Posted by By Sola Ogundipe on
THE Sallah season is here again and with it the attendant hustle and bustle of preparation by believers of the Islamic faith as they go about making plans to celebrate this year's annual festival in grand style.
THE Sallah season is here again and with it the attendant hustle and bustle of preparation by believers of the Islamic faith as they go about making plans to celebrate this year's annual festival in grand style. Like it is well known, what has come to be regarded as one of the essential pillars of the sallah, is the symbolic ram that is slaughtered in commemoration of the festival.
Last Sunday afternoon, a man who had just visited the popular ram market at Cele Bus Stop along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway stood by the roadside. Looking resplendent in a white buba and sokoto with matching cap and leather sandals, he looked very pleased with himself as he led the sturdy black and white ram he had just purchased towards the road.
His intention was clear -- to get across the busy expressway and probably deliver his newest possession safely at home. It seemed a harmless enough exercise, and as soon as there was a break in traffic, he jumped onto the road with his ram in tow on the end of a rope. But the beleaguered animal had other ideas.
Both man and beast had taken only a few steps and were almost in the middle of the road when the ram suddenly stopped dead in its tracks - almost pulling its owner off his feet in the process. Attempts by the astonished man to forcefully drag the animal across the remaining portion of the road proved hopelessly ineffective as it stubbornly refused to budge.
In a fluster, the man dropped the rope and held on to its (ram's) horns apparently for better leverage, and at the same time intensified his pulling effort. But to the shock and amazement of all, the animal reared back and butted him on the legs. The situation, made more precarious by onrushing vehicles, initially elicited pearls of laughter from on-lookers. But when two or three speeding vehicles were forced to swerve or brake sharply to avoid knocking down man and beast as they engaged in the tug-of-war in the middle of the highway, some good Samaritans quickly came in to save the situation, especially as it was apparent the ram was gaining the upper hand.