"women bickering"

They were family of nine. Four boys and three girls. Their parents were farmers. Typical igbo family of colonial era. Their father died in late fifties and Abel their eldest brother typically become their father. Luckily for Abels male siblings, none of them felt the impact of  their father’s death much for before his death, Abel has finished serving his master for seven years and has started his own business before their father’s death.

None of the Abel’s brother served anyone as apprentice. whenever any becomes mature enough for business, the person will join Abel’s wholesale business at Onitsha to learn for four years the business and tricks involved. After which the person will be given money to start his own business. None of them went through the traditional seven years apprentiship period before being their own masters. Perhaps, that might be reason behind all four of them not being grounded in the act of trading and self management.

These Abel siblings were performing relatively well. They have their own houses and cars. Each of them was happy with life. They were doing pretty better than their age mates . they were not quarreling with each others over anything, they were not subjecting each other’s words to any scrutiny in the name of fishing out hidden meanings to what that person said. No bickering of any kind.

           When they started getting married, all that understanding and peace deserted them and bickering set in. they started reading negative meanings in anything that comes out of each other’s mouth. They visually become strangers to each other even their female siblings were not exempted from this gloomy cloud that descended on their family.they started taking side against their eldest brother and his family.  Before long, their children joined in the quarrels.they Started selecting nephew , nice, aunt; and uncles. The cause of this discord in that family is what no one can pinpoint except human pride. No tangible reason. just Women power over their husband. The other wives believed that Abel’s wife is taking all the limelight and recognition due to that family and yet, according to the other wives, they are more educated than her. So, to turn that search light upon themselves and away from the Abel’s wife, they has to do something and that something has to be: putting asunder the peace that exist between Abel and his siblings. slandering a man that single handedly made their husbands what they were. All in the name of attention seeking. How these educated women failed to realized that broken pot even when mended can never remain the same,no one knows. How those women husbands were prevailed upon by their wives, no one knows. They joined force with their wives and children to fight Abel and his family. Abel brothers forgot that, all their achievement including the so called wives were indirectly as result of Abel’s effort. Do they really believed that without Abel’s wife encouragement, Abel will be rendering all those help to them?. Maybe, they believed that prevailing techniques don’t exist in Abel wifes D.N.A

THEY SAID THAT Abel's wife is a witch that they have been digging into the woman’s history. That up to that moment, that the woman has had five house maids and that three of those house maids did not marry and two that managed to marry did that very late In life. that the pattern attested to their allegation against her.

           They equally blamed Abel on what they refered to as rise and fall syndrome in their life. They claimed that the problems they were experiencing in their business and life in general were as a result of Abel’s witchcraft over their life. Some were blaming Abel for dismissal of their child from school. their sons will enter school after three years, they will be dismissed after verification by the management. The institution authorities will find out that; not only that they gained admission with fake results, they gained that admission through back door too. Their parents especially their educated wives won’t hear of any other reason outside Abel wifes witchcraft. they want to know why what everyone (according to them ) were doing without any hitch should be different because their sons were involved. It is nothing but Abel’ s family witchcraft.

           When you are slandering someone and the person is not showing any sign of being attack, the slanderer atime develop psychological problem without realizing it. That was the case with those slandering Abels family. one of them claim that her daughters that were of marriageable age were yet to see any suitors because of Abels family witchcraft they were asking how come a beautiful young Ladies like their daughters will be growing old in their fathers house despite their education. They said that something must be spiritually wrong. The other accuser said that her kids that don’t fall sick year to year, all of a sudden started developing typhoid fever and other related diseases, and Abel daughters were not only getting married, they were marrying rich men too. One said that if they don’t do anything about their daughters situations now, that very soon their daughters will start fighting them their mothers when frustration sets in. they agree to call their kinsmen and table their predicament to them.

           At the appointed day, their kinsmen gathered and Abel and wife was summoned and their accuser was told to narrate their grievances. They tabled all their accusations against Abel and his wife and requested that Abel and his family should swear an oath for them since they denied all the accusations. their kinsmens  demanded intensely to know how they were sure of what they were saying. They demanded to know if they visited any witch doctor and they said no. they said that one man of God told them all that without demanding any money in return.according to them, It was how they knew that the man of God wasn’t lying to them. Not knowing that a maid serving one of them overheard the conversation between one of the accusers and her husband the day they consulted a witch doctor. it was revealed that the witch doctor told the one complaining of her daughters not getting married that it was their attitude that was scaring the suitors away from their daughters. that no man in his right senses will like to have someone that were negative minded as mother-in-law. That suitors believe that their daughters will in every way be reasoning like their mothers. The one complaining of her kids falling sick was told to keep her hygiene. That, it was dirtiness that is disturbing her family. that no one is using witchcraft on her kids. They both claim that the witchdoctor don’t know what he was saying. That the man is fake. Had it been that it was not in another state that they went to, they would have concluded that the witchdoctor is on the pay role of Abel and his wife. When their kinsmen demanded to know the name and address of that man of God, they said that it was one of those radio phone in religious programmes. They persisted that Abel and his wife must swear an oat for them. even with Bible for them before peace will reign among them again. For without it, they will have nothing to do with him and his family again. They agreed to consult their parish priest. on the appointed day, everyone gathered and the priest started with sermon and after an hour of sermon on importance of living in peace with one another and accommodating others short comings. The priest asked them to go home and reconcile with each other. If they still find it difficult to understand each other; then they should come back in two weeks time. The accusers refused out rightly to even answer the sermon of their kinsmen for reconcilation; and insisted that it is oat or nothing.

After the end of the two weeks, they all went back to the priest who administered oat on all of them. both husband and wife’s. After a month, death entered their families. Three of the accusers died, one lost his daughter and wife. This one that lost a daughter and wife was the one that was the first to rush back to Abel and his wife asking for forgiveness.

           It has been more than three years now since this incident took place, and whenever anything is being organized in Abel house, this younger brother would be the first to be there helping in organizing things. His kids he stopped from entering Abel’s compound has made that compound their second home now.