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KWENU! Our culture, our future |
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Book Review ADAOMA CAROLYN Michigan, USA
Jaundiced Justice: A Careless Whisper and You Are History M. O. EN ÉPublisher: Reedbuck P.O. Box 150, Bloomfield, NJ 07003, USA
LIMITED EDITION: Price: $19.99 (including mailing and handling)
Saturday, February 7, 2004
What Dr. M. O. Ené's Jaundiced Justice: A Careless Whisper and You Are History is not, is an account of endless war strategy, bloodletting battles, nor massacred masses, as one may expect from a war horror. This fictional account of the very real 30-month intra-national conflict in Nigeria, West Africa in the late ‘60s, known as the Nigeria-Biafra War, is notably about life. Set in Amadike, Dogo Sem, soldier/protagonist finds himself in a web of war politics and betrayal that positions him to be falsely accused of masterminding a coup d'état. And for derailing assassination plots of local and foreign heads of state, the sick reward of conviction and death is dealt to Dogo, thus the title, "Jaundiced Justice."
The worldliness of the well-traveled Ené, his deep spirituality, and his abundant humanity are evidenced in the verbal video he shares with the reader about each character encountered by Dogo Sem during the War. If the author’s intention is to show a multidimensional Nigeria, of multiethnic blends of Igbo, Hausa-Fulani, Tiv, Yoruba, and other immigrants, influenced by Odinani, animism, Christianity -- Catholicism and Protestantism alike, and Muslim faiths, seasoned with a palate of languages and dialects, he was effective.
Unquestionable, however, is Ene’s desire to share his own Igbo culture and language. The Igbo culture is proudly painted with colorful broad strokes and intricate fine lines in the Udi Hills, the market places, kola communion, polygamists, exchanges of wise sayings, high esteem of elders, and in the people themselves. He presents a refreshing perspective, an African perspective of a modern Nigeria in a wrestling match with tradition, change, and the desire of a people to determine their own destiny.
I liked the book more than I thought I would. Frankly, I read the preface and put it down. Not wanting to do the book a disservice, I picked it up a couple years later, after studying some Igbo language and culture. Fortunately for me, the next chapter was "Chijioke," the first of many people I grew to admire, love, and dislike. MOE, as the author of several degrees and master of four languages humbly calls himself, has a way with words. The characters were passionate, ambitious, reverent, and sexy. Some were heroic like Dogo and strong like Reverend Mother Mary. Some were funny, like the philandering Okereke, sinister like Ganja, and prophetic like… Maloke [possibly my favorite character… and not just because he happened to have an ada oma Caro :)].
The characters live and breathe, bearing striking resemblance to people that I know. For example, a synopsis of a maternal figure, endowed with "big breasts, luscious lips, hussy hips, long legs, supple body, and a sexy voice" surely sounds very much like someone any average Joe would know.
Seriously, the cream of Nigeria, having risen so beautifully to the top, only to be so suddenly skimmed off, was one of the most moving points of the entire novel.
All in all, in a time when many areas of the world are grappling with wars that aren’t civil and ethnic cleansing, "Jaundiced Justice" is a timely book. Further, it may well be a tool to open such discussion and perhaps talks about the impact of the so-called 'Biafran War' and the future that lies beyond it.
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