tree in front of the king’s palace.

Then the tortoise raised his voice once again, informing the king that he had brought the elephant and he was tied up in front of his palace.

Everyone was so shocked including the King and the princess when they came out and saw the elephant tied to a tree in the palace just as the Tortoise had said.

The princess did not want to marry the little Mbe but she had no choice as her father handed her over to Tortoise as his wife!

And, that is the end of the story!!!!!🤭😁

CONCLUSION

This article portrays the the meaning of folktales and its significance to the Igbo traditional history in relation to the “gwo gwo gwo ngwo” dance challenge that we’ve all been seeing on the internet but may have no idea where it came from.

It is clear now where this song was gotten from by Pa Mike and it is also evident in the humorous dance challenge brought by Brain Jotter. 

Brain Jotter enacted this tale by chasing his friend in the viral skit, which may impliedly be said to embody the elephant’s frustration to being lured in to the king, in exchange of the princess’s hand in marriage.

As earlier stated, at the end of the folktale, the narrator either tells the audience the lessons from the story or leaves it for them to figure it out.

And you, my friend, are going to tell me what you’ve learned!!!😁

Do leave your comments. I would love to read them.

By the way, do you think the elephant was foolish or Tortoise was just too smart for him?😂

Disclaimer: I own no rights to the pictures!

REFERENCES

-https://www.uiulosangeles.org/post/igbo-folklore-1#:~:text=Folklore%20plays%20a%20major%20role,many%20aspects%20of%20everyday%20life

-http://igbofolklore.weebly.com/significance-and-lessons.html

-https://guardian.ng/art/deepening-education-in-igboland-through-folktales/

AUTHOR

OGO GLADYS AMARACHI

THE KEEN-EYED PROOFREADER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

OGO GLADYS AMARACHI
Writer/Proofreader
Law Undergraduate