MILLIPEDE CHASING – An Igbo Story
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Ada Uzoije
“To be an Igbo is to speak in proverbs”
Ada Uzoije
“This New Year, you will not cry when someone steps on you,
but the one who stepped on you will do the crying.”
– Millipede Chasing (An Igbo Story)
INSPIRATIONS
I was inspired by the two great Igbo writers, the late Chinua Achebe and Elechi Amadi, to write
this book. Millipede Chasing is the celebration of Igbo’s culture. The book is a humorous short Nigeria novel, about a long Millipede Chasing, depicting life in Aba Town, from the viewpoint of a rundown young Igbo man.
CHINUA ACHEBE (1930-2013)
“Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.”
– Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart(novel)– 1958
ELECHI AMADI
“In an Igbo marriage a guide is a very important fellow. He introduces the prospective bridegroom (or his representative) to important relations of the bride. He gives him a good idea as to their order of importance. More important still he fights tooth and nail to slash down the bride price. Although related to the bride, he is expected to side with bridegroom in all things. The choice of a guide makes all the differences in marriage proceedings.”
– Elechi Amadi, The Concubine (novel) – 1966
SYNOPSIS
MILLIPEDE CHASING
He never wanted to be a THIEF! But it was fate! Emenanjo did everything he could not to fall in the dark corner reserved for orphans like himelf. He would never be a criminal nor do any illicit activities, he promised himself. Abandoned at the hospital when he was 3 days old by his mother, he never knew his family. He grew up in an orphanage run by a selfish governess who made him and other boys work hard for their meals. He sought solace in another young orphan, Okafor. The two boys bonded quickly and they became inseparable from childhood to adulthood. In the hard reality of life in the eastern part of Nigeria, Emenanjo and his friend struggle to ease the stigma attached to orphans. The true love between them seems to have helps them overcome this stigma until one unfortunate day, when every happiness Emenanjo had knew was unexpectedly destroyed.
And he became that THIEF he never wanted to become. He stole from a church goer, and a sudden spell of madness sprinkled on the congregation, who started chasing after him. What everyone didn’t expect was a long amusing chase from streets to the roads, from roads to another town. And no one knew how the chase is going to end.
This is a humorous short Africa novel, about a long Millipede Chasing, depicting life in Aba Town, from the view point of a rundown young man…
