Ancient Igbo African Oath of secrecy
Whenever ancient Igbo warriors wanted to go to war, the entire military formation, thousands of soldiers will bite down on a palm frond.
They have to keep it in their mouths throughout the length of the march to the enemy domain.
Any soldier that drops theirs will be automatically executed. Because of this, thousands of Igbo soldiers could march through forests and neighborhoods without surrounding towns knowing.
This is a military ritual, there are one or two other ones that deal with absolute secrecy.
For instance, in those days, every young man is a soldier, but not women. Women only get to fight when things get to a critical stage where their own town is being invaded. The men also try to fight off the invaders while the women take the children and escape to neighbouring towns.
Despite this duty of women, as a rule of thumb, whenever the men wanted to go to war, they don't tell their women and their kids.
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There are 2 key reasons for this:
1. Igbo women in those days major inter communal trade while the men major in farming and hunting. This means that the women walk very long distances into neighbouring towns to do business and walk all the way back.
These women are usually in large groups and associations.
If the men ever wanted to attack the next community, one of the biggest mistakes they can make is to tell their wives. The information might like through their wives to other women and into the community they plan on attacking.
So, absolute secrecy. The only way the women know that their men have gone to war is if they wake up in the morning and all the young men in the village are gone.
At the age of puberty, most Igbo young men in the ancient times are initiated into a super-secret men-only society.
They must take an oath of secrecy among other rituals to join this club.
2. A second reason men don't tell their wives about their military expedition is because of the emotional attachment. There is no wife or mother that will learn that their man is about to go on a life threatening mission without attempting to discourage him.
So, keeping their mission secret saves them from that emotional trap.
It is not only men that have secret groups, women also have their own secret, women-only groups, and don't tell the men when they want to do certain deeds.
For instance, in 1921, Igbo women across many towns planned to attack the British soldiers and their courts. They planned it for weeks but the information never leaked until they executed it.
There is a very good reason for this, the ancients revere secrecy. The idea is that, if you are going for a mission that could potentially change your life, you have to keep your mouth absolutely shut.
According to Steve Jobs, 'loose lips, sink ships'. These days, people haven't event got the foreign admission, they already told all their neighbours. Now some jealous neighbour or friend got to poison them or report their old crime to the cops so they never get to leave the country.
When you are going on a mission that could potentially transform your life, keep your mouth shut. These days, you have to keep your fingers tucked too, so as to not share that news on social media.
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