THE Devout Woman - Emmanuel Igwaro Odongo-Aginya - Bog

Torn between traditional and the Christian religions Anyadwe the wife of Ogwok one of the
pioneers of Christian faith in Coomit village lead a stormy life with her posthumous son Acellam.
Because of her pious faith in the Christian faith she had received and in her dead husband Ogwok,
Anyadwe rejected all the traditional inheritance marriage laws which were fronted to her by Opuk,
the paternal uncle of her husband Ogwok. Opuk was a hard liner Traditionalists, medicine man
and sooth Sayers who chaired all the village elders meets.
He was highly respected in the village because of these irreplaceable qualities. His prophecies were
precise and his herbal Medicines were indubitable. Nevertheless he abominated Christianity and called
it white man hoax doctrine of dominancy over a black man land, cultures and integrities. Even if
Anyadew gave due respect to Opuk leaderships as anyone else in the village did, their ideologies about
Christian God and traditional gods were unmatchable.
Notwithstanding the snappish differences between Anyadwe and Opuk the village community
appreciated their stands. As the results most of villagers practiced both Traditional and the Christians
faith because of Anyadwe and Opuk infl uence. Opuk oft en prophesied about the calamities to befall
the village at the start of the year. Th ese he always attributed to the disobedience of the villagers for the
reason that the community had accepted the Christians God and has forsaken their own traditional
gods whom they have been worshipping for years. During such occasions he also prophesied successes
for the village which he also accredited to those who participated in traditional rituals to appease the
traditional gods.
Even Missionaries at the Coomit Mission were sometimes baffl ed by Opuk ingenious acts and words however
describing them as Satan powers at work. Nevertheless they favored Anyadwe and described her as a role
model of a pious Christian. Th ey looked aft er her fi nancial and medical needs.