Mama Gold “The National Grandmother”

Àbíkẹ́ Wúràọlá, Mama Gold since before anyone can remember why, is the Republic's living archive. She has outlasted four Speakers, two reshuffles, one hawk scare, and every attempt to move her from the shady end of Coop One, which she holds 'by right of sitting here first.'

Her four hundredth recorded egg was marked with a national ceremony at which she observed that 'the first one was harder.' She has since entered a well-earned laying break, and the Senior Hen Retirement Protection Act, guaranteeing shade, priority at the trough, and 'freedom from sudden committee membership' to every retired layer, is universally known as Mama Gold's Law.

On Sunday mornings she takes the low branch seat under the mango tree and tells the week's history to whoever gathers, which is everyone. Her stories begin 'in the time before the water tank' and are considered more reliable than the official record, including by the officials.