OFO BY CHUKWUEMEKA GODSWILL

AVAILABLE!

Book Title: Ọfọ

Author: Chukwuemeka Godswill
Genre: A Play (Literature)
Language: English
ISBN: 978-978-493581-4
Publisher: Maxiprints
Place of Publication: Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
Pages: 86

Available at The Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, or School of General Studies/Book Shop, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba,  or call 08033582210, 08127773629, 08066625331 or e-mail: chuxem@gmail.com, ebookcataloguemanager@ysghubs.com.

A REVIEW OF ỌFỌ 

             By

Prof. Sunday N. Agwu,

Department of English,

Ebonyi State University, Nigeria

Date of Review: 31st December 2009
www.chukwuemekagodswill.blogspot.com 

The play, Ọfọ, is the story of an Igbo community that is confronted with the contradictions of its tradition and Christian religion. The play opens with all the expectation of a traditional marriage that is about to take place. All is actually set for this marriage as the elders are seated, the villagers are all gathered, the DJ is blaring his music and Agaracha, the village clown/drunkard, is entertaining the crowd. But to the utter bewilderment of all, the suitor and his people fail to come. This has never happened in the community before. The bride’s father, Onyiba Okoro, stops the music and orders the villagers to disperse. The following day, the suitor and his people come to apologize for the embarrassment of the previous day. Their reason is that they did not realize that the date earlier scheduled was an Eke day and by their custom and tradition nothing about marriage is discussed or performed on an Eke day. This is the custom of Ikere people. Onyiba Okoro, a strong traditionalist, accepts their apology and a new date is fixed for the traditional marriage of Onyiba Okoro’s daughter, Nneoma, and Rev. Mike. On this new date, the suitor comes with crates of malt and other soft drinks instead of the traditional palm wine used in Umuako and other parts of Igbo land for traditional marriage. Rev. Mike and his people who, earlier did not want to go against the tradition of their people (i.e. Conducting a marriage on an Eke day) now realize that bringing palm wine to their in-laws is against their Christian religious practice. Onyba Okoro’s community sees this as a great insult and chases Rev. Mike and his people out of Umuako. This marks the second time that Nneoma’s marriage is aborted, albeit by tradition.

          The stage for the conflict is now set. The king of Umuako and his cabinet meet and take decisions on how to confront this monster that has come in to desecrate their land.

• ·        Palm wine must be used for all traditional marriages.

• ·        Christian clergy are not to be allowed into traditional marriages.

 The king and his cabinet communicate these decisions to the churches. The guild of ministers (the clergy) meet and decide to meet with the king and his cabinet for a possible solution to this problem. This meeting ends in a deadlock. Meanwhile, some traditional marriages have been disrupted in the community. Tension now envelops the community and some people prevent their wives from going to church. The situation becomes so restive that the undergraduates, the elite of the community, meet and agree to go discuss the implications and possible consequences of the crisis with the king and his cabinet. The meeting also ends in a fiasco.

     It is at this juncture that the maidens, under the leadership of Nneoma, decide to take the bull by the horn and put an end to this “obnoxious” policy that appears to be solely directed at them. None of the maidens is getting married any longer and they are not getting younger either. They meet and resolve to end the issue of using palm wine as the only drink for traditional marriages. A meeting is scheduled between the maidens and the king and his cabinet. At that meeting the incredible happens. To the utter consternation of everyone, Nneoma snatches the Ọfọ from the king and the maidens run away with it. This has never happened before. This is the height of sacrilege.

The symbol of authority of the king has been removed by a woman for that matter. There is total confusion. Without the Ọfọ the king ceases to exist-technically. So the chiefs and elders begin to negotiate with the maidens for the return of the Ọfọ. The king and his cabinet are eventually blackmailed to rescind their policy on the use of palm wine for traditional marriages. The maidens have won and any type of drink could now be used for traditional marriage in Umuako. Although, the maidens won the battle, Nneoma lost. She became the sacrificial lamb of the struggle. Rev. Mike and his people came and withdrew their intention to marry Nneoma. Rev. Mike and his people felt that given the audacity and courage shown by Nneoma in snatching the Ọfọ from the king, it was not likely that any man would be safe with her. That is the story of the play- Ọfọ.

     The author uses great dexterity and craftsmanship to weave this story around sixteen characters who have been very carefully created to bring out the various aspects of the story. Applying the Classical Structural Theory of literary development, he presents this story in five Acts of varying number of scenes. Thus, the author builds up the rising action of the story from Act I to III. By Act IV the story gets to a climax and Act V marks the denouement or resolution. This is in line with classical Greek tragedy. The story (play) reaches its climax in Act IV Scene III where feminism as a concept is emphasized. In this scene he also uses Adanna to make some undisputable comments on tradition. For instance on P. 56–57:

Adanna:-    No my daughter. You don’t hate something because you saw its bad side. You shouldn’t overlook its good side. Life has got its bad side too, as well as its good side, but you love it. You still hold on to it and hate to lose it. The rod of tradition, though it now hurts us, once served as a protective instrument to us. Although, the rod of discipline is painful, we feel relived afterward……..

Adanna:     well, I must let you know that what makes tradition what it is is its rigidity. It is fixed. It never changes. An altered tradition is no tradition.

An analysis of these statements by Adanna gives us the thesis of this author’s position.

           The setting of this play is quite familiar- a typical Igbo community in the late 20^th and very early 21^st Century when a strong wave of Pentecostalism came into Christianity in Nigeria and communities that had hitherto co-existed very peacefully with various Christian groups now had to assert authorities in defense of their customs and traditions. The theme of the play, tradition versus Christian religion, is a very contemporary issue of discourse. The contemporariness of the theme and the familiarity of the setting all combine to reinforce the realism in this play.

          The language of this play is very simple making it easily readable to all classes. The author uses a lot of humour and proverbs to ensure that you continue to read. He makes use of suspense with the skill of a master craftsman that you cannot just drop the book until you get to the end.

                    At this time when there is a sharp decline in student’s general performance in English, the effort of Chukwuemeka Godswill should be highly commended. In fact, this book should be on the reading list of every Secondary and Tertiary Institution in Nigeria. It should also be in every family library.