The Writer as an Advocate: A review of Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor’s A Father’s Pride by Oguntoyinbo Deji
Kays House of Publishing, 2024
The writer cannot expect to be excused from the task of re-education and regeneration that must be done. In fact, he should march in front. For he is, after all – as Ezekiel Mphalele says in his African Image – the sensitive point of his community
-Chinua Achebe, The Novelist as Teacher
That the Nigerian children’s literature genre is in dire need of more books is unarguable. And a well-written, well-conceived and contextual one for that matter. This is because of the ubiquity of foreign children stories in the hands of this highly impressionable generation, which need to be counterbalanced by having more local books in which characters, settings, motifs, and plots are relatable to these early readers. Thus, the refreshing and gratifying presence of Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor’s oeuvre into the already famished Nigerian children’s republic of letters. With award winning children narratives like A Hero’s Welcome, One Little Mosquito and A Father’s Pride - the subject of this review, Chiazor-Enenmor brings to the table her wealth of experience in this highly specialised literary genre.
Based on the thematic foci of the protection of children against all forms of maltreatment, protection of the environment and the promotion of good aspects of one’s culture. Going through the pages of this literary text depicts the author as an advocate in these three thematic concerns. A Father’s Pride chronicles the trajectory of Urenna, the protagonist of the narrative from her pristine village of Akpuji to her sojourn to stay with her aunt (Uloma) in cosmopolitan Lagos. In a twist of fate, Lagos became both an impediment and enabler of her desires and dreams. In this binarist and paradoxical state and with the help of some characters in the story, the odds were in Urenna’s favour.
A major message inhered in the literary text is that of children’s protection against all forms of maltreatments and abuses. Aunty Uloma literarily turns her niece - Urenna Chijioke – to a slave. The girl goes to fetch water for about seven times before she attends school daily. At every instant, Aunty Uloma verbally and psychologically abuses her by making untoward comments about her parents. Urenna’s aunt goes for the whip in virtually all cases. It is either she is beaten for breaking a basin; mistakenly pouring tea on the kitchen table or for making her friend’s parents to pay for the school’s excursion amongst several spurious reasons. Urenna lives in the pantry where potatoes, yams and onion and sacks of garri are kept. Even when she claims to be sick, Aunty Uloma still asked her to fetch water and concludes that she is just pretending. In a similar vein, Urenna is constantly being starved as food is not always available for her. After waking by 5am, and busy with various household chores, her Saturday breakfast – which is always late – is a measly two slices of bread and a tasteless tea cup. It was because of this perpetual hunger that made Urenna begged from Iya Alakara – an act that also ended in her being whipped. The poetic justice at the end of the story becomes the right comeuppance for such a wicked and unfeeling aunt. The application of the Child Rights Act of 2003 also helps in legally and pragmatically put paid to such wicked and callous actions of a supposedly familial relation.
Another concern in the economy of the narrative is the preservation of one’s culture as Urenna is depicted as a child that is culturally connected/ rooted in her society. She regales the Ejiros with folktales and stories after their meals at night. Also, she taught them Igbo words alongside their meaning distinguishing between those with the same spellings but with different tones and meaning. This conscientises the mother of the house of her neglected responsibility. Urenna’s experiences with the Ejiro family reminds the reader of Kambili’s experiences in Aunt Ifeoma’s house in Chimamanda Adichie’s debut novel, Purple Hibiscus. Urenna’s cultural sensitivity is also refracted in her stunning dance steps/skills during the preparation and eventual competition for the cultural fiesta. Her superb dexterity in blowing the “Oja”, dancing to the metal gong, wooden gong and the drum mesmerize all the attendants for the cultural programme. However, the story excoriates some negative cultural traits prevalent in Urenna’s society. Patriarchal sensibilities /shibboleths is definitely one of them. Despite having four daughters, Chijioke believes in the equality of both sexes: Even when they get married, they will still be my children. Their children will be my grandchildren. So, my lineage continues (27).
Going by the plot of the story, the author is also an advocate for the preservation of the environment. Her apt and adroit infusion of child ecology into the narrative’s economy is a welcome act especially with the pervading and ubiquitous effects of global warming at present. Such environmental education for the young ones is a laudable task. Despite not attending the school’s excursion to Lekki Conservation Centre, Urenna, alongside her friend, Lola, organised a tree-planting campaign in the school. With the help of their teacher, Mrs. Udoh and that of the head-teacher, the campaign to plant trees and stems all across the school becomes a reality. Urenna made a practical assignment of what he heard from her friend, who attended the excursion. Hence, she galvanised all her mates in the task of saving the planet by greening the environment.
Written in appropriately lucid and definitely not simplistic diction, the plot is a viscerally relatable story. In contradistinction to the suffocating house of Aunty Uloma, the school becomes a safe haven. This is also metaphorically portrayed when Urenna shuts her eyes from seeing her school’s badge being cut-off from her dress by her aunt. The infusion of local words contextualise the settings of the plot. The reader hears; Nwa m in Aunt Uloma’s conversation with Urenna’s mother in Akpuji and omo lómo in Iya Alakara’s submission on the fate of Urenna. These words do not impede the comprehension of the text, as they are self-interpreting within the context in which they are used. .As a literary text purposively written for children, there are expected well-drawn illustrations of specific actions within the narrative and activity pages at the text’s coda. Though categorised as children’s literature, Chiazor- Enenmor’s A Father’s Pride is highly recommended for lovers of literature irrespective of their ages.
Leave a comment behind