In 1955, Chinua Achebe in the famous book ''Things Fall Apart'' told the story of the complex and dynamic and qualities of Igbos in Umuofia. Unknown to him, he was preparing a recipe for one of the greatest revolutions in the history of Ndigbo, Achebeism has since become a doctrine of historical, socio-political and economic action for the mass of the Igboland - to the rest of the world.
This is the manner of men of social conscience. While others sleep and dither, they ponder the history, predicament and agonising problems of society and avidly search for practical and humane solutions.
Hon. Raymond Anumaka, in a breath-taking, intellectually ravishing and scholarly dogged and ponderous study, has produced a work that may well acquire the rhetorical, polemical and philosophically explosive dimension of Achebe's oracular exposition-''Things Fall Apart'' Although historical and not entirely economic, Hon. Anumaka's work may yet crystallise an economic perspective through which the development of Agwa clan, his main theme, may be attained.
Hon. Anumaka is a socio-cultural historian, educator and farmer of great renown who has also had a successful sojourn in the political arena where he gained a meteoric rise to the position of an honourable member of the Imo State House of Assembly in the second republic. The author, in this monumental work - "Agwa Socio-Cultural, Political and Economic Contemporary History: Challenges and Prospects" - has given a deeply philosophical, poetic and practical expression to this constant and perennial craving of Agwa people for identity and a meaningful life, and relief for all for those thirsting for identity around the world.
In this ten chaptered book, Hon. Anumaka tackles with intellectual zest, ruthlessness and audacity the old age history, culture, traditions, economy, religion, politics and the developmental evolution of the ten towns in Agwa clan. He traces the descent of Agwa clan to Akuma, the first son of Agwa who migrated from Ihiagwa in Owerri West LGA, and points out that Nekede and Ihiagwa share the same descent with Agwa.
From Hon. Anumaka's accounts in chapters one and two, one learns the peculiarity and complexity of Agwa clan before and after the arrival of the Europeans. He includes a detailed description of the justice codes and trial process, the social and family rituals, the marriage customs, food production and preparation process, the process for shared leadership for the communities, religious beliefs and practices, and the opportunities for virtually everyman to climb the clan's ladder of success through his own efforts.
In chapter two, Hon. Anumaka attempts to blend the oracles, customs, traditions and natural law of Agwa clan. From the Owu festival, to 'Iro Mmuo' coupled with the elegant philosophical rationalism of the prestigious Nze na Ozo title, Hon. Anumaka distils and invokes a nostalgic feeling of the sacredness of the 'ekwe nri' and/or the shrill cry of 'maranu ekwu o!' often associated with the 'iba n'ulo ukwu' of Ndi Nze. To the author, to sustain the Nze na Ozo institution which is gradually going extinct, there is need to jettison fetish practices associated with the title to encourage Christians to embrace it more.
After a vigorously courageous exploration of the doctrines of the ofo, the ala, the echele owu, the chief priests and an exhaustive treatment of the postulates of the early white missionaries, their new religion and the holy fiats of the Bible, Hon. Anumaka laboriously extracts from the interstices of Biblical injunctions and traditional religion a theory which posits that ''Christianity did not introduce to us the idea of knowing God but rather introduced a new method or channel of worshipping considered better.'' For he submits further that "our forefathers knew God and worshipped him using the instrumentality of lesser gods and spirits''. To the author, while the Bible replaced the ofo, catechists replaced chief priests, church buildings took the place of shrines, and consequently, Agwa people ''lost their identity and were conquered spiritually''. He however concedes that ''the whiteman also brought with him western education and better ways of doing things.''
The author recounts with accustomed ease the agricultural products from Agwa clan. For the author, our yam species of agammiri, ji ocha, okwuworugbo, esonso, nkuokpu, and ogbaragada have remained distinct both in taste and demand throughout Igboland. The author however, bemoans the neglect of agriculture, insisting that before the discovery of oil, palm oil and palm kernel served as Nigeria's export products produced from Igboland. He invites the entire Igboland to imbibe the policy of cutting down old palm trees and replacing same with new ones. The author endeavours to lay down a solution and calls on individuals, corporate bodies, and governments at all levels to invest in the development of agriculture through technological development. The novelty of the proposition here is that mechanized agriculture would take youths off the street and crime, reduce unemployment and earn foreign exchange.
To the author, the quest for education in Agwa started in 1963 when Ferdinand Obodo secured admission into the prestigious Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone. He goes on to give an account of the initial lack of enthusiasm on the part of Agwa people to keep the academic fire burning. He however rightly observes that lately, there is a new zeal and enthusiasm in seeking tertiary education by Agwa people which, for the author, ''is the road for the search for a new social-political and economic order in Agwa clan''. But the author adds a socio-cultural tincture when he submits that Agwa people no longer hold the belief that ''the best legacy one could bequeath to their children is a huge barn of yams and other food crops.'' And as such, priests, professors, doctorate, master's and bachelor's degrees holders, from almost all fields of endeavour, now abound in Agwa.
A very polemic question raised and to which concrete answers were attempted most vigorously is in chapter eight. The author raises the question. "Is it possible for the entire Agwa to develop without a central Union?". The author takes heed to revered English jurist, Lord Denning's dictum that a judge cannot simply fold his hands and blame the draftsman. So, he proffers an answer to the question he raised and concludes that "... a formidable central union in Agwa clan would galvanize and serve as a catalyst for the speedy development of the clan''.
While Hon. Anumaka's view may sound revolutionary and almost iconoclastic, it must be conceded that it is consistent with the sub theme of his book ''The Challenges and Prospects'' of the Agwa clan. This is not out of place in a period of extreme arbitrariness and volatility in Agwa clan. More so, at a time when tangible government presence has continued to elude the clan owing to our diversified town unions and the tendency to disagree, and still continue to be disagreeable, as to the locus of prospective governmental projects. This divisiveness of ours gleefully oust dividends of democracy from Agwa, and successive governments are only too happy to wash their hands like Pontius Pilate. By and large, Hon. Anumaka's standpoint is a standing and clamant challenge to the moral conscience of Agwa people.
In chapter nine, Hon. Anumaka yet again delves deep into the realm of history, philosophy, truth, and exploration of space in an attempt to search for the underlying truth about autonomous community, ezeship institution. According to the author, from time immemorial up to 1978 - the inception of the reign of late Eze Stocken Okorie and late Eze Ejimmaduekwu, who ruled Obudi-Agwa and Uwaorie Autonomous Communities respectively, and then to the present era of HRH Eze (Dr.) I.O. Asor of Obudi Autonomous Community, HRH Eze Charles Ukwu (deceased) of Mgbala Autonomous Community, HRH Eze Chima Azubuike of Ubah Autonomous Community, HRH Eze Sylvester Onuegbu of Mbano Autonomous Community, and HRH Eze (Dr.) Saviour Utazi of Umuofeke Autonomous Community, the author observes that Agwa clan is privileged to have had progressive ''set of traditional rulers who have not lost focus of their primary roles as the custodians of customs and traditions of the people'' and ''have made significant progress in the area of peacekeeping ... in Agwa clan''.
In the last chapter, the author makes a clarion call with a view to addressing security challenges in Agwa. For the author, ''security is pivotal to development, and the Agwa community should explore several means to see that insecurity is reduced even right from the immediate family circles'' He therefore calls on well-meaning individuals, corporate bodies and the government ensure the establishment of a well-equipped and properly manned ultra-modern police division in Agwa.
It must be stated that the genius of the Hon. Anumaka lies in his ability to neither make the book about himself nor a controversial rabble-rousing bugaboo. For he successfully and dexterously recreates the past and marries it with the present. The reader will find the work scholarly enormous. It ranges over all the broad spectrum of disciplines. The historian, the jurist, the philosopher, the religionists, the agriculturists, the economists, the astrologers will all find the book stimulating and educative.
Despite a few typographical and syntax errors owing to the printer's devil, Hon. Anumaka has provided not only the socio-political history of Agwa clan but a legacy of revolution in socio-political history and human thought.
Barr Maurice Canice Chukwu.
Dr. Olu Onagoruwa Chambers, Lagos
08032332734
