DIKE'S PLIGHT by Frank Uzoma Akwara

The book is available online on www.createspace.com and www.amazon.com and a lot of other online bookstores.

 

DIKE’S PLIGHT is a prose, African literature text with settings in the Eastern part of Nigeria. Its time line is the pre colonial era and tries to examine the cultures, beliefs and practices of some regions in the Eastern part of Nigeria.

Many gory tales of the Ibos were revealed in this text; the cults, battles, conflicts, love and desires of men in power. The story which is centered around DIKE as the main character, reveals what envy, jealousy, hatred and desperation can make a man do. Other characters are not left out in their shortcomings and strengths, but in all, the various characters contributed differently in making the story intriguing and suspense-filled.

The book is an 84 page book and would be suitable for senior primary school pupils and secondary school students.

Adults at various levels can read it for pleasure, entertainment, education and the morality it portrays.

Please read an extract from chapter nine below:

Dike looked very happy as he dressed in his best attire which was a

brown flowered wrapper he tied round his waist. He carried along a keg of

palm wine to show respect and loyalty to Nneka’s parents, as it was part of

the tradition and also to win their hearts and acceptance as a prospective

son-in-law. Dike sat on a mat in the compound and kept thinking of how he

would make his initial formal visit a success while Nneka went to call her father. She returned with her father and

unexpectedly, Nneka’s father shouted at Dike.

“You again! What are you doing in my house?’ Dike, now frightened,

couldn’t give an answer to that question as he saw a fierce and aggressive

look on Nneka’s father. Nneka’s father, pa Ikemefuna, quickly went into his

hut to fetch his matchet, but before he could do that, Dike had fled. He gave

Dike a little chase but couldn’t catch him because he was aged and almost

weary.

Going by the above extract, Dike couldn’t have been a good man, or was he a man many didn’t understand. At least he had good intentions of marrying Nneka, Pa Ikemefuna’s daughter. But again, why did the man not simply send him away if he didn’t want him to marry his daughter? Instead, he chased him with a matchet. Why did he go that far? The book is in a good position to tell us.

Let us examine the extract below from chapter three.

The headchief closed his eyes and raised his hands before reciting

some strange incantations. “With the strength from above and the strength

underneath, I put them together to command the shrine to split.” Gently with a

thin sound, the shrine opened. The recitation of the incantations was the

only way to open the shrine and gain access into it. As foretold by IKECHIALA,

the founder and herbalist that laid the shrine, the days in the shrine

were faster than the days of the real world.

Ikechiala said the shrine was a way one could meet with the gods of

the land and only the headchiefs could enter it. Many who lived and died in

the village had heard about the shrine but they had not set their eyes on it,

not even for once. It was said that the shrine could only be destroyed by

those born on any day of anniversary of the shrine. So the villagers saw it a

taboo for a child to be born on any of the shrine’s day of anniversary, and

any child born on any of the days was killed.

Now, the headchief entered into the shrine and a voice thundered

within the shrine; “what brings you here my faithful one?” it was the voice of

the gods of the land.

“Oh great one” said the headchief as he bowed.

“It is I, the headchief of Aboh land. I’ve come to submit to your excellent

judgement, the thieves from Umudai whom we caught disturbing the

peace of your children.”

“Very well, my faithful one, do to them as you’ve been doing to others,”

the same voice thundered and echoed back, “great one, your whish is

my command,” said the headchief as he bowed and left.

When the headchief got out of the shrine, he told some of the chiefs to

get the thieves tied up. They did so and the headchief sliced each of the

thieves’ throats with a sharp dagger. The other chiefs that already knew

the activities and process, got a large gourd and collected the blood flowing

from the corpses of the dead thieves

They all took turns each by sipping on the blood they collected.

A whole lot of practices took place which could not be comprehended: the eating of humans; quest for power; the shrine; the oaths; in a nutshell-the cult. Are these not what we see in today’s political power seekers? Cannibals I dear say…..but an encounter with the book will definitely tell us more or all we need to know.

Please see more extracts below from chapter five;

It was the 88th anniversary of the laying of the ’IKECHIALA’ (power to

rule a land) shrine, in the council hall of Aboh, it was also a market day but

the people had decided to declare that day a market —free day due to the

anniversary of the Ikechiala shrine. But in the very early hours of that day,

Nwakaego’s screams were heard by her husband. Chief Uzonna rushed

with a matchet to her hut, thinking that intruders were attacking his beloved

wife. However, he arrived to meet Nwakaego alone, moaning in pains.

“Oh! It…….it’s coming out……Nze…… where are you?” she was

twisting herself on the floor in agony and was perspiring all over her face,

she was in labour.

“The baby? .......no! Today is the sacred anniversary of the Ikechiala

shrine, hold on Ego until tomorrow, please, don’t let the baby come out or it

will be killed,” chief Uzonna pleaded. He was afraid that the baby would be

killed because no baby born on any sacred anniversary of the Ikechiala

shrine was spared. This was because only those born on the sacred days of

the shrine’s anniversary could destroy it, so the villagers feared the mistake

of having the shrine destroyed and killed any child born on those days.

Nwakaego could not stop the baby from coming out because she was

dying in pain and screaming.

Chief Uzonna paced about the room, confused. He did not know

whether to go out and call for help, or to remain and pet his laboring wife

because he feared a helper could reveal the secret which could cost him his

baby’s life. As he remained without knowing what to do, his wife moaned as

if she was stabbed and immediately the baby’s head appeared. Uzonna

wasted no time as he soon realized that he was supposed to help his wife

with the delivery. He did all he could even though he was inexperienced in

helping with the delivery until the baby came out safe and sound.

He cleaned up the baby, who was a baby boy, and laid him by his

mother who was resting from the terrible experienced she just had. Exactly

an hour later, while chief Uzonna was trying to put things in order, his wife

began to scream in pain again. It was

another labour and another child was arriving. Chief Uzonna stood

and aided her with the birth of the second baby who was also a boy. He

cleaned him up as well and laid him next to the first one. Though, chief

Uzonna’s wife gave birth to handsome babies, he was not quite happy

because they were born on a forbidden day.

Now this is a tricky one; was it not forbidden for any child or children to be born on the anniversary days of the Ikechiala shrine? Now a set of twins were born, what could possibly be their fate? Mary Slessor only succeeded in abolishing the killing of twins, this is not about killing of twins, it is about the Ikechiala shrine. What could have been their fate? The book reveals all that.

The

book is available online on www.createspace.com and www.amazon.com and a lot of other online bookstores.