Let me narrate the story to those who don't understand the Igbo language. Before I start the full story, here is the meaning of "Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo": it simply represents the sound of an elephant's footsteps.
Let me remind you that the title of the song is "Ka esi ree onye isi oche" (how the chairman was sold).
The story starts with a king in the animal kingdom who has a daughter. She has been rejecting suitors who ask for her hand in marriage.
She has rejected more than a hundred handsome men. Her father, the king, became worried and invited all his family and cabinet members. He told them to ask his daughter why she kept rejecting the men who came to marry her. They asked the king's daughter, and she said that anyone who wants to marry her must bring an elephant.
The king told his guards to inform all the young men who wanted to marry his daughter that they must bring an elephant to qualify.
When the tortoise heard the news, he went to the elephant's house and told him that the king asked him to inform him that he would be his chairman in his upcoming Ofala festival. The elephant was so happy, and the tortoise told him that the festival would be the next day and that they would go together.
As the elephant and the tortoise started their journey to the king's Ofala festival, the tortoise was too slow, which made the elephant complain that by the time they arrived at the king's palace, the ceremony would be over. The tortoise asked the elephant to allow him to climb onto his back so that he could walk faster and they would arrive on time. The elephant agreed and told him to climb onto his back so they could meet up.
As the tortoise climbed onto his back and the elephant started the journey, the tortoise pretended as if he was about to fall off. The elephant asked him to hold on well so that he wouldn't fall. The tortoise told him that his hands were too small to hold on well unless he used the rope he had to tie around the elephant's neck so he could hold onto the rope instead. The elephant agreed, as he only wanted to arrive at the Ofala festival on time. The tortoise then tied the elephant with a rope and started singing, "King, I have brought the elephant!"
The elephant immediately asked the tortoise, "Who did you say you have brought?"
The tortoise told him that he was saying he had come to the occasion with the elephant, but it sounded as if he said he had brought the elephant. The tortoise told the elephant to keep going and that he was with him.
The elephant continued, and his heavy steps sounded like "Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo."
When they arrived at the king's palace, the tortoise told the elephant to wait outside while he went inside to inform the king that they had arrived. The elephant agreed.
However, the tortoise told the elephant that he didn't trust him and that he might leave before he came back. So, he tied the elephant to a tree in front of the king's palace. Then the tortoise raised his voice once again, informing the king that he had brought the elephant tied up in front of his palace. The king then handed over his daughter to the tortoise.
This is the story that the lovely song by Mike Ejeagha narrates: "Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo."
NAIRALAND
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