SCENE 1: Obi is on his way to visit his father when he meets an old schoolmate from Umofia.
Obi: Oh! Hello Jacob, it has been a long time since we last met. How are you?”
Jacob: “Thanks, I’m fine. It certainly has been a long time. What brings you to Umofia? I heard you work for the Civil Service in Lagos. I hope it’s enjoyable.”
Obi: “I’m here to visit my parents. It has been a while since I last saw them, and I have something important to discuss with them.”
Jacob: “Oh, I see. What is this important thing that has brought you to Umofia?”
Obi: “The problem is that I have met a girl named Clara. We met at a dance and then on the boat trip back from England. We fell in love and now we want to marry each other, but there is a slight problem. Clara is an Osu, but in my eyes, she is the most beautiful woman in the world. She is like the sun in a sunset and a moon in the night; there is always light shining from her. It’s not a fair world we are living in, and she can’t be responsible for something her ancestors did. I’m going to marry her, and I don’t care what others will say about it.”
Jacob: “Calm down, brother! I’m your friend, and I’m Christian too, but you know what the people in the village think about Osus. If you want to have your dignity, you had better not marry her. If you marry her, everyone will call you and your children Osus, and you will bring shame not only on your family but also on all your ancestors.”
Obi: “I know all that already. This is modern times, and people are more free now to choose. So why can’t I choose who I want to marry without everyone’s comments? Should we care about something as old as the Osu tribe? We are all brothers of the black tribe. We have got the same blood that our earliest ancestors brought us. What differs the Osu tribe from us? Nice to meet you, but I have to go before it gets dark. See you!”
SCENE 2: Obi is knocking on his father’s door, and his father opens it.
Father: “What a great surprise! Welcome home and welcome in. We have missed you since you went to Lagos. How is your work? Is Mr Green nice to you?”
Obi and his father walk in.
Obi: “Thanks! Everything is alright in Lagos except Mr Green. He thinks we Africans are lazy and a corrupted people and that the white Englishmen have to rule in Africa if anything is going to be done properly.”
Father: “Mr Green seems to have an attitude problem against black people, but there is something else you want to tell me. I can see that on your face.”
Obi: “To be straightforward, I like a girl named Clara. She is the most beautiful girl I have met. We have been together now for a while, and we have plans to marry each other. You have to agree to a wedding.”
Father: “Ok, take it easy now. I haven’t met this young lady, and I don’t know anything about her background and her ancestors. You explain it to me because you know more about her than I do.”
Obi: “This is hard to say, but she is an Osu. I don’t care if she is an Osu or not; she is the same girl to me.”
SCENE 3: Obi’s father went out of the room without saying a word. Obi went after him.
Obi: “Father, we can at least talk about it as men.”
Father: “I have nothing to talk about with you, son. How can you be so foolish to even think about marrying an Osu? It would disgrace our family, and everybody will laugh at us. Have you spoken with someone else about this?”
Obi: “Yes, Jacob.”
Father: “Fool, do you realize what’s going to happen if he tells the rest of the village? Do you?”
Obi: “Yes, I do, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. Who cares about her ancestors and their history? Not me. We want each other, and that’s the only thing that means something, doesn’t it? We are Christians, for God’s sake, and we can choose whoever we want to be our wife.”
Father: “I know, but what will the rest of the village say?”
Obi: “We have to teach them and make them accept the new generation and what it stands for. Everyone has the right to say and think what they want to.”
Father: “Ok, my son, let’s try, but if they say no, and we can’t convince them, that’s it! END”
