Proverb #6

“Ebge bere, Ugo bere, nke sị ibe ya ebela, nku kwaa ya.”

Contributed By Kelechi Una Isiodu, Umunjam, Mbieri.

for iFaT at ifont@groups.facebook.com

© ifont 2011, as it appears here.

This is a proverb about equity. I think it is happy coincidence that the elders thought to express this thought with the images of noble birds alive in their minds. Both types of birds are rampant in Igboland, although more people might report seeing the kite (the bird on the left) more often. The proverb means 'The kite and the eagle, should share a patch, if one denies the other then the offending bird should develop deformed wings' - 
It is a proverb about democracy and equity. I searched and searched for a photo showing the birds sharing a perch, but could not find one - not that this even happens in the wild. I got tempted at some point to use 'Photoshop', but I resolved not to.
The elders felt that everyone had a right to use the common space, the king and commoner. In fact this view of equity is so strong among Ibos that it has been observed that we have no common kings in the sense in which the classical world was familiar. We did have men of means or individuals who had distinguished themselves by one feat or the other, but then that did not suddenly make them 'more than their neighbours' - distinction acceded no extra rights or recognition to those that possessed it. The Ibos promoted the concept of the 'king in every man'. Every body had a right to speak at the village conferences and to use the village square.
And of course at home, beneath their own rooves, wrapped in their own robes;  - every man was king.

---