A REVIEW ON THE NOVEL ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF MUTANDA OYOM NAMONDO REVIEWED BY BASSEY CORNELIUS UYO-OBONG REG. NO : 202211153409EF DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE FACULTY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR, CALABAR SUBMITTED TO DR. JOHN TANYI (COURSE LECTURER) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES FACULTY OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR, CALABAR IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE COURSE REQUIREMENT: USE OF ENGLISH (GSS 101) NOVEL TITLE: JUNE, 2023 ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF "MUTANDA OYOM NAMONDO" AUTHOR'S NAME: E.E ÑKAÑA (Jnr) PUBLISHER'S CONTACT: +234-80-370-7965-9 PUBLICATION DATE: EFIK VERSION, First published in 1933 Reprinted / Published in the new orthography in 1985 EMAIL: wusenpublishers@yahoo.com PLACE OF PUBLICATION: WUSEN PUBLISHERS 105 YELLOW DUKE STREET P.O.BOX (G.P.O) 1961 - CALABAR CROSS RIVER STATE. 2nd Edition Published in Year 2000 ISBN : 978-051-000-1 NUMBER OF CHAPTERS: 9 Chapters NUMBER OF PAGES: 69 pages INTRODUCTION TO THE NOVEL English translation of "Mutanda Oyom Namondo" explores on how Namondo, the lone child of Chief Mutanda, the Ruler of Bokondo; mysteriously disappeared. His stepmother Ekanem Efonko was implicated and was to face a capital punishment for disingenuously associating with Atim Okpoebot, the nefarious and obnoxiously despicable core entity suspected to be holding Namondo hostage. Ekpo Mosufe a renowned hunter, and an adversary of Atim Okpoebot, rescued Ekanem from the death penalty. Mutanda and company with Ekpo Mosufe left Bokondo to commune with Atim Okpoebot. Meanwhile, fifty gallant men felt concerned about the safety of their ruler and his crew. They left in search of them. Unfortunately, the men ran into trouble on the way. Mutanda and his men met with Atim Okpoebot, and she told them emphatically that she wanted Ekpo Mosufe, the renowned hunter of Bokondo as her own price before she could contact Anansa, the water deity to release Namondo. Atim Okpoebot got her deal. She then gave Mutanda a detailed list of bizarre, and extremely rare items to obtain for sacrifice to Anansa. Atim Okpoebot, somehow meddled with Queen Ofonso Bara, the daughter of Bara Mba, and had to abscond from that jungle to escape the fury of Bara Mba. BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR E. E. NKANA (Jnr.) was born on June 7th, 1930 at Creek Town in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. He had his Primary School Education in Duke Town . School, Calabar. Between 1944 and 1948 he had his Secondary Education at both Abeokuta Grammar School and the Methodist College, Uzuakoli, respectively. He was offered a two ~ year scholarship award by the Federal Government to train as a Technical Instructor at the then Yaba Technical Institute, Lagos. Upon his successful completion of the course, he was posted to head and run the Government Handicraft Centre, Calabar until when he proceeded on United State Agency for International Development (USAID) scholarship to do Industrial Arts Education at the Anzona State College, U. S. A. After compieting his course, he was posted to the then Government Teacher's Training College, Uyo to teach General Metal Work and Technical Drawing. In 1975, he benefited from CIDA scholarship to study Instructional Technology in Canada. Again, in 1979, he proceeded on UNESCO scholarship to the Northern Illinois University for his Master Degree Programme. Since his return in 1982, he had been lecturing both the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) and undergraduate students in Instructional Technology and Microteaching at the University of Uyo until his retirement in 1996. Upon his retirement, he decided to produce the revised prose of his late father's work, Mutanda Uyom Namodo", That completed, he immediately followed up with the play version of the prase, both of which are currently being used in most Primary and Secondary Schools in Cross River State. He is a co-author of Fundamentals of Educational Technology, published by Durand Publishing Company, Uyo. He latter published his first edition of Microteaching Skills, Methods, and Strategies for student Teachers in Colleges and Universities, published by Samrol Publishers, 76 Mayne Avenue, Calabar. He had earlier produced an Opaque Projector for enlarging diagrams using local materials and electricity. He is blessed with three children. CHARACTERIZATION/ROLES ATIM OKPOEBOT Atim Okpoebot is a cunning, ugly, and wicked diety who held Namondo hostage and committed atrocities against innocent people by using her magic powder to transform Chief "Bars Mba's daughter, Ofonso Bara " into a tree. She appeared before Ekpo Mosufe carrying a calabash in her left hand. With two of her right hand fingers, she picked a small quantity of the calabash and spread it on Ekpo Mosufe and instantly, he was transformed into a Dog. She demanded Mutanda Kake to procure the following items of sacrifice for the release of his son: 1) The root of the plant that grows on the head of water serpent. 2) Three-legged fowl with ruff feathers. 3) A foul with two heads male and female . 4) The heart of water animal that speaks human language. 5) A piece of cloth that "Akpauyok" wore . 6) The leg of the pipe that the water goddess "Anansa" smoked 7) The bile of a baby child that is the same age as it's mother. MUTANDA He is one of the major characters in the novel. Mutanda is presented in the novel as the King of Bokondo, the husband to Ekanem and Edisua and the father of Namondo. He is the Protagonist in the story, a brave, strong, courageous King with a benevolent heart and a discerning eye. A typical example of a strong man,a true friend to Ekpo Mosufe who keeps words and has the interest of all in his heart , he was a fair husband to his wife, Ekanem Efonko by apologizing to her after her innocence was proven and celebrated her . A good father to his son because he never seize to think of a way to rescue his son Namondo from the hands of the wicked goddess, "Atim Okpoebot" who had taken custody of his son. An unarguably good King who is not self centered nor selfish or full of himself in any way , He was loved by his people for his bravery kindness, if he wasn't a good man none of the youths would risk their lives going on a quest to rescue him while the women and children showed their support by praying for their safe return. EDISUA She was the second wife of Mutanda, the co-wife to Ekanem Efonko and the mother of Namondo. NAMONDO He played the role of the vicm, he was the son of Mutanda, the prince of Bokondo who went on a swimming frolic at river "Antigua", and was drowned . But was later rescued after the sacrifice to the EFIK goddess of water was accepted and he emerged from the river with white clay mark on his face; and holding a branch of palm tree leaf in his right hand, and a small calabash cup containing white clay in his left. EKPO MOSUFE He played the role of a good friend to Mutanda the King of Bokondo, by offering to stand in place of Mutanda as he wanted to offer himself to "Atim Okpoebot" . He was Bokondo renowned hunter , an adversary of "Atim Okpoebot"and was able to escape from the cunning trap of Atim Okpoebot and also save the fifty brave youths of Bokondo. A Super hero who saved Ekanem Efonko Mutanda's first wife at death spot by proving her innocence and revealing the truth of how she heard about the name "ATIM OKPOEBOT". EKANEM EFONKO She's the first wife of Mutanda, the stepmother of Namondo who was implicated and was to face a capital punishment for disingenuously associating with Atim Okpoebot, the nefarious and obnoxiously despicable core entity suspected to be holding Namondo hostage. But was saved by testimony of Ekpo Mosufe who testified on how she came to hear about the name "Atim Okpoebot". MINOR CHARACTERS CHIEF. OKOKON NDEM OKON AN ELDER OF BOKONDO CHIEF. OTU EFA AN ELDER OF BOKONDO MBAMBA ETRIDON THE SOOTHSAYER ETIM IBUOT EBOK THE KING'S GUARD ASUQUO NSOFI THE KING'S GUARD OROK ABASI. THE KING'S GUARD EFFIONG EFIAT. THE KING'S GUARD CHIEF. OFFIONG ENIANG AN ELDER OF BOKONDO CHIEF. EFFIONG ETE AN ELDER OF BOKONDO SEQUENTIAL ARRANGEMENTS OF ISSUES STATED BY THE AUTHOR 1. NAMONDO DROWNS IN RIVER ANANTIGHA. 2. MUTANDA'S TWO WIVES QUARRELL; EKANEM 3. EFONKO IS SENTENCED TO DEATH . 4. EKPO MOSUFE SAVES EKANEM FROM EXECUTION. 5. MUTANDA, EKPO JOURNEY TO MEET ATIM OKPOEBOT AT RIVER NSOKEMKPETIN. 6. EKPO SACRIFICES HIMSELF. 7. MUTANDA'S WHEREABOUTS NOT KNOWN. 8. BOKONDO YOUTHS SEARCH FOR MUTANDA. 9. MUTANDA AND BODY GUARDS RETURN HOME 10. ITEMS OF SACRIFICE TO GODDESS OF WATER START ARRIVING. 11. RETURN OF EKPO MOSUFE AND THE FIFTY YOUTHS OF BOKONDO. 12. MUTANDA OFFERS SACRIFICE TO EFIK WATER GODDESS 13. NAMONDO RESURFACE AT RIVER ANANTIGHA THEMES/THEMATIC STRUCTURES This novel is replete with many themes such as: A. THEME OF TRAGEDY Ranging from Namondo's mysterious disappearance, the false accusations of Ekanem Efonko for being the mastermind of his disappearance, to the narrow escape of the death penalty that was about to be given to her and the pain, sorrow, worries, and the sleepless nights Mutanda had due to the disappearance of his lone Child and heir apparent to his throne. The pain and trauma Ekpo Mosufe's wife felt when she was told that her husband didn't return gave the story a theme of tragedy. B. THEME OF MYSTERY The mystery behind how Namondo drowned, Mutanda and Ekpo's journey to Atim Okpoebot at River "NSOKEMPETIN" in order to find the whereabouts of his lost son Namondo and the journey on how to procure the items of sacrifice to the goddess of water starts arriving one after the other is quite mysterious because the items seems almost impossible to procure. Also, weighing from how the fifty brave youths of Bokondo were turned into tree's with human feet is quit puzzling. C. THEME OF STRRUGLE The struggle the entire people of Bokondo had suffered from the missing of their prince Namondo, their King and Ekpo Mosufe who went in search of Namondo by going to include from Atim Okpoebot and the sudden disappearance of the fifty brave youths who took a stand to find a means of saving the day by heading out in search of the King. The struggle is quite hard and it left the children and old men and women in the village with hanging hopes and unknown outcome. D. THEME OF TRADITIONALISM AND NECROMANCY The theory of traditionalism that all knowledge is originally derived from or by divine revelation and that it is transmitted by traditions while Necromancy The belief in magical spells that harness occult forces or evil spirits to produce unnatural effects in the world. These two beliefs are well prominent in the novel. The odd mysterious way the Efik goddess of water drew the basket and it's contents to herself without any physical hands receiving it, while a white chicken appeared at the top of the basket. At the sight of the chicken, there was a thunderous shout from the anxious crowd saying, "Sacrifice accepted, Sacrifice accepted". It portrays Necromancy and the general acceptance of their traditional beliefs by people of Bokondo present there. STYLES AND NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES A: POINT OF VIEW The author's standpoint in narrating the story in "English Translation of Mutanda Oyom Namondo" is that of Omniscient point of view. He uses many characters which reflects through his literary technique, by using many characters represented by different personal pronouns .Again, because this author is aware that translating the nuances or ingredients contained in the original work and maintaining the same level of meaning, beauty and understanding in the English translated form is not easy if not impossible, he has decided to save his readers the painful task of trying to figure out the correct meaning of the nuances by substituting them with words or short expressions to keep the readers on the right track, maintain continuity, and sustain the readers interest. B: DICTION The authors choice of words is worthwhile. It is vivid that words employed by the novelist cannot pose a problem to average scholars. The author avoids the use of sophisticated diction, but partly uses Nigerian English. Also, the diction is more denotative than connotative. This helps to enhance the readability of the novel. The words selected are simple and effective to the subject. C: NARRATION The stories of the novel are narrated in the third person point of view. There are predominant uses of personal pronouns like she, he, her, his, they, I etc. The use of this technique shows the authors versatility in narrative competence. D: TONE In the lonely days, the attitude of the author towards the subject is both informative and subjective. The tone, however, is full of surprises as it is possible to make every reader live many experiences with Mutanda. There is also a feeling of dashed hope and tension as the outrageous items of sacrifice demanded by Atim Okpoebot for the freedom of Namondo seems like a mission Impossible, thereby leaving the reader of the novel to feel the tension, curiosity and thrill of the story. E: STRUCTURE The novel is structured in fourteen chapters with understandable paragraphs of logical lengths. The use of sentence structures such as exclamations, simple and compound sentences, etc. are well observed. There is a coherent of flow of ideas resulting from a perfect structure adopted in the novel. SETTING/LOCALE "English Translation of Mutanda Oyom Namondo" is set with a complete African Background: Drawn from Nigeria, precisely the Southern part of the country. The settings gives vivid expositions of Bokondo Community and it begins with tragedy in which the whole community of Bokondo are concerned and in sympathy; but it is a tragedy that drags along itself other tragedies with thurr Own mystery, passion, dread and necromancy in which evil Magic power are applied to cause human sufferings and misery. It is truism that the novel has sociological setting which showcases the social cultural lives of the people In Efik society, it was the custom in those days to Crown all other social events with Ekpe, which, as a secret cult, was used to perform certain esoteric rights which could only be conducted and witnessed by the members of the fraternity. Once a while, during their procession and demonstration, an elated member of Ekpe fraternity along the roadside would beckon to the masquerade saying Welcome the Conqueror; the embodiment of dignity and power, "Welcome, the torchbearer of the society of rich men. Welcome, your favorite dishes are here for your consumption". Reacting to these outpouring of praises, the masquerade would respond with body movements similar to those of a leopard sighting and preparing to attack its prey. The time frame was contemporary with the period when African societies were caged with traditionalism and Necromancy. MORAL LESSON 1. Listen to Advices: He listened to the advices of his elders in council and Ekpo his friend without argument or feeling of superiority over them. 2. Bravery: Mutandas ability to stand up even when he was in the dark and did not know how to save his son, he still remain brave to the end. 3. Humility: He was not shaken or proud to go on his kneel to plead before Akim Okpoebot to save his son Namondo, he remained humble till the end. 4. Benevolenceness: Mutandas Benevolency as the king of Bokondo made him had the full support of his people in his struggle and quest to find his missing son.
