Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu

The death of a small bird and what comes after become the defining leitmotif of a student — JimCliffMazi — in Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu’s novel "Words of a Shaman". It is JimCliff’s ambition to hunt down a bird, like many of his classmates do.  With the hard end of an okra pod lying idly on JimCliff's way to school, lost by women traders who stroll early to their market stalls, their huge and filled baskets balanced on their heads, the boy becomes successful in this most difficult task.

But an oncoming car runs over the carcass of this little bird promptly.  Out of nowhere, a Moroccan shaman appears and reads from the bowels of the dead bird JimCliff’s future. JimCliff's biggest dream at the time is enrolling in the boarding school at Government College Owerri Nigeria, a most prestigious school. The shaman ensures him that he will, but that times will be very hard and rough from him —there is more he reveals to JimCliff’s anxious ears, and we will see all as the novel progresses.

This is how the exciting story of a youth in Nigeria of the 1980s begins. 

JimCliff's journey through the passage of puberty, education, rigorous learning, and programmed discipline is exciting and demanding. Exposed to the arbitrariness of sadistic teachers, principals and prefects, he has to bow to painful constraints and adapt. Teachers have a free hand with corporal punishment of the students. Time and again, JimCliff remembers the shaman's prophecy of how hard the school will be, and eagerly awaits the emergence of the love of his life, which the shaman has also prophesied. He manages to go through the rigours, bearing mental and bodily bruises.

The everyday life of the students is lightened up by excursions — for example, to a shoe factory in Owerri, where, unfortunately, the students’ high expectations on such an important outing meet with an anticlimax. A trip from Owerri to Calabar, to visit the grave of an early missionary, Mary Slessor, is a success, and the students return safely after journeying through a heavy thunderstorm late afternoon, and through hazardous roads.

A planned visit to the school by the state military governor proves disastrous. Enthusiastic to meet with the august visitor, the students labour vehemently to tidy up the school premises. The governor fails to arrive at the appointed time, and much to the consternation of the restive students, who flee the dormitories in protest as the man and his entourage approach. Disappointed, the governor berates the students for their attitude and pledges to revisit the school. This, however, does not come to pass, as a result of his redeployment shortly after his first visit.

Against the background of these political developments in a volatile developing country whose civilian governments are being replaced regularly by military coups, the enduring power of the students comes next to stoicism. Strikes by teachers are frequent, and the longsuffering students bear the consequences of such industrial actions.

In the face of frequent power outages, all students rely on their kerosene-powered hurricane lamp for night preps and other engaging activities. In tackling the difficult and demanding times during examinations, JimCliff and other students suffer from brain fag. The meagre meals at school add to their woes, especially that they are all in their puberty and need nutrients for full nourishments. To augment the measly and tasteless school food and to fend off wild hunger, they frequent the school’s tuck shop to stock up biscuits, canned fish, sugar cubes and canned milk for tea, and more.

Ogbuagu's style of writing modern fiction inspires the reader and captivates one with this rare and special story. The text contains many life-style expressions and proverbs that African culture’s rich treasure is known for. The unusual narrative lends the scenarios unforgettable twists and meanders along like a river through different landscapes. 

The narrative technique embraces not only flashbacks but the rarely used flash-forward. The story goes back and forth in its bid to chronicle events of an extraordinary time of our collective history. The writing is layered with manifold stories, so exacting and unique in its detail. Not only the political affairs of Africa are illuminated; global cultural and historical events that are part of everyday life of the students are discussed elaborately and enthusiastically by them.

The Moroccan shaman's prophecy that JimCliff would find the love of his life while at Government College ushers in a deep twist of mystery to the story. The love adventures between JimCliff and Belinda, so captivating, intrigue the reader as they flick through the pages of this riveting Bildungsroman whose end is best described as dramatic and unexpected.