FOR most people, the term politics usually relates to those in government alone. But politics, as it were, operates in all spheres of life. Local politics, with regard to kingship or royalty could be just as vicious, dangerous, self-centered and as inconsiderate as the others.Selfishness, pride and survival of the fittest become the order of the day, as seen in Emilia Ikpa's Under Oath (Cell-Bez, Owerri; 2011). The novel is a fictional that tells the story of a kingdom beset by many problems and at a brink of extinction. King Ediele is jittery because his daughter-in-law cannot conceive and the heir refuses to take another wife, in a strictly hereditary kingdom.Princess Elemma finally puts to bed a set of twins ' all girls - the day her husband, Ebi was killed in a war. In his desperation, the king decides to pull a fast one on his people. Rather than have both babies killed and thrown into the evil forest as the custom of twin babies demanded, he orders that his daughter, who is married to a king from another village, takes one of the babies away.One of the babies lives in the royal household and her sex is concealed and given a male name Amuma. 'He' is to succeed the king and the king's household takes an oath to keep the matter of Amuma's sex identity a top secret till the end of time.Ikpa in this work exposes the man-made tradition that killed generations of twins as well as relegating women to the background. He also shows that since man made the traditions, man can also break them when it affects him, as seen in the case of Chief Ediele's grand children who are not only twins, but also girls who cannot ascend the throne.His desire to perpetrate his family on the thrown of Uloaku pushes him to defile the customs that he holds sacred. Even when Nwime cries abomination, Ediele simply tells her, 'custom is made by us and they become what we make of them. No custom demands the killing of innocent children'.On the other hand, the role of Amuma shows to a great extent that being a man or woman is purely a matter of mindset. Although she misses not being able to behave and perform the duties of the woman that she is, like getting married like her age mates, the swiftness with which she fights wars and never loosing as well as killing wild animals can only be compared to a man. This means that being a man or woman is what you make of it.Her grand father's selfishness and design for her would not allow her to live her life as she should, a severe sacrifice that she often regrets, especially in her quiet movements.Amuma eventually ascends the throne as a young king that is loved by her subjects because of her generosity, wisdom and knowledge. She marries as the custom demands but she cannot bring herself to tell Ude, her wife the long-kept secret. This just shows the level of dog-eat-dog that exists among humans. She can choose not to marry to forfeit the throne to another family. Since she is a girl, her pride makes her to rope Ude into the whole mess; although 'he' suffers stabs of guilt each time 'he' looks at her.Ude, the young bride, is looking forward to experiencing a new life after a long wait to be married but she has only the scorn from her fellow women in the palace to contend with, as they begin to demonise her as a barren woman. Obete, the witch doctor, connives with Omeife, who kills his father and enthrones himself as king of Omayi and is oppressing the people of the land. Amuma kills him and is about to kill Obete when he exposes the family secret to the people of Uloaku.When she discovers that someone else is privy to the family secret, Amuma sets herself ablaze.In the long run, the throne that King Ediele commits so much abomination to retain goes to another family because his lineage has come to an end since there is no son to inherit the throne. His only son Ebi had been killed in a war.
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