In Ikenga’s Shoes: A Review of Ndubuisi George’s Woes of Ikenga

 “Ikenga’s self-imposed isolation had made him everything apart from a normal human being. Sometimes, he engaged himself in lengthy conversations and laughter but maintained a worrying silence and irritating behaviour with his black brothers, and when out in the open, he saw every white man or woman as an undercover agent and a potential enemy.”

– Excerpt from Woes Of Ikenga

Many who are born into austere living conditions often tend to follow one of two paths: despair and live in despondency or be possessed of an extreme obsession to liberate they and their family from the grip of poverty’s tightly clenched fist. Whatever path they choose, they explore to the heights of extremism. Not all who choose to be liberators end up achieving their goals. Some end up right at the other end of the extreme divide, despondent; others die trying.

One cannot fault the young Ikenga for his ‘Germany-mania’. After all, it is common knowledge in his village that Germany is the land where used cars are dumped on the road for whoever wants and when not claimed, those same cars are disposed as trash. Even if this sounds incredible, what else explains how Ray, the headmaster’s son could afford to send a Mercedes Benz to his father within few months of arriving Germany. This furor begins as a small seed in his young mind and grows into the egregious convictions that the grass is surely greenest in Germany, and that his -no lack- destiny is definitely having a ball, while waiting for him to come claim it. Not that he does not try in his own way to explore other options, but after the bus episode, one is not sure if the gods still know how to fight for themselves, talkless of their faithfuls.

After a childhood of dire lack, collywobbles must be cast aside to get to the other side where greener pastures lie. He is sure that the hardest feat is getting there. Surely, once there, destiny will reward his resilience and quickly fall into place for him. Armed with these thoughts, he sets off for Germany. It does not matter whether he starts off by road, and has to cross the desert: it is a small feat to have to beg and clean car windows on the streets when stuck in an unknown town where a strange language is being spoken. The goal is to get to the promise land where fate awaits with a smile. Even the near death sea-experience does not waver his courage. Maybe fate is testing him to see what stuff he is made of. Fate must have a weird sense of humour, expecting him to give up when he is almost there.

Finally Ikenga arrives Germany where all the treasures with his name on them await him. He has come in peace, he tells himself. Oh no! He is not greedy. All he wants is just a teeny weeny tad, just enough to return home in a few years time as a triumphant hero who has brought honour to his family name.

He, however does not bargain for what Germany doles out to him -from jail terms to a slapstick marriage. Through all his adventures, the reader cannot help but sympathize with him and unconsciously encourage his endeavours while hoping that he somehow strikes gold so his efforts do not go wasted. At the end of the novel, the reader’s right-and-wrong divide lines are blurred; the most important thing is Ikenga’s welfare.

When in later times one ruminates on the noble hero, Ikenga and his many close-shaves, one cannot help but muse along different lines:

• ·         Ikenga should have stayed and followed his grandfather’s original plan of taking care of the shrine…
• ·         Ikenga should have joined Mascot at the train station from the get-go…
• ·         Ikenga should have turned a blind eye at Vannesa and her shenanigans. ..
• ·         Ikenga should have joined Pastor Ray…

There are many conclusions or ways the book could have gone that may inspire hope for heroic Ikenga in the reader’s mind, but each cast aspersions on the reader’s own morality or displays his lack of it, thus drawing us to Ikenga’s woes and showing clearly that there are indeed no easy options.

Ikenga emerges a hero not because his is a Cinderella story but because he becomes for the reader a microcosm of the average man’s struggle to rise above his birth ranks. Whether he succeeds or not, it does not matter, what counts is that he dared even death to try, explored as many options as life thrust his way, and did not simply resign himself to fate.

Ndubuisi George concocts a story that does not just question our definition of “greener pastures” but redefines the heroic character.

Woes of Ikenga is available for sale on Amazon

And at the following bookstores in Lagos,

1. ·         Patabah Bookshop- Shop B20 Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping Mall (Shoprite), Surulere
2. ·         Terra Kulture, Timaiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island
3. ·         http://www.konga.com/rectoverso

or click here to buy and have it delivered to your doorstep anywhere in Nigeria.

By Amara Chimeka

CEO StreamsELA

WOES OF IKENGA, The Book of Books of the Story of Our Time. A must read.

 

It is unthinkable that Africans would at any given time, prefer to spend time in foreign prisons to being subjected to harsh economic realities of the time especially with the high level of insecurity, lack of social amenities, high crime rate, etc. The crushing poverty currently ravaging most African countries which is largely blamed on bad leadership sadly, has sent many especially youths, to early graves while enroute foreign countries. Most of these emigrants transit to the next life through the Sahara desert, in the sea or suffocate in containers while some who were lucky to have crossed over, ended up prisoners. These survivors face stiff immigration laws which of course turn them into prisoners of some sort and while in quest for Permanent Resident Permit, get involved in sham marriages which most often, mark the beginning of their fatal end.

These and more are issues that Ndubuisi George sets out to address in his latest thought-provoking literary work titled, Woes of Ikenga, published by Kraft Books Limited. The book which is made up of 17 chapters and 325 interesting pages, is George’s modest literary offering towards sensitising Nigerians and Africans in general, on the need to avoid being lured into abandoning their home countries in search for an illusive greener pastures in foreign countries.

The name Ikenga in the title, is symbolic of an Igbo deity but on a first look, tempts readers into thinking the story is about certain traditional beliefs but the picture of a man and his reflection checking out, gives a hint about the main thrust of the novel. Woes of Ikenga is an intense moving narrative exposing the level at which Africans struggle for survival in foreign countries, through engaging in demeaning jobs which they never bargained for. It sends a stern warning to any Nigerian and indeed African who believes that it is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven, to count the cost before intending to emigrate.

The author spends time in the first chapter, with historical and cultural background of the protagonist Ikenga, a twin boy whose name symbolises “place of strength”, given to him after the horned deity known for its resilience, strength and purity in an imaginary community, Umuafor, where the story is partly set. Driven by acute poverty in his war-torn land Umuafor and loss of mother at a tender age, Ikenga begins nursing the desire to travel outside Nigeria for better opportunities. At 19, after a short working experience at a foreign company based in Port Harcourt, and an aborted attempt to make fortune out of statues he steals from Ogwugwu shrine, Ikenga embarks on a suicidal journey to Germany. He encounters several near death situations in the Sahara Desert and the sea while in transit. Once in Germany, Ikenga peddles drugs as a means of survival and also marries a German, Vanessa so as to obtain the much needed Resident Permit. Not even his relationship with Vanessa that begets Ahamefuna is able to aid the realisation of his dream especially with his refusal to bow to indoctrination of the whiteman’s culture.

His woes however, degenerate into several prison experiences and the rest is better read than imagined. On page 298, “Life in Balthazar was far better than being free men in their own countries.” is used to portray the height of frustrations Africans face in foreign countries. Ikenga’s is such a pathetic narrative that captures in vivid terms, the scary nature of life of Africans in host and hostile countries.

Readers cannot help but feel the pains these unfortunate hustlers feel during struggle for survival. George’s book critically  examines the sanity in leaving one’s home country regardless of how perilous times have become, only to face constant police surveillance and harassment, engage in demeaning jobs for survival, become drug addict and or drug peddler, engage in sham marriages which most often, end up in frustration, imprisonment, loss of life and deportation. The author meticulously, exposes diverse conditions of diaspora citizens which portray “obvious symptoms of emotional and mental breakdown and degeneration.”

The author in this life-changing book, not only succeeds in compiling an expose on life of diaspora citizens but critically portrays the place of literature as an important tool for social, economic, political etc, change in a society. The Agulu, Anambra State born novelist through the intense yet amusing narrative, offers readers a window into what life in Europe and other Western countries is like, with the aim of discouraging individuals who erroneously believe those countries hold solution to their hardship.

Although the author failed to satisfy his non Igbo language users with a glossary of words, he must be given thumbs up for display of vastness in traditions and culture as appropriately represented with the right words as well as rich proverbs.

Woesof Ikenga is indeed a priceless reference material that stimulates intellectual curiosity. It makes an interesting read for students, teachers and lecturers in the continent.

       By Prisca Sam-Duru

Woes of Ikenga by Ndubuisi George is available online!