Greetings to you all!
It's been a while here, and I really need to bounce back to being active... I miss the laughs and trolls
For the sake of none Nigerians reading this, ODESHI is the process whereby a bullet from a gun or a cutlass cannot penetrate the body; it usually bounces back when a gun is being fired at the body or when a cutlass is being used against the body, and this act is achieved by introducing voodoo into the body. It sounds weird, right? It's very common in Nigeria. In a nutshell, it's what's called NATIVE BULLETPROOF. I've had it done on my body before, but I'm not here to talk about mine. Read on....
In my second year in school, I lived with a group of friends (from the same community) in the same compound. Like, we met in school and decided to live in one area so as to dominate the area, and yes, we actually dominated the area because everyone in that environment knew us.
During the period of cultural festival displays in school, I and my friends decided to put on a good show in terms of dressing well to represent our culture, but my friends took it to another level by suggesting we go for ODESHI.
"Haaaa! I can't stand seeing my skin pierced by a knife just because I want Odeshi. I'm not interested" This was exactly what I told them, and you know what? All of them termed me a "pastor" (churchy). I tried telling them I had done it before, but they didn't believe me.
In case you don't know how ODESHI is being done;
They will use a razor to pierce and open your skin while they rub some harsh mixed substance on it, and it's always pepperish when this substance is being applied...just like applying pepper in an open wound.. Another method is that they will place a cutlass(the sharp edge) on your chest and use a plank to hit the other edge, crafting out an opening on the chest. You know the sound that comes out via this process. Just imagine it.😭
So I refused to go with them because I love my skin so much.
They all left me and went for the stuff. They returned in the afternoon, and they showed me the marks they drew on their bodies, and I hailed them. "Osue!" (Brave people!)
At that time, they were immune to Cutlass cut, so I jokingly asked them for me to strike a cutlass on their bodies to see if the ODESHI on their bodies was real or fake, but none of them agreed.
As the day progressed, it was time for rally(dnace and displays) around the community before the main event in the evening, so we all dressed up in our brave attire (we borrowed a rapper and cutlasses from our landlady) and off we went.
Yes, I was with cutlass too but I wasn't ready to combat with anyone to show bravery; I was just on my own in the middle, while those on ODESHI stuff were at the forefront.
As we continued, the dance and vibes became intensed, and the people got charged, and they began to clash cutlasses to show bravery. I noticed the hotness of the event and I decided to excuse to a corner to avoid being mistakenly cut by cutlass, and before my eyes, I saw one of my colleagues rushed out from the crowd, holding his palm and blood was dropping.
"Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!" He shouted as he rushed out of the dance scene with his hands dripping with blood. Omo! We rushed him and applied some first aid process to stop the bleeding, and after that, we took him to a nearby chemist shop.
As the chemist was treating him, he was crying like a baby, and we didn't hesitate to laugh. ODESHI has failed him!
When we got home, we began to tease him and asked him what actually happened. He said he threw his cutlass up with the intention to catch the handle as the cutlass is returning from the air, but he didn't know how it happened as he ended up catching the blade instead of the handle, and that's how he found his palm being cut.
"So, the ODESHI didn't work?" We mockingly asked him
He said, Maybe it's because he walked under a rope used in hanging clothes or because he looked at a lady lustfully, that's why the ODESHI failed him🏋️.
Maybe, I'd write my own experience using ODESHI in my next blog.
Thanks for reading