Communication basically is an act of passing on or transference of information or data from one person/source to another. There are different means of communication depending on the circumstances and purposes as well the anticipated result. We have traditional and modern, as well as conventional and non-conventional means of communication.
The conventional mode of communication is one that involves the use of voice, sound and writing. You see and hear each other. There is physical or visible evidence to authenticate the sender or receiver. The non-conventional mode does not involve the use of sound or voice, rather it has to do with the thought or ideas mentality (mind and ideas) as well as symbols and signs.
Before the coming of the white man to Africa, Africans had been effectively enjoying good communication with themselves using different means. In the ancient Benin Kingdom, for example, the telegraphic tool was used as an alternative means of communication.
The Ancient Benin Kingdom was well structured and the structures were very strong and complex. The cult system and the language differed from the other, and so were their operations. They held certain things or information sacred and secret. Most times they used coded language to transmit message or information.
The Obaship is a highly revered institution. Certain information or ideas are transmitted in a coded manner using unconventional mode between the Oba and the son or between the Oba and top chiefs or palace functionaries.
It is such that the bearer of the information or message may not have any idea as to what message he is to deliver or the import of the message.
This came into play during the period when Oba Ovoramwen was exiled to Calabar by the British authorities. While there in Calabar, messages were sent to him. He needed updates on happenings in the kingdom, including the people’s welfare. Information about these could not be passed across to him through writings as they were likely to be intercepted by the agents of the British government. The son had to device a means of informing the father about happenings in the kingdom. He crafted a stool which later became known as a telegraphic stool. The stool contained drawings or artistic impressions of different sizes and dimensions. Each impression or drawing conveyed special information, message and meaning, which were passed across in a coded way. The meanings were only known between the sender and the receiver. This form of communication is known as telepathy. It is communication of thought or ideas by means other than the known senses. It is a communication with someone else’s mind. The term telepathy was first coined in 1882 by a classical scholar, Fredrick WH Myers.
So, when the war between the Benins and the British was still raging on, the Oba was eager to know the true state of affairs of the kingdom, to authenticate or dispel information he was getting from people around him. The son had to device a coded means to inform his father about the goings-on in the kingdom and the palace without being understood by the agents of the British.
For the Oba to be able to understand and interpret the message on the telegraphic stool means that this form of communication had been going on between him (Oba) and his son. It further shows the depth of the spiritual bond between father and son. The stool to the ordinary mind, including those who carried it to the Oba in Calabar, was an ordinary stool, a special gift from the son to his exiled father. But the stool conveyed special meaning or information. The inscriptions on the stool are spiritual words and it takes one with high spiritual powers like the Oba to be able to decode and understand it.
Decoding the message of the telegraphic stool
The gun in the telegraphic tool sent to Oba Ovoranwen in Calabar by his son signifies the continued presence of the British forces in the kingdom. It means that there is still no peace, the coast is still not clear for him to attempt coming back. The clenched hands in the stool means the absence of peace and certain things. There are other inscriptions in the stool that clearly depict some ugly things going on in the kingdom and palace at the time. They show the desecration and sacrilegious acts being carried out in the kingdom and palace.
With all these information available to the Oba, he had to sit back in Calabar and call on the gods and the ancestors to intervene. It also gave him an insight into the level of complicity of some of his trusted friends in his betrayal to the British.
Apart from this particular telegraphic stool, there are so many others conveying different meanings, thoughts or ideas.
