C4 CHAPTER FOUR

The European presence on the hinterland was in two forms, the not too imposing missionaries, and the cunning slave dealers and merchants. So they had subtly resisted any opposition or hindrance to the flow of slaves from the hinterland, directly through forcefully outlawing the incumbent authorities or indirectly by empowering opposition to sabotage the monarch, it is even rumored that they had sponsored the overthrow of king Agaja, who had openly showed distaste for slave trading in the region, so they had taken steps to make sure he did not succeed , and his inheritors did not do any better- Adandozan could not do better than the murdered Agonglo- so the trade in slaves went on- But trading with the Europeans was beneficial to those who wanted power.

“What kind of human will make trade of his fellow man?” Mazidath asked, making reference to no one in particular.

“It is the fault of the whites who first brought the trade to us”, Chantelreplied.

Qwe started,”- if the whites are crazy for buying, what about the slavers?, are they not our own kin?, do we not destroy our own villages and drag our kin to sale to the white man?, the black race is an evil race, the Oyo empire has been content collecting tributes and taxes from us, are we their slaves?, if we do not sell our people then the white man will have to sail across the wide ocean with what Aichatou has produced on her farm;” the others were silent.” My sisters!” she persisted,” we must all continue what our fore fathers have started; we must throw down the yolk of Oyo and stop slave trading in our land”. Her other companions were in agreement with her proposal- she exuded so much vision and confidence from her speech, they will ride and fight with her to achieve these goals.

“I hear the king has plans for the agricultural expansion, so we can have an alternative to slave trading”, Fatak added.

“And to achieve any of these, many men must die, and I for one do not care where their graves will be”.

The creature had a purpose which did not appear clear to it, objects or animals which are not part of its plan may seem inanimate or irrelevant to it. Nevertheless, it may be important to another, so it wondered around looking for the connection, it was not always so clear in what direction events may drift, but it drifted nevertheless. Man has survived, many things had at some point deterred its continued existence, but it survived nonetheless, but what seems to make this group thrive? It was poised to find out- what passion? What power? - The human mind is surrounded by a mystery- Will such a creature find its place among men? - There were no coincidence, it was alive for a purpose, and it will exist to the benefit of others.

An army made up of women? - Can a man lead such an army into battle?-” I will rather be led by a woman like myself!” Chantel said, sounding optimistic.” What difference does it make?” Mazidath queried,” do not bring unnecessary sentiment into this battle, we all know what has happened to the men of Dahomey’, she paused…” they are all dead, and those who are alive will yet die in battle”, Chantel stated sarcastically.” What of Gezo? Will he lead us into battle or sit at home like Rufin?”

“We should be out there saving our people instead of sitting here arguing”, Chimne quipped.

“Yes”, Qwe spoke,” now that you have mentioned it, we need a spy in the royal courts to bring us valuable information from the king, that way we can be properly informed of his plans, so that we can contribute our quota”.

“That sounds interesting my superior”, Mazidath said, sounding excited,” I cannot wait to see action”, she jumped up swinging her club around her head, and shouting, “death to the slavers”, “death to the slavers”- and the others responding with an eerie battle cry.

“Qwe!”, Chantel started,” I think we have to prepare adequately for our stay in the forest, so we must plan to go on a hunt to gather meat for our sojourn, as we cannot tell how long we will lie in wait for these savages”. “Alright my sisters”, Qwe replied, “we will go into the forest to hunt game, we leave at dawn tomorrow, and our plans you disclose to no one. Mazidathwill go to the royal court to spy for us, while Chantel will be the scout.

Meanwhile the king sat in the council of his commanders, discussing various issues relating to the situation before them.- “Your highness”, one of the commanders started,” there are reports of some divisions within the main body of your army, some groups advocate for a proactive measure in dealing with the slave raiders and Oyo”,- to this assertions all the commanders were in agreement- the king was quiet for a while-” then what do you suggest we do?, our mothers”, king Gezo replied- Then one of the Generals spoke,” your highness, I think we should start by going on an expedition to flush out the slavers in our midst. The king was quiet as he listened to their various suggestions with keen interest.

After they had all had their say, he had then consented for the raids to start with immediate effect, so that they may be able to be well organized by the time they will decide to attack the Egba and Egbado countries to make space for the planned agricultural expansion- All these plans of the army Mazidath reported to her sisters-” Everything is moving in our favor”, Qwe remarked- after she had listened to the details-” Loa seems to be on our side…we should surely be the heroes of this war!”, Chimne quipped.