By: Taiwo Akerele
“When they had eaten, Obierika pointed at the two heavy bags. That is money from your yams, he said, I sold the big ones as soon as you left, later on I sold some of the seed yams and gave out others to share-croppers, I shall do that every year until you return, but I thought you would need money now and so I brought it. Who knows what may happen tomorrow?…’’
Over the summer while flying across the Mediterranean sea enroute London, United Kingdom, midway into the flight, I remembered I had packed a copy of Things fall apart written by Chinua Achebe and other books in my backpack, this edition with an introduction by Mpalive Msiska was earlier procured at the highbrow Adams Pages Bookshop in Abuja on the sidelines of Denja Abdullahi’s book readings and came very handy as I reflected over the state of affairs of sub-Saharan Africa.
Things Fall Apart is a book that was quite popular amongst secondary school students in my days but since we read it for our examination purposes, I never really took notice of a few lessons that were strikingly still relevant till date as we matched towards a hopefully better society.
So, as the plane glided through the beautiful calm and peaceful weather in between the English Isle and the French alps, I painstakingly took time to read in between the lines of the copy I had, it was then it occurred to me that a lot of lessons were lost in the days when I read the book as a College student. Kudos to Prof. Chinua Achebe for this insightful analysis of pre-colonial sub–Saharan African. I could relate with certainty almost everything that was reflected in the book as a young child growing up in the Northern Midwestern region of Nigeria.
One could see through this book an encapsulation of the African condition, the culture and in all its social totality the soul of the people. The weather system, the rainy seasons, the dry seasons, the rains and its impact on food production, the storms, the planting and harvesting seasons, climate change, food production, the deployment of human capital and labour, our folklores, the use of proverbs and adages to describe situations and human conditions.
Chinua Achebe clearly documented the system of crisis and conflict resolutions within and between communities, settlement of land disputes, slave ownership, traditional ritual system and the worship of gods. Our marriage system and the importance/significance of seniority amongst wifes, ownership of children and the relationship between households and families.
The exiling of Okonkwo to his mother’s village of Mbanta and how he was immediately integrated into the community while on exile emphasised the important role mothers play in the life of humans ‘Nneka – Mother is supreme’. The well-known bond that existed between men and their daughters was highlighted in this book.
The elaborate marriage system, the process of betrothal, the payment of bride price and the age of maturity for young girls, the role of women and youths in the food production value chain was also highlighted for readers.
In an African society where formal governance system was absent, it was heartwarming to see heavy punishment for murder either by error or pre-meditated. The unfortunate shooting of Pa Ezeudo’s daughter at his burial by Okonkwo was immediately met with the traditional justice system without an appeal.
The traditional method of treating sickle cell anaemia and all the processes involved, the ordeal of mother and child to some extent their fathers were explicitly explained.
Most importantly for me is the issue of trust and bond and friendship between two great friends. Obierika, a very calm, moderated and peaceful man was a good friend of the hot tempered Okonkwo – a man who doesn’t want to be seen as a weakling like his Father, Unoka. His demonstration of loyalty, fidelity, trust and commitment before, during and after Okonkwo’s exile is a rare trait amongst men of today.
He was not just a friend; he was a truthful friend who condemned Okonkwo for participating in the murder of Ikemefuna when he said inter alia
*’You know very well that I am not afraid of blood; and if anyone tells you that I am, he is telling you a lie, and let me tell you one thing, my friend, if I were you I would have stayed at home. What you have done will not please the earth, It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families’*
For me, I don’t know how many people will agree with, Obierika is the star of the book, a model for the present and future generation of young men on the importance of standing by friendship through the good and stormy weather of life, a big example of how to tell truth to power in a manner that will encourage friendship and communal living while remaining faithful till the end.
