Title: Matilda
Author: Igba Ogbole
Publishers: Chapuga, Makurdi, Benue
No of pages: 378
Reviewer: Edozie Udeze
THIS is wholly and unequivocally a Nigerian story. It is told painstakingly to show most of every day bitter love experiences that people live with, more so, women. The author, Igba Ogbole, a seasoned journalist, public affairs commentator and analyst can be said to be women mind reader. It is not usually easy for a male author or novelist to unearth, understand, penetrate and permeate the inner-thinking of women the way he has done. All over the world most female authors like Danielle Steel, Betty Head, Joannah Trollope, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and others who write mainly about women fully understand their own sentiments and inner feelings better than men do. It is usually their world.
However, here in this book aptly titled Matilda, Ogbole probes the love contours of women much better than a female author would have done. Matilda is a book rippling with the pain of love that is based on falsehood, betrayal and lust, if you don’t mind. Told to sieve the heroin Matilda from the rest, it is clear that those lying elements men often use to confuse women or trap them into love affair will continue to persist. The book brings all of those into reality, showing that true love, love based on trust and honesty within the Nigerian firmament is still an utopian dream in most situations.
Ojonugba goes gaggers on Ehi using sweet words to trap her into bed. Against her wish, Ehi loses her virginity. Thus begins her protracted bitter onward journey into life, into adulthood. The two are family friends and using that as a coy and bait, Ojonugba visits her in her secondary school. Having successfully lured her into a room, he forces himself on her. Thereafter, he disappears. Ehi takes in and loses her pride of place in life. Her hopes are shattered, while Ojonugba denies her and the pregnancy. This marks the beginning of the series of traumatic life experiences that follow Ehi from Benue to Lagos, back to school and into legal practice.
The love gist of the book lies in the fact that the author quickly changes Ehi’s name to Matilda. Now, he begins to build two different story plots in the book. While the Matilda of the book, tough, egoistic, mature, beautiful, successful and prosperous with one of the best law firms in Benue State opens the story, the Ehi of the village setting, also beautiful and courteous is about setting out into secondary school. The twist and style of the book quicly makes you begin to imagine that here are two different families in the novel. Ordinarily, a lazy reader may even begin to ponder and query the sense in pairing a mere village champion in the person of Ehi and her parents against an Amazon, a formidable character like Matilda. But wait a minute until you get to the last chapters of the book. It is then you’d realize how Ogbole has become a crafty and intelligent story teller. He is not just crafty and gifted in being a suspenseful story-teller; he is at home with the affairs of men and women in deceitful love romance. All these give the novel its unlimited flavour, unequaled in story telling in these days of lazy plotting and uninteresting presentation.
And so Matilda gives birth to Ochanya, another beautiful queen, a medical doctor trained in the United Kingdom. Then comes her bosom friend, Ene, who is also a victim of unfulfilled and false love promises. It is clear the novel set out to pry into these types of scenarios because on a daily basis the single motherhood syndrome keeps rising. The betrayal of women by men, the easy way men con women into false love affair and so on, has indeed become topical in Matilda. The mistakes by Ojonugba, his sheer wickedness to an innocent village girl will later land them all into bigger and more complicated situation. But that is the essence of the book. That you will not know Matilda’s story or her background clearly until you get to the end, is a carefully plotted ploy.
Now, Ojonugba fizzles out only to reappear with James his only son, to marry Ochanya. Many years had passed. In London, James and Ochanya had met, without knowing that they were sired by the same man – Ojonugba. They agree to marry. On the day of traditional marriage introductions, James arrives with his people. Behold, his father is Ojonugba. He is there tucked in a corner. But behold Matilda quickly recognizes him. She raises an alarm that stirs everybody. Fortunately, both Ochanya and James had not slept together in form of consummating their love affair.
The intrigues in Matilda are compelling, striking and illuminating. They are overwhelming. In fact, in the cause of reading the book, I ideally titled it women and their love foibles. It is the same tactics of old that men still use to overwhelm their emotions. Yes, Matilda rises from the ashes of her early life to become a big and audacious lady. Yet it is one trauma that beclouds her sense of relationship with men. Always almost bottling up and often losing her mien and composure, if you like, keeps her constantly on edge. This is what most women, who single themselves out as single parents or whatever, suffer these days. It all boils down to the same selfish, self-centred, egoistic promises or disappointments from men while growing up. This is indeed the main thrust and crust of this novel.
Again, comes Lucas. He is one of those boys about town, the type women struggle against their will to resist. He has come into the arena with all the qualities that throw women off guard. Tall, rich, handsome, bubbly, arrogant, he is equally a master in the game of deceit. Now, Ene, Ochanya’s friend, against all entreaties, falls for him. Meanwhile Lucas is married with children. But he patrols the whole landscapes of Lagos, Abuja and Benue as a bachelor. In no time he puts Ene in a family way and then reneges on his promise to marry her. Moreover, acting as her Attorney, Matilda extracts some harsh conditions from him to help Ene cope with her single motherhood status. Thus, another single mother is made.
Beyond being an impressive character, Matilda is swift in certain situations. But the author is saying that mistakes of love are not limited to teenagers. Ene is not just an adult, she is well read. In fact, she is on her way to Europe for a Masters degree programme. ”I was billed for a visa interview with the Italian Embassy today” (page 4), Ene informs Matilda. “Congratulations on your admission”, Matilda says to her (page 5). So you can see how the level of these series of confusing lust with genuine love in Nigerian social parlance has degenerated into. Even when Ogbole uses the sentiments of Christianity to douse tension and somewhat heighten respect for morality, it still appears that snakes always give birth to snakes. But that in essence has given Matilda an edge over other stories made locally to suit and sooth whims and caprices. The author is on a familiar terrain. He takes readers on a cursory journey through towns, villages and settlements in Benue State. As often as he can, he draws from the ancient historic wisdom and mantra of the local people to situate some scenes. This, indeed, is enthralling, stimulating and compelling.
From Orokam to Makurdi, to Gboko, to Ugbokolo, to Katsina-Ala, you can see the landscapes of Otukpo, and some of the rural areas of the state. The traditional habits of the people reflect in some instances. You see glimpses of the cultural values of the Idoma and the Tiv. You can see the beauty or otherwise of a people long denied certain social amenities by marauding political leaders. You can also feel the restiveness of the people when they encounter politicians and