BOOK REVIEW
Author: Ozor (Dr.) Ferdinand Ike Anikwe
Publishers: Ebenezer Productions Nig. Ltd, Enugu
Publication Date: 2023
No. of Pages: 86
Book Reviewer : Prince (Dr.) Basil Ude-Ikpenwa
It is a great privilege for me to write the introduction to Ozo (Dr) Ferdinand Ike Ankwe’s great book of history, geography, sociology, philosophy and even science, artistically woven to provoke more academic analysis and further probing of the recent history of communities, especially those from the South Eastern part of our great country.
The Land And People Of Ihuonyia (Land Flowing with Milk and Honey) is not just an interesting read, but also both educative and entertaining like other great books of its ilk crafted by proficient and prolific authors like Dr Anikwe, perhaps, it is paradigmatic that neither the author nor the book requires any introduction. One of the incipient difficulties in introducing such books is the fear that such introduction will occasion injustice to the book as a result of inadequate evaluation and presentation of contents and ramifications. Gleaning wisdom from the book is like testing the pudding in the eating, that is simply by directly encountering the contents. However, attempts will be made to warn the prospective reader of the sort of things he sleepsor she is likely to confront in the course of studying the book.
The Land And People Of Ihuonyia kicked off the narration by clinically chronicling the emergence and evolution of the community of people called Ihuonyia today. The author gave the detailed history of how community came to be, where she settled and why. One of the flaws of oral tradition is the erosion of facts and sometimes exaggeration of myths as stories cascaded from one generation to the other in a situation where even the fourth and fifth generations of the storytellers are not available to be critically examined by an academic writer for a reasonable clarity. This book escaped this deformation by the fact that some of the narrators were available by the time of recorded history. Another advantage that the people of Ihuonyia, and indeed their other cousins in the larger Ezeagu clan, is their ability to trace their origin ostensibly to one individual that with time sired all the people populating the community. This phenomenon which is lacking in most other clans where different people congregated to found a community, makes things easier for scholars writing both historically and sociologically. It is confessedly something to be envied of the people of this area.
The book as well traced the incursion of the European missionaries dovetailing to the present practice of Christianity in the community with the appurtenant education and all the trappings of development. The socio-cultural practices of the people are discussed and analysed with robust attempts to compare and contrast and correlate them to the philosophy of the colonialists. An aspect of the book that should not escape mention is the vivid description of the geography and topology of the community with the rich underground mineral deposits which the author is extremely optimistic will be explored one day and which will forever change the fortunes of all and sundry in the community. The feeling one gets sometimes in reading the book is that perhaps the people of Israel must have missed the direction to where God actually promised them, only for Ihuonyia by sheer providence to stumble on the land flowing with milk and and honey and kept same for his offsprings.
This book is not only historical but a roll call for the people of the community, effectively generously attributing to everyone that has lifted a finger in attracting development to the community his or her fair mention. It x-rayed the socio-cultural practices of the people that enabled dispensation of justice with accuracy since manipulation of course of justice by those to whom fate of the people were entrusted in the ancient times was some sort of taboo with repercussions even if the attempt was successful. The author did not go away without recommendations and prayers especially for the young and upcoming ones with hope that they should consciously strive to tow the cherished path of their forebears. It should be a handbook not only for the people of the community to know their past and present, but also for scholars of history, sociology and philosophy who may find it a veritable tool for further learning and research.
