PAPA ONE NAIRA!

"The Naira will fall drastically -- 1 dollar will equal 800 Naira one day." -- Papa One Naira(2003)
Easter Sunday reminds me of the mysterious mad man of Ikot Ekpene Road, Ogbor Hill, Aba --I did some growing up in that environment.

He was a tall insane man, the genesis of whose madness, was unknown to anyone. He was usually clothed in torn black trousers, and a torn blue T-shirt. He always had a plastic Rose flower in his hand, which he kept admiring while airing his unsolicited opinions. He always spoke in polished English.

"Papa One Naira" was what we called him. He was famous for his unsolicited opinions in Politics and Banking, his visionary gift not being left out. He always talked about the powerful days of the Naira, and how it will eventually fall.
"Of course na mad man go talk say 1 dollar will equal 800 naira," a man once said, mocking the positions of Papa.
But while many wondered the cause of his predicaments, some of us were lucky to gain from his gift.
He was a Seer.

"Your wife will bring another man into your house, and there will be two husbands. She will control two of you, and you can't do nothing about it."

Those were the words he told a neighbor of ours one of the days we encountered him along constitution crescent. The young man laughed at him, and replied with "iwu onye ara(you're a mad person)"

But the words of Papa manifested, and it was the first time we were seeing such -- a woman living with two men in the same house. It was seeming like a feat that was achieved with dark magic, for she openly sent them on errands, and embarrassed them publicly.

These men were under a spell, and there was nothing anyone tried doing about it, because everyone felt it was appropriate to mind their businesses.

Papa subsequently prophesied that the young man will gain his freedom on a Christmas Day, and this happened when a fight ensued between the lady and another female tenant. To give a satisfactory description of the particulars of that fight, it will be a long read. But the young man was liberated, after which he sent his wife and the second husband away.
There were other cases, were unsolicited prophesies, manifested before our eyes.

A supposed barren woman gave birth on the month he said she would put to bed, after 11 years of marriage.
A driver lost his job with Nigerian Breweries, after Papa had told him he should be mindful of his fellow drivers -- they conspired against him.

A man escaped an accident after Papa had told him to get down from a motorbike. The bike crashed into a mack truck before us, around NEPA office, killing the bike man.

"Don't go to the bank tomorrow" he once said to me. I was to visit the bank the following day with mother, and I told her of Papa's warnings. Mother adhered to it. Mother's bank was robbed the following day in the broad daylight, and about 2 customers were said to have lost their lives in a shoot-out between the gunmen and policemen.
There were other instances where Papa's prophesies were solutions to future dangers.

So, you will understand our sadness when we found the Mad man of Ikot Ekpene road, lying dead in the middle of the road, on an Easter Sunday in 2005.

It was normal to witness mad people lying dead on the streets, but this was different. He had in some ways touched the lives of many, and we didn't want his death to be like he had nobody.

So, as many as could, gathered that Sunday evening, to have a night of three hours prayers, for the soul of Papa One Naira.

I just remembered some of his sayings, and I guess there are others who are currently having memories of this strange man. I'm also thinking of the sorry state of the Naira, when compared to his prophecy. It means we could see the Naira depreciate more in value than it already has.

He didn't just exist -- he was a remedy to many problems.
He was a perfect example of God saying " I can use anybody."