Lord, is it the tale of the Coward of the County or just the Gambler?

Dear Father,
You know the other day I just sat by myself and suddenly let out this bright smile as I shook my head in amusement-events at the Traditional Council the previous day had taken over me and I couldn’t help it. Only two themes could run in my head: Kenneth Roger’s Coward of the County and The Gambler.

Hmmm, my son what that old Uncle Sam’s son who na die long time ago has to do with something that happens at the Traditional Council the other day?

Father, first let me just tell you briefly what they say happened at the Upper End of the Traditional Council on that day. They say, and that our village town criers I quoting here so oo. They say the Country Giant had been invited by the Chiefs at the Traditional Council to ask him plenty things, among them was that he withdraw one paper that he sent requesting them to cancel the oracle that protect some people to enable them work for certain years without being sack for nothing and to ask him to also look among people who are not from his camp to bring them into his Kitchen Cabinet since some of those current people he has don’t know their lefts from rights-my name oo, am quoting the town criers here please.

But funny enough, the Chiefs underestimated the Country Giant’s response: They say the Country Giant said “but if I sent you people paper that na correct, your duty is just to send it back to me”-that is reject it. “And if I sent people for confirmation, if they are not qualify, reject them.”

They said the Country Giant also said but to be asking me now to withdraw the paper and be sacking people here and there is not correct like that, you should be able to do your jobs! Wow! It waste! It scatters!
Now, Father, I know what you want to say. You want to ask me how this relates to Uncle Sam’s son song.

Now Father, in Uncle Sam’s son song, his character is considered the Coward of the County. I mean somebody who has never stood one single time to prove the county wrong. Though he has a name given to him by his mother, but the entire county gave him a certain name because of their belief of him.

But they woke the man in him after they rapped his wife. This time it was not just him but his wife and his reputation was on the line as well. So when he walked into a bar room where all the rapists were, everybody began to call him the name they had been calling him years ago. When he turned around they thought he was walking away like before, not knowing he was going to lack the bar room door so that none could escape his wrath and before he left the room all the people in there were lying on the ground floor and before he struck the last man, he said this is for “Becky”.

You see, when people have known you in a certain way for so long, they tend to ride on you. That is the problem of our village and the chiefs are really part of that problem, because of their individual favors or friendship with the Country Giant or for what they take him for.

It’s like they resolved amongst themselves to grant him whatsoever he wants-like a mother and her cry baby or babies and little do they know they are all driving him down the dish. And because of the name they have given him too “the Country Giant,” he always want to sync with them. But with all the troubles going on, he now knows that his head is on the ground and all he had to do was to teach the Chiefs lesson to let them know in parts that they are the ones ruining the village-because they failed to do their damn jobs.

Can you imagine this Father, the Country Giant standing up to tell the Chiefs why call me here to ask me to withdraw a piece of paper when you have the power to reject it and send it back to me but refuse and acted because of the name you have given me?

Now, why the Gambler?

It appears that the chiefs have played this double standards for so long that they don’t know when to hold on and when to quit. In other words it’s like eating your cake and wanting to have it at the same time. It also appears to me that the Country Giant too just learning how to play the game after sitting at the table for nearly 16 months.

So let me leave with an excerpts of The Gambler: “If you’re gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right. You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.

You never count your money, when you’re sittin’ at the table. There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealing’s done. Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin’ is knowin’ what to throw away and knowin’ what to keep. ‘Cause every hand’s a winner,
And every hand’s a loser, and the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.”