Author: Philip Ngozi Ifechukwude
Reviewer: Emeka Esogbue
Publisher: Carophem
No of pages: 127
The novel, beautifully opens with a 6-line poetic prologue, is set in a small community of Isubogu. Delightfully subdivided into 14 chapters, numbered untitled, chapter one begins with the scintillating description of the atmosphere which in turn foreshadows the surrounding influence of events.
The writer discerningly considers this environment naturally suiting to the backdrop. Readers are let into the author’s natural love for nature but sadly, life hardly gives anyone what he desires, but what life itself wishes.
Reader’s emotion is again drawn to the physically challenged state of Agoziem, the protagonist. This state of deformity is in fact an allusion to the author’s definite condition.
He states and I quote, “One fact remained that I had not actually passed a minute without thinking about my future physically. Would I remain like this forever? I thought. I have one of my legs deformed-without folding. I felt totally deprived of such activities that require absolute physical fitness like sports and driving.”
This quotation calls to question again on whether nature gives one what he longingly desires or not. Ola Rotimi’s The gods are not to blame depicts an ugly event that inevitably occurred. Odewale, the protagonist was predestined to kill his father and marry his own mother and it came to pass. Tried as she could, Flora Nwakpa’s Efuru submitted to the will of divine providence. George Eliot’s Silas Marner: Weaver of Ravaloe also characterises sophisticated treatment of religious issues. There are many more examples of this as rendered in different works of literature.
Back to Wild Ixora, Jindu becomes the first victim of fall from a tree after which the other accomplices agreed to keep what happened to him secret. Oboshi stream is heard of for the first time as children go to have a fresh swim in it.
Chapter two begins with emphasis on the relevance of the stream to the people of Isubogu. Oboshi, a beautiful and kind-hearted goddess, with large breasts, mythical occupier of the stream serves the spiritual needs of this community as we are made to understand.
Oboshi is benevolent but her sacred character must not be disregarded for any reason at all, else it visits her violator with retribution. It was in Oboshi that Nigerian Civil War soldiers who despoiled her taboo by consuming her sacred fish got struck dead. The author did not neglect this in his narration.
From spiritual to domestic use, this river was everything to Isubogu. Oboshi was to the community what the River Nile was to ancient Egypt. There was also the story of legendary Ohene who carried large lumps of stones from Ejeme. Ohene, the Chief Priest served the spiritual needs of Oboshi and the town, announcing approaching disasters, and declaring means by which such tragedies were to be avoided, if they were considered evitable.
Chapter two closes with the mention of ‘Ogwu’ that serves as a mini shrine. It was close to this spot that the author experienced the apparition of frightening specter he narrated to us the readers. The ghostlike figure appeared to them intermittently from afar when they set out very early in the morning for the usual trip to fetch water from Oboshi stream.
In chapter three, St. Thomas’ College Demonstration School was described as the school Agoziem attended and the headmistress was Mrs. M. N. Nwabuwa, who struggled hard to inspire discipline in her pupils. St. Thomas’ College is also an evocation to the mind on the unsafe play common to pupils like climbing of trees. Sadly, Agoziem now introduced as primary six pupil falls into the category of carefree pupils. Here we are let into his inner plot thus “I flayed the warning given by the headmistress the previous day with a wave. Albeit, my intention was to go and catch my own fun, then come back before the day’s attendance would be taken at closure.”
Chapter four continues with Agoziem’s defiance letting us into the incident that would redefine the life of the protagonist who with Biose went climbing a mango tree despite recurrent warnings from Mrs. Nwabuwa, the school’s headmistress.
The writing of this novel is superb with the language flowing so well and believably that the description of Oboshi stream, incident of Agoziem’s fall, visits to healing homes, appreciation of Ihiala culture and other occurrences are as if one was there witnessing them.
The strength of this novel is the employment of messages that tell the particulars of occurrences or course of events as presented to us by the author.
This book is purely an exertion of enormous importance to literary minds. I strongly recommend this very interesting and readable novel to anyone interested in the lives of children.
The post Wild Ixora appeared first on Daily Independent, Nigerian Newspaper.