Goodnight Father

by Chike Uzoma

Nnadi Uzomba, a native of Amoka, declined to abide by native customs, especially female circumcision. His resistance to this was due to the death of several of his childhood mates, including his elder sister as a result of injuries sustained from the knife of circumcision.

As Amoka people do not mix miracle with logic, the gods would be angry if the community reneged on the circumcision of girls. Consequently, Nnadi was cast into slavery but was in course of his voyage to the Americans, rescued by the British anti-slave naval vessel; and brought to Clabar where he met Meryl a pioneer missionary. He was to form part of the early effort in proselytising the hinterland including his native Amoka land by which he was re-united with his beleaguered family.

(From Publisher).

Chike Uzoma, author of this historical fiction, Goodnight Father is a practising lawyer based in Abuja and hails from Amaigo, Imo State, Nigeria.

This is a book that reveals Africa's face on the side of the imperialist coin. Just like Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, the same slaves experience played pivotal roles in the British expeditions to colonise Africa. The author of the book, Chike Uzoma, writes Things Fall Apart in reverse - Where as Okonkwo opposed the incursion of the white man and its erosion of values and customs. Nnadi in this book, is averse to some of the very things Okonkwo stood for.

The book also spells out the tripartite role of different groups of "whites". (The whiteman plundered our land and took us into slavery in the guise of spreading the Good News). The author puts the fact straight. The whites who took our land differ from those who took slaves, yet a different group constituted missionaries - Truth is that the three lines of actions were independent and all came by different means.

There is robust use of apt expressions. The story is full of suspense. It also features the fight against the native custom of female circumcision, highlighting as well gender relevance.

There is a graphical description of Igbo Society, with its real ethnographic value as the book reveals hints of taboo in customs with the ease of a good playwright, e.g. the killing of the twins, the reaction of locales to the eclipse and so on. Characterization is also well defined, as there is a clear show of the ability to cast character into specific roles. The book is a novel and of high literary and cultural contents.