Nwapa Wives at War

1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-0983-2380-6
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 273 Seiten

From Flora Nwapa comes another collection of absorbing short stories centered around women. Common to all stories is the involvement of women in all kinds of wars. First we see the variety of experiences different kinds of women underwent in the Nigerian civil war. We see the militant leaders of Biafra's women's organizations waging war against the bureaucracy which denied them an opportunity to represent their country abroad. We also see women who hate the war, are indifferent to the politics and are concerned only with the survival of their families. There are others prepared to sacrifice everything they have to prevent their relations being conscripted into the army. Some of the stories focus on other kinds of wars; Adaeze is at war with tradition which demands she stay in the village and have children for her father; Yetunde fights against racial prejudice to maintain her relationship with a white man. Ever present and dominating is the war between the sexes: Amma and Adaku try to fight hard for their rights in their marriage and affairs. The mood in the stories varies from comedy to tragedy, from satire to drama but all reveal a compassionate insight into plight of women fighting heroic wars.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nwapa, Flora

Leseproben

WIVES AT WAR Ebo and Bisi met at their workplace in Lagos. Ebo was the personnel officer in a large multi-national company and Bisi, the secretary to the managing director of the company. Ebo was Igbo and Bisi, Yoruba. They saw each other for two years and decided to get married. There was opposition from both their families, so they married quietly at the Registry Office. The marriage was blessed by three sons in quick succession. Bisi was a devoted wife, who was determined to prove that an inter-tribal marriage could and would work. Ebo was also a good husband who did all in his power to see that his family was well provided for. They lived happily, until the coup of January 15th, 1966, that changed everything. Ebo and his family were obliged to leave Lagos for his home town, Onitsha. Bisi had never visited Onitsha before. Their children spoke only English and Yoruba, but no Igbo. But Bisi was determined, like all the other Igbos in Lagos, to make her home in Onitsha, when she saw that her husband was bent on going back home. In Onitsha, Ebo’s uncle provided them with a two-bedroom house and a small kitchen. Ebo then travelled to Enugu to see what job he could do to help ‘win the war’ for Biafra. He got a place in the Ministry of Information in the propaganda section. Ebo soon discovered that the people were being prepared for a long-drawn war and became apprehensive. He decided it was safer to move his family to Port Harcourt where he got a good bungalow in the Shell camp. He travelled to Port Harcourt from Enugu every weekend. Soon Enugu fell, followed quickly by Onitsha and the government moved to Umuahia. Ebo then moved to the Department of Military Intelligence, known as D.M.I., and was transferred to Port Harcourt. But the war was not going well for Biafra, and Ebo was determined to keep his family safe and intact. What was he going to tell Bisi’s mother if Bisi died or something dreadful happened to her? So, he got a map of Eastern Nigeria, studied it very carefully, and picked out a village in the Igbo heartland where he would move his family until the end came. He did not waste time. With the help of his driver, who was from Orlu, at the heart of Igbo land, Ebo got an unfinished concrete house in Okporo village. He offered to roof it with zinc and the landlord readily agreed. But the landlord wondered how a man from the D.M.I. could, in war time, roof a house when millions starved. Ebo roofed the place and furnished it. Then he brought down some of his army officer friends with their girlfriends for a kind of housewarming party. They had a wonderful time and agreed to repeat the occasion. But the landlord was worried because the villagers had already started calling him a saboteur. He protested, but the word had stuck to him and there was nothing he could do about it other than go into hiding. This action convinced the villagers that the landlord was indeed a saboteur, so they organised a show down with the ‘saboteur’ tenants. The night they chose to burn down the house was the night that Ebo brought another group of army officers in His Excellency’s Brigade to make merry after a successful “operation”. The villagers came out with their crude weapons, ignorant of the presence of the officers. They tried to break down the house and the officers retaliated. It was a swift and easy operation; the officers rounded the villagers up, and gave them a thorough beating. Those who “resisted arrest” were detained and later carried off to Umuahia. A week later, Ebo finally brought his family to Okporo: Bisi was completely shattered because of the shellings in Bonny sector. When she heard of the incident between the officers and the villagers, she refused to live in the house for fear of attack by the villagers when her husband was away. But there was no other place for her to go. Ebo told her so. She flared up. ‘You, you are wicked, to bring me to this God-forsaken place. There is no food here, there is no water either. You and your uncouth army officers, you…’ ‘Please, Bisi, please see reason. You have to stay here with the children. Nothing will happen to you here. You are well protected, and…’ ‘Protected? By whom? The people are hostile to us. They will poison us, they will kill us. You and your people, you and your propaganda. You told me the war would end in two weeks. And…’ ‘I did not say that.’ ‘Liar, you are a liar and all your people. Liars all.’ She sat down. Ebo sat beside her, ‘Please Bisi. Trust me, it will be all right. Don’t worry, you and the boys will be safe. Please …’ Ebo was worried after this incident. He was determined that he and his family would survive the war. He owed it as a duty to his wife, and his children. To better support his family, he gave forged passes, which he got as a D.M.I. Officer, to friends and relatives who paid him in cash and kind. He wondered whether Bisi knew how he got the money he gave her for house-keeping. She did not ask questions though, preoccupied as she was with; the business of surviving. Ebo’s family had been in Okporo village for a month when his childhood friend, Eze, visited them with his wife, Adamma. Eze’s home had been evacuated and the prospect of being refugees was irksome to Eze and his wife, because a refugee was more likely to be conscripted into the army. To Adamma’s surprise, Ebo demanded ten Nigerian pounds in coins from his friend. Eze said nothing. It was his wife who spoke. ‘Ebo,’ she said quietly. ‘Please have pity on us. We don’t have one pound in Nigerian coins. Eze and I were married only a few months ago. We have lost everything. The vandals set our town on fire. Please say something we can afford. We can pay you in Biafran currency, that we can manage.’ There was an awkward silence, then Bisi emerged from the room and summoned her husband to follow her. Soon he came out again and demanded five Nigerian pounds in coins. Eze agreed to pay one. Then Bisi came out again and shouted at her husband, ‘Ebo, enough of this. Eze, you pay nothing. Here you are,’ and she handed Eze a uniform and identity card duly signed. ‘Eze, you are Ebo’s friend. War or no war, we must remember our friends. So go into the room and put on the uniform,’ she said. Ebo stared at his wife in utter disbelief. Was Bisi mad? Eze and his wife stared as well, not knowing what to do next. Then Bisi sat down on the floor, crossed her legs and said, ‘Let me tell you about a dream. I dreamt last night I was in Lagos, or was it Ibadan? You see, I am from Ijebu Ode, but my parents live in Lagos. Anyway, in the dream I got married to Ebo in Lagos. It was a gorgeous white wedding. The Prime Minister attended, and twenty top army officers. My husband was a colonel in the army. All my brides- maids were flown from Paris and my flower girls from Athens. And the wedding cake? That was made in Lisbon. There were three wedding cakes. But the plane did not arrive on time. No, it was not the plane. My husband was arrested on the day of the wedding. Ask me why? Simply because he refused to fly the plane. So, the airport commandant arrested him, and arrested my three wedding cakes. And I stood at the altar waiting for the bridegroom who had flown to Lisbon to bring in arms that would be used to clear the vandals from the mysterious lake.’ ‘But people in Owerri were angry. They asked why should my husband fly to Lisbon to bring in arms and ammunition to clear the vandals from Lake Oguta, while Owerri was threatened? So they arrested my husband, and I stood at the altar waiting. Then the priest said, “You beautiful bride without a bridegroom, be my wife.” Then I said to the priest, “you good for nothing priest, you were the cause of this war. Your sins caused God’s wrath, and God has descended on us. Why should I marry you? Do priests marry? Yes, priests do marry in Biafra. But I won’t marry you because I am already married to Ebo.” Ebo, my love, isn’t that so?’ ‘So the priest and…’ ‘Bisi, Bisi, stop it. I say stop it.’ Ebo took hold of his wife and shook her vigorously. ‘You are with me, we were married in Lagos all right. Come in, my love, come in and have a rest, you are tired. Oh my God, Bisi, it will be perfectly all right. Take my word for it. We shall overcome. Biafra will win this war and I will take you back to Lagos and Ibadan and God and…’ ‘Don’t get excited, my husband. Don’t you ever get excited anymore. I am not mad. I am quite sane. You are my husband. The man over there is your friend, Eze. You told me about him when you were courting me. And you wanted him to pay you five Nigerian pounds in coins. I ask you, will you eat money? You have a hundred pounds in coins. You gave it to me for safe keeping. What are you doing with your friend’s coins? Tonight, you will go to the airport. The plane will bring in your worthless Biafran notes. You and your so-called friends will steal a carton each from the plane before lorries convey the money to the Central Bank.’ ‘But, as I was saying, I told you I had a dream. There were people playing in a football pitch. Two teams. One was from Biafra and the other from Zambia, or was it Tanzania? Then ten MIGs from Egypt descended on the players and bombed them all out of the football field. Yes,...