BITEK: HE FROM WHOM DEATH RAN
Authored by MASSOCKI MA MASSOCKI
Reviewed by Peter Okonkwo (Author of Fate, In the Dungeon of Doom, and Ecstasy of the Dead)
This review should be considered more as a book analysis; a literary rather than a book promotional/marketing review. A more detailed assessment of this book is accessible on the “P. English Literature” YouTube channel video book reviews.
Excerpt
“…There, Bitek surprisingly announced to Amadi and his children that he would not take them to Cameroon. Amadi started crying.
Amadi: Why, why, why? I cannot live without you. You are not going without us.
Bitek: I promise I will return and get you and the children.
Amadi: The Igbo people will kill me. Take us with you!
Bitek: No. It is your brother who will be killed. I will come and get you and the children.” Adapted from page 88, Bitek flees from Port Harcourt.
BITEK: HE FROM WHOM DEATH RAN is an absorbing real-life story of Bitek coupled with colonization, with a touch on Cameroon history, culture, and colonialism.
Masssocki Ma Massocki tells the story of his grandfather, Bitek Bi Bimai in an engrossing manner, a man whom his ancestors have a hand in his fate and was mystically ordained to save his people from death, and from whom death would flee several times. I admit that this is the first Cameroonian English Literature written by an indigenous writer that I’ve ever read that has a tone more specific to the preservation of the history of its people.
Starting from the dedication page, which expounds on the birth of the author in a sort of ancestral comportment; the period of his mother’s pregnancy, and how the spirit of the long-departed Mbomgo, Bitek’s father appeared instructing her on Massocki’s delivery. The discovery of the snail’s shell in her backyard, and the command that she must bathe in Mbombog’s grave at exactly 2 am with the help of the patriarch made me ruminate the intricacy of ancient African cultures. I find this part deep-rooted in African spirituality and what many would contemporarily consider an adventurous act.
I’m particularly fascinated by the purpose of this book, which according to the author was to connect with his relatives in Nigeria whom Bitek had tearfully left (his wife, Amadi, and two sons) with Mr. Scott, a British-Nigerian occupant at the Nigeria-Cameroon border with hope to return to them again, but fails. I find this part of the book harrowing, heart-breaking and I seem to express displeasure at Bitek’s decision during this time, even though it was essential for him to escape the barbaric order of the Igbo oracle who had instructed that his flesh should be sacrificed for the celebration of the New Yam Festival in Port Harcourt.
Concerning this, I hope the author would connect with his relatives in Nigeria even though this incidence happened far back in 1933. I’m a bit contemplative that Amadi “at the time this review is published” would have grown old, and the two children would have had grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren who might be ignorant of their grandfather’s adventure, more reason why I consider the power of story-telling essential in preserving a progeny from extinction and the transmission of knowledge to generations yet unborn.
It was also intriguing to learn about the spider “Libobo” which is intrinsically symbolic among the Basaa of Ngok Lituba, and why it’s taboo to kill it because it had once saved them from the hands of their enemies while they escaped inside the Ngok Lituba cave. It was educative to learn about the Ngok-Lituba traditions, cultures; their ideas about life and death, and ancestorship, this part reminded me of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
This book explores the invasion of the German Force into the land of the Babimbi Empire, where villagers were captured, houses razed, and residents slaughtered. It was on this account that Bitek together with his family fled to seek refuge in the village centre, where they settled for months before further dispersion. Massocki Ma Massocki’s BITEK made me remember the account of Cameroon first colonization in 1884 by the Germans who ruled till 1916, and later defeated during the First World War, to the aftermath of the placement of Cameroon by the League of Nations to France and Britain who further ruled it and ultimately shared Cameroon into two parts with France covering three quarters, and the Britain occupying one-quarter of the land.
One of the parts that I find out of the ordinary was the point where Bitek was going to be circumcised by his father and the villagers’ definition of Manhood by wrestling prowess, circumcision, and more surprisingly, the back-burning with melting machete. Though the Germans in due course find the back-burning mores uncultured and later declared it forbidden to make the colonized people least resistant to foreign rule.
The story of Bitek’s encounter with the chief’s wife Kindap leads to the pronouncement of his death by the chief. Kindap and Bitek had fallen deeply in love with one another, and on several occasions, Bitek would undeservedly sneak into the chief’s house to make love with his second wife, Kindap. They were in the long run caught and Kindap was consequentially banned from the village by the chief. He also instructed that Bitek should be found, killed and his dead body should be brought to him as a lump of meat for his leopards.
On this account, Bitek’s cousin lied to save his brother who seeks refuge at her place that she saw him running towards his mother’s village, when the message reached the chief and the searchers, they ran towards the direction of Ngambe village in search for him, while Bitek ran towards the opposite direction after he had offered a sacrifice of forgiveness and strength procurement by eating the prepared black cat together with his cousin.
Having arrived in the capital city of Cameroon, Bitek felt unsafe and continued his journey towards southern Nigeria, he reached the Nsas Nanga river, and when there was no means to cross offered a prayer of forgiveness, and protection before jumping into the water, the instance of the sudden appearance of a floating slab of wood when Bitek get tired of swimming, and the case in point where he sat on the slab which took him to the river bank of a place called Bikok, was in my perception, a seal that the spirit of his forefathers were with him. I find this part astounding and grabbing. Bitek’s life in Port Harcourt, his wife, Amadi, two children, and his eventual return to Cameroon, new wife, and twelve children is an engrossing story to tell. Bitek’s ultimate reconciliation with the chief, who on his blasphemy, had fled Cameroon restored peace to the chief as he offered him kola nut as a sign of forgiveness.
The later part of this book delves into a more non-fiction account of how Bitek saved the people of Ndog Mbog village. This part is one of those remarkable parts that I find amazing, not just the story of Bitek, but also a novel engulfed with the historical event of his people; from the instance whereby the first Cameroon president, Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo decided to kill the three maquisards as a mean to prove that there is no mystical power against gunshot and to deter people from joining the maquisards. This in turn leads to the arrival of the armed forces in Ndog Mbog forest as Manyang was killed, and the death oppression of the maquisards by the Cameroonian Armed Forces, to reveal the grave of Manyanog. This scenario proves and confirmed the prophecy made by the ancestors that Bitek would once again save his people from death, and it did come to reality, as he, Bitek finds it intolerable to witness his people die in ignorance, even though his action to reveal Manyanog’s grave was considered abominable by the maquisards.
I shall resist revealing more as an attempt to make this review as succinct as possible. Massocki Ma Massocki’s BITEK: He from whom death ran held me captive until I finish indulging my relatable emotion in it. Though this is the first book that I’ve read from Massocki, I can boldly say that he is a fantastic writer, his choice of words are distinctive and I cannot wait to read his first book, The Pride of an African Migrant, and even his subsequent works. This book is best for whoever seeks to expound his idea into Cameroonian colonialism, rule of law, and more importantly the story of Bitek, the man who was fortified against the power of death.
This book is not just a novel; it is a book worth reading to preserve the cultural heritage of the Ndog-Mbog residents, the Basaa people, and the Cameroonians generally. It is a book that falls under the genre of the preservation of culture and the awareness of the forbidden intrinsic values of the people as windswept by the colonial masters. This is a book that is worth reading in Cameroonian schools and Universities; it sheds more light on African mythology, African diaspora, literature, and the history of a dispersed people whose indigenous might have sadly sought refuge in other countries, and or turn to innocent foreigners without any history of their ancestry.
This review can be considered as an educational introspection of this novel, yet, there is more to this book than I have described. Moreover, considering the weight of ethnicity bestowed in this book, the plot, and the characterization, I give it a 5 of 5 stars review. I shall keep an eye on this author as he continues to develop his skills to shape the world and bring to life, stories that are buried and are inaccessible due to some visible or invisible constrictions.
Book Title: Bitek: He From Whom Death Ran
Authored by Massocki Ma Massocki
Published by the Pierced Rock Press
Book Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Bit%C3%A9k-He-Whom-Death-Ran/dp/9956465097
Page number: 134pages
Reviewed by Peter Okonkwo (Author of Fate, In the Dungeon of Doom, and Ecstasy of the Dead)