Orthodox Traditions: Okaku and the Nine Provinces
In the ancient Nri Kingdom, the Osuofia receives a chilling prophecy about the coming of the white man. The Osuofia is the title of the most powerful medicine man in Nri Kingdom and he believes the coming of the white man would bring about the enslavement of their people and the destruction of their traditions. More than half a century later, the incumbent Okaku, King Anozie, prepares to host the annual Iri Ji Festival and he places high hopes on his son to win the exalted astral combat contest. The Okaku is the ruler of all Nine Provinces. Unknown to him, a group of gang members plan to assassinate him and the Igwes of the Nine Provinces in the Astral Realm (which is same as the spirit world in a sense).
Their plans are thwarted when they run into the Okaku’s son, Prince Zimuzo. He fights them off, together with the daughter of his father’s archenemy, who unexpectedly meets him at the place of the assassination. They form an alliance and a romantic relationship springs from their encounter. Meanwhile, Ikemba, who is a commoner from Uru Province, has been training his whole life to win the esteemed astral combat contest.
Later, it is discovered the assassination may have been arranged by a woman called the Red Witch, who was banished to the evil forest some years ago.
The astral combat contest ends in a tie between Prince Zimuzo and Ikemba, which upsets King Anozie and he resents his son for not emerging as the sole winner. At this time, the white man arrives with his apprentice and they are sheltered by the new head of the royal maidservants called Ijeoma. The white man is a Catholic Priest and he heals Ijeoma’s father of snake bites. Deemed as a miracle, the queen goes at night to see Ijeoma and her father, only to find the white man there. The queen seeks the help of the white man who heals her mother as well. Meanwhile, the current Osuofia detected the presence of the white man through divination and has declared him wanted in all Nine Provinces.
The white man is later captured and this puts the Okaku in a bad position since his wife and her mother are responsible for hiding the white man. The Osuofia is also able to capture one of the Red Witch’s daughters and he decides to send some voyagers to journey to the land of the gods to retrieve the Oke-Ite (a mythical pot of power) as the only way to cleanse the land. Prince Zimuzo and his beloved uncle, King Anozie’s second cousin, also decide to journey with them. When they get there, the uncle, Ozo Amobi, kills Prince Zimuzo and takes the Oke-Ite for himself. It had always been his secret ambition to become Okaku of Nri Kingdom.
At this time the Red Witch goes to rescue her captured daughter only to find the Osuofia has been murdered by another Dibia. She kills the evil Dibia and learns Ozo Amobi had been working with the evil Dibia all along. As fate would have it, Ikemba teams up with the Red Witch’s daughters, Amara and Amaka, to journey to the land of the gods in the Astral Realm. They realise only a blood relative can revive Prince Zimuzo and Amaka reveals she is actually a sister to both Prince Zimuzo and Ikemba, meaning they are triplets. Amaka then revives Prince Zimuzo with her unique gifts.
King Anozie runs into Ozo Amobi fighting with the Red Witch and she convinces him of Ozo Amobi’s treachery. They team up to fight Ozo Amobi but King Anozie gets badly wounded. She then flees with King Anozie’s body to the evil forest to help him heal. As it turns out, King Anozie and the Red Witch were secret lovers years ago before her unjust banishment.
Ozo Amobi declares himself the new Lord of Nri Kingdom and summons evil minions to aid him finish off King Anozie and the Red Witch. A huge battle ensues but King Anozie emerges victorious. He thinks he killed Ozo Amobi but Ozo Amobi escapes Nri Kingdom with the Catholic Priest’s apprentice, hoping to seek the help of other white men and their sophisticated weapons.
