Book: Sakabula, the Widowbird
Author: Ike Ugwu
Reviewer: Iquo DianaAbasi
Publisher: Origami (an Imprint of Parresia Publishers)
Year: 2023
Pages: 276
What will you call a story that leans towards the metaphysical, and hints at a world beyond what the eyes can see? Literary scholars will call this, magic realism, like the book,The Famished Road, by Ben Okri.
What this book talks about are people with no arms, who glide in the air, mimicking fish when they swim in the water; gazelles with large, beautiful wings like dragonflies; giant paradise birds, which, when they flap their wings, flickers of multi-coloured lights fall from the sky like dew, and humanoid beings who stand larger than life, and radiate light beams all around them.
What if this book invites you to walk on pathways lined with magical trees that sing orchestras as you step by?
A place where even the ground is full of vibrant sand that makes a shimmering sound as you walk, and the atmosphere responds to your mood.
As you read all this you might, perhaps, think of young adult fantasy stories such as, J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, or maybe Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti Trilogy and Zahrah the Windseeker. And you would not be wrong.
Just like Azaro, the main character in Okri’s Famished Road, the hero in this story was born to her parents before, but died early and had to return to earth.
And just like the eponymous character in Okorafor’s Zahrah the Windseeker, the main character here has powers,nwhich can be summoned and used at will. Powers, which she must learn to harness and use only for good. This is the story of a girl named Sakabula.
In Sakabula, the Widowbird, written by Ike Ugwu, the reade is thrown into the conundrum of Church vs African traditional spirituality.
The book may make you wonder if traditional beliefs are plain idolatry or simply marred by a lack of understanding.
Many Christians today refer to ancient beliefs as capable of leading a person to hell fire, but the beliefs of African people were not always seen as idol worship, there was a time when these traditional beliefs stood as law, as deterrent and as assurance of a morally sound and fair society.
Maybe, if we all become better informed, we will be more accommodating of other people’s ideas and cosmology.
Away from the metaphysical, the magical and traditional spirituality, this story shows us what curiosity (and bit of stubbornness) can do to a young person.
Early on, a guardian tells Sakabula: “I communicate with you through sound. It is invisible music and issues all around you…one of the reasons I am assigned to protect you is to keep your music clear from distortions by the negative side. If your music keeps slowing down, you won’t be able to see me or hear me. Moodiness, sad utterances and living in a constant state of negativity and fear emit the lowest form of sound. That is what the negative side is attuned to. If you fall below my range, my sound, you won’t be able to see or hear me even though I am present. Remember to stay an independent observer. This is your path.”
Sakabula echoes some reminiscences from Chinua Achebe’s Chike and the River. After suffering the loss of her father and four siblings, the special child goes from unwittingly getting lost and finding herself in a strange town, to meeting with several people who mostly deal her a wicked hand.
Her life is characterised by pain and lack, yet it is as if the trials are a test, or lesson in perseverance and faith, and her guardians are always there to remind her not to give in to the urge to do bad or fall to the temptations of the darkness.
Born with powers, Sakabula must learn the lessons of life the extremely hard way. This story, though intense, is similar to the experiences we all face as human beings in different facets of our lives. It shows how life is like a school where you get to repeat a certain class or course until you fully grasp it.
When we repeatedly face mean, or unkind or unscrupulous persons, they could just be lessons we need to learn, and sometimes all that stands in the way of our complete comprehension of the said lessons could be our inner attitude, or an unforgiving heart. Maybe all we need is to have a teachable spirit, or to show simple consideration for our fellow man.
When we stubbornly refuse to learn and live aright, we face situations that make us look like orphans, or like a traveller who has lost the way and lost all their belongings to highway robbers – all because we forget that our heritage is royal.
Ugwu uses the story of the widowbird, in the person of Sakabula, to paint this ideology very vividly.
In reading this story, you may come to appreciate Karma as a wonderful mesh of interconnected deeds.
In this vein, our actions and inactions spin our threads of fate: when we live in love and goodness, we attract more love and light to ourselves, just as wicked thoughts and evil deeds attract more of such dark things to us.
Homelessness and the yearning for a home is another recurring theme in this book.
BIn reading Sakabula you may be strung up, wondering how this gifted little girl is cared for and then simultaneously oppressed in a pastor’s house.
Suspended in shock, you will follow the character as she roams and wanders from one town to the next, each time, the recipient of a dose of kindness, and several doses of torture.
Through it all, courage is her rampart, and even in the moments when Sakabula despairs, her guide/guardian spirit fills her with more courage, reminding her not to be afraid.
“I listened to the loud echo inside my mind. I repeated that I was afraid. When I uttered the statement, the entity echoed, ‘I am not afraid.’ It sounded as if we both spoke simultaneously. His voice was more powerful, submerging my voice in a wave of vibrations. I felt the ground shake like a powerful force had induced an earthquake across the earth. The vibration from the voice felt more robust, more powerful. The words ‘I am not afraid’ kept echoing inside my mind. It played like a stereo. I could not stop my mind from repeating it.”
Sakabula is a resonant song from the belly of the widowbird, this tale is a tribute to life, as much as it is a toast to resilience. Future, Past and present coexist in a speculative tapestry, the mystical and real coalesce so frequently that one is left gasping at each page turn.
Ugwu’s debut novel is replete with rich lessons for many to draw from. I invite you all to embrace and celebrate Ike Ugwu’s first published piece of fiction: Sakabula, the Widow Bird.
