Shadow of Our Harmony

Uba Njoku Joels

Description

Like most African men who travel to developed countries in search of Golden Fleece cling to their cultural identity and values which in most cases is at variance with that of the Western world, Ikechi arrived at the shores of Sweden and acquired education within a record time but his marriage to the woman betrothed to him from childhood came to a head when she graduated from a nursing school. The conflict that engulfed the couple took a toll on their children, who were devastated by the incarceration of their father. The conflict affected the self-esteem of the children who felt that they were the cause of the problem between their parents. The situation got worse when the children discovered that their father had been deported. It goes to confirm the saying that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers most. Ikechi and his wife could not manage their conflict properly and the ripple effect was loss of what took them a long time to build.

Sujets

• Histoire
• África
• History of Africa
• Africa

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 octobre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528962483
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Shadow of Our Harmony
Joels Uba Njoku
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-10-30
Shadow of Our Harmony About the Author About the Book Dedication Copyright © Joels Uba Njoku (2019) Acknowledgement Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen
About the Author
Joels Uba Njoku is the author of Twist and Thorns , currently listed on amazon.co.uk, and the Chief Editor of Betterway Magazine , Wings and Grace Magazine in Sweden. He holds a BSc degree in banking/finance and an MSc degree in economics from the University of Calabar and Imo State University, respectively. His work experience spans many years in the banking sector and teaching in the tertiary institution, both in Nigeria and Ghana.
He is married to Ijeoma Uba Njoku and they are blessed with five children.
About the Book
Like most African men who travel to developed countries in search of Golden Fleece cling to their cultural identity and values which in most cases is at variance with that of the Western world, Ikechi arrived at the shores of Sweden and acquired education within a record time but his marriage to the woman betrothed to him from childhood came to a head when she graduated from a nursing school.
The conflict that engulfed the couple took a toll on their children, who were devastated by the incarceration of their father. The conflict affected the self-esteem of the children who felt that they were the cause of the problem between their parents. The situation got worse when the children discovered that their father had been deported. It goes to confirm the saying that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers most.
Ikechi and his wife could not manage their conflict properly and the ripple effect was loss of what took them a long time to build.
Dedication
To my late father, Mr. Godfrey Alilionu Njoku, who, through hard work, rose to an enviable position in the public service and ensured that his children got the best that life could offer at that time.
Copyright Information ©
Joels Uba Njoku (2019)
The right of Joels Uba Njoku to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528962483 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgement
I thank the Almighty God for the inspiration and guidance to write this story.
I appreciate my lovely wife for her understanding during the period of putting my thoughts on paper and to my wonderful children, Stephanie, Anita, Benita, Amanda and Angel, for their survival energy at a time like this.
My gratitude goes to my childhood friend Dr. Festus U Okere, Director of Operations MFE, LLC USA, President Nguru Umuaro Development Union, USA, for his support and encouragement during the darkest moment of my life. He is a friend indeed.
My appreciation goes to Pastor Ikechukwu Njoku for finding time to read through the manuscript and making some corrections where necessary.
Chapter One
Ikechi was born and bred in Umuote, a typical village setting where there was no electricity, no pipe borne water and no automobiles except for a few gangling Raleigh bicycles owned by few village champions who had either worked with the civil service and had had a taste of urban life or those whose relatives were living in the urban areas. Ikechi was the only male child of his parents and he had nine sisters. His name which meant ‘strength of the gods’ was given to him by one of his uncles after the native priest confirmed that he was the reincarnation of their grandfather. This made his siblings treat him with respect and his uncles gave him the best part of meat whenever they shared it among the children in the family. For instance chicken heads and fish heads were unreservedly reserved for him even when he had not returned from school or had gone out to play with his mates. Uzoamaka, his eldest sister on the other hand, did not appreciate the kind of unmerited treatment given to Ikechi and she vowed not to treat him as her grandfather. This stance had in most cases put her at logger-heads with her parents and uncles who would always come in defense of Ikechi.
Umuote village is located in the deep forest of eastern part of the country far from any interference. Her closest neighbor was about twelve kilometers away. It had a population of about two thousand adults excluding women and children. They knew each other by name and they socialized according to age groups. They also married among themselves even from the same kindred which accounted for the close-knit bond that existed amongst them. They practiced traditional social system of government and their medium of exchange in most cases was ‘trade by barter’ where one had to exchange goods with goods or services. The few cash in circulation emanated from strangers who bought the excess farm produce and other food stuff produced in the village. There was no government presence of any kind and they did not pay taxes. Their strength lied in the abundance of natural resources, which they claimed were given to them by the gods of their forefathers.
Lifestyle in the village was close to Mother Nature and children belonged to everybody and to nobody. It is an abomination for an adult to see a child or a teenager misbehaving and not reprimand them. They had an adage that an adult does not stay at home and watch a goat die from self-strangulation. The community exhibited high moral standard that hardly see teenage girls hanging out boys. Such was regarded as a taboo. The end of moonlight stories saw the children take tiny steps to their respective family homes to sleep; and this happened day in day out in a vicious cycle. The set-up was like in the Garden of Eden where there was no lack or want. Children were treated equally by mothers when sharing food irrespective of whose child it was. The children walked around the village top less, bare foot and healthy and this could be attributable to the fact that they ate lots of seafoods and natural spices such as ginger, scent leaves and other roots.
In the evenings, the amateur hunters came back with their games and the animals were roasted and cooked and some parts were used for pepper soup which was dished out according to age grades and passed around with everybody eating from one giant pot with one spoon. The bulk of the game was shared among the women according to the size of their family. Everybody was his neighbor’s keeper. Such offences like stealing or sleeping with neighbors’ wives was unheard of. The elders of the land referred to as ndi oha were the custodians of the laws of the land and they worked hand in glove with native priest who oversaw the shrines. The law of the land and its interpretation rested on their shoulders. They maintained law and order and these laws were not written on any tabloid but were written in the hearts of elders and passed from generation to generation. Peradventure somebody committed a serious offence for which there was or no evidence and the offender was in denial, the person was made to swear an oath and given a period of one year within which the gods would kill such a person if he was guilty. During the period of waiting, the person was ostracized and had little or no dealings with other people in the village. However, if the person survived this period he was then exonerated publically and integrated back into the society in a ceremony. The death of the offender within one year was a confirmation that he indeed committed the offence for which he was accused and in that case, his house was demolished, his family relocated and his property carried off and deposited at the shrine. The person was not to be buried by his family members who were forbidden from weeping or mourning the death of the diseased or accord it any form of respect rather the corpse was left in the hands of the priests who managed the shrines and they were the ones that carried it to the evil forest oke ohia where it would be left to rot away. There were no law enforcement officers and yet there was serenity in this village.
There was enough to eat as food was generated from the isolated community farmland and the representatives of the people sell the excess produce to the few strangers who came to buy farm produce in commercial quantities. The village Afo market was very small comprising mostly women who traded in vegetables, spices and palm wine and the youths who sell second-hand clothes and essential commodities. The palm wine was brought in kegs for sale and villagers were allowed to go round and drank palm wine from various kegs without complaint from the sellers.
At his fifteenth birthday, Ikechi was already close to managing his life and was self-dependent. His normal day began with the inspection of his booby traps in the maize and beans farm. He always came home with at least a single petite rabbit or snake just like every other child from the age of six upwards was taught how to hunt rabbits and reptiles. He would then meander through the cocoyam farm at the back of his mother’s hut and dug out a plump tuber of yam from under a withered vine with which he prepared for himself a typical delicious village delicacy of pounded yam and hot pepper soup before heading