Member-only story
I Was The Choice of a King in 1987
This Was How I Lost That Opportunity Forever!
I was born in a unique way, right in front of the Ezeala shrine in a remote part of Imo State, Nigeria. The story of my birth goes like this: my mother, coming back from Eke market — the busiest market in our hometown — needed urgent help due to her advanced stage of pregnancy. It was the village hunter who found her and called on two village women who assisted her in delivering me. My birth at such a sacred location led many in our community to believe that I had been saved by the divine, chosen by the gods themselves to one day lead our people.
In my early years, surrounded by the whispers of tradition and the beat of ancient drums, I found myself tethered to a destiny that I struggled to fully comprehend. At the tender age of seven, I was marked by the gaze of Aguobodo, the most feared masquerade and revered lion of our town, who singled me out with a special favor that set me apart from other children in my town. It seemed there was something about me that was of great importance to Aguobodo. Yet, as the years unfolded and the weight of expectation from my family, kinsmen and entire town bore down upon my shoulders, I found myself torn between the call of tradition and the pull of my own beliefs and deepest convictions.
