User:Ogboinba/Ogboinba

Ogboinba is a mythical sorceress from the folklore of the Ijo (Ijaw) people of Southern Nigeria. Ogboinba is best known for attempting to challenge the goddess Woyengi, to a contest of powers in order to change her ordained fate of being childless.

Myth
At the time of her creation by the Supreme Being, Woyengi, Ogboinba was asked to choose her own fate. She chose to be granted magical powers, instead of having children, and to be born in a certain town. Ogboinba was born, and grew to become famous for her extraordinary powers. However, she was dissatisfied with her life because she had no children. She then decided to leave her home and journey to Woyengi, to ask to be re-created so she could have children. In the course of her journey, she faced many opponents, who also had strong magical powers, but she defeated them and stripped them of their powers. When she met Woyengi, Ogboinba challenged the goddess to a contest of powers. This made Woyengi angry, and she stripped Ogboinba of the magic she had. Powerless, Ogboinba fled and hid herself in the eyes of a pregnant woman. Since Woyengi had decreed that pregnant women were never to be harmed, Ogboinba was spared. It is said that Ogboinba lives still, not only in the eyes of pregnant women, but in every person.

Significance
Isidore Okpewho argues that the Ogboinba tale demonstrates how the excesses of power can be tamed by feminine influence. Like another mythical Ijaw character, Ozidi, Ogboinba becomes power-drunk and violates the divinely established norms of the universe. Each is saved from the full consequences of their actions by feminine intervention (Ozidi by his grandmother, Ogboinba by the pregnant woman).

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