Making a Businessman of a Boy: An Iga Boi Story.
A Review of Ifeoma Chinwuba’s “Sons of the East”.
“Na who know person dey kill am,” Zona quoted. “If you expect your detractors to be strangers, you misfire. A man’s enemies will be members of his household. Are you getting my point? So the Holy Book said.”
This sums up the story in the novel.
Ifeoma Chinwuba’s “Sons of the East” reflects the beauty in the Igbo culture and its entrepreneurial Igba boi system- the concept of taking a boy and making a businessman out of him is beautiful. It is a story of sibling rivalry told using the story of three brothers. The oldest brother-Zona wants to be the only one prospering, the middle brother- Jasper thinks he is some Messiah, and the last brother- Rapu wants everything his older brother owns (not that he is any different from Zona).
Sibling rivalry is one of the core themes of this book. Zona claims his dislike for his brother is for going against his desires and giving one of his father’s lands to his half brothers his father had with the widow-Akwaeke. However, his hatred goes beyond that and rolls into covetousness and the eventual demise of Jasper. Rapu on the other hand envies the gifts Jasper gets from his in-laws and wants the same thing for himself. He even goes as far as asking for the hand of the sister of Jasper’s wife.
It was really sad to see Zona’s role in the death of Jasper. When Rapu put charms on his land to prevent his brothers from taking it, I thought the brothers could only scare themselves but their rivalry would not get to the extent of death. To think that Jasper’s brothers shamelessly went after Amata and expected her to choose them when she had to choose a male relative for her Ikpichi.
The author also weaves in the struggles of the Igbo people and their feeling of being marginalised since the Civil War. A character in the book claims that the war hasn’t ended because the Igbo are not allowed a place in the highest leadership position in the country and also because they are not accorded as much amenities and attention as the states up north.
The Igbo’s fight for the resolution of the country and permission to create IPOB also has its place in the novel. The book carefully captured the military operations carried out in the east like the operation python dance. It captured the maltreatment by the SARS (Special Anti Robbery Squad) and the case of dumping the remains of illegally detained citizens in the Awkuzu River. Many Igbos have been known to go missing and the next time family members hear about them, it is news of them in the infamous detention centres (or concentration camps), or of their deaths. These cases are easily swept under the claims of sedition.
Not to digress so much from the plot, the book depicts the lives of Igbos in the South (especially in Lagos). It would be easy for any Igbo familiar with trading and entrepreneurship (can also be through knowledge gained from a distant family member) to find the story relatable in a way.
How entrepreneurs lose their goods in any eventuality like fire accidents or robbery and do not get anything back due to lack of insurance. How foreign factories and merchants dupe Nigerian business owners when they import goods. Some of them are strong and bounce back, but some are like Oke Nmanwu, who succumb to the troubles of the loss and lose their lives.
While reading about the Okonkwo brothers, something came to mind, the story of two sons born of a drunk. One son refused alcohol and the other enjoyed it so much. When asked, both sons said they’d learnt from their father. Here, the two sons are Zona and Jasper.
Where Zona had multiple women and sired a child with one of them, Jasper was faithful to Amata till he died. When Zona wanted to send Helen away, he noticed he’d become his father and thought he understood why he refused to leave Akwaeke.
The novel also showed how women are regarded as less valuable, except for what they can “give”. Even if Amata and Louisa jumped at the gift their father promised in return for their chastity before marriage, that of their brother wasn’t considered. Even when Onwa went to the travel company for Jasper, he thought of his ‘experience’ as a young man and for a bit, considered that Jasper might have gone to be with a woman. Whereas, the Okonkwo family called a meeting because they were told of Amata’s delivery of a stillborn, long after the time the child would have been considered an offspring of her late husband.
Even in the case of Zona’s wife- Charity, she took the blame for giving birth to only female children like she makes the babies on her own. Everyone expected her to understand when Zona chased her away and brought in Helen because after all, she didn’t give him a son.
There is a way Igbo speakers of English mix both languages in their sentences that I like. For some reason I can’t say, makes me happy and seeing it reflected in the book was wonderful. I notice it in the elite speakers, it is somehow a chip on their shoulders.
See below, where the rich women who came to purchase clothes from Charity said “Gini wu last price”. This could have been a complete sentence in Igbo or English but the mix is better.
The Messiah’s characteristics: Jasper’s goodness, his need to always ‘do something’ about everything, and help everyone led to his death. As Jideofor described him, “he was a unicorn” but like Joseph in the Bible, his brothers hated his colours, his gut, his prosperity, and his goodness. That is what led him to his demise in the detention centre (concentration camp) and the notorious Awkuzu River where his remains were found.
The book’s interesting plot held me through to the end. I hate when Nigerian authors explain everything.
Why are you boring me with the details of how Nigerian food are made? Why should I read alongside titles and Igbo words, their meanings? Why should they disrupt my flow of thoughts? Allow your audience to look them up and learn in the process.
When I brought this up on my Whatsapp status, (I tend to rant there as I read) I got a response from my brother that I will share below. It does make sense but there should be a glossary if that is the case.
It’s the lack of developed and competitive African publishing houses/ editors. They’re publishing with Western publishing houses (who call the shots), who serve a predominantly Western audience. So, they have to explain. If the likes of Farafina and Cassava had reached their potential, I doubt the situation would be the same. Also, there’s the possibility that other reasons account for this. But it’s how I’ve rationalised it over the years.
When I read Asian literature, I go through the stress and learn in the process, after all, na me carry myself go read am.
This book gets a 3-star rating from me. I love the reflection of the Igbo culture. I could not help underlining them for future use. I recommend!
