Reviewing, Igho Goes To Farm

                    By Bayo Ogunmupe

    The book: Igho Goes To Farm is the latest addition to Nigeria's fictional literature for children with English as a second language. It is the  story of a lad who isn't doing too well in his school work. He comes a distant 15th in his promotional examination in his class. His mother is perturbed by his lackluster performance in school and therefore banishes Igho to the  farm. He is billed to spend the long holiday with his mother's aging parents in the remote village. Igho is to work with his grand parents in their village farms.

    Meanwhile, Igho's two siblings, owing to their brilliant performances in their class work, will visit Disneyland in the United States of America with their parents. The decision by Igho's parents to send him to the farm, is a punishment for Igho's poor performance in his class work. Moreover, Igho spends most of his time browsing and surfing the internet on his new Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) phone causing him to neglect his schoolwork. Consequent upon his banishment to the farm, Igho is unhappy.

    Igho is bitter over having to spend his long holiday alone with his grand parents away from his siblings. The young, lonely boy  is sad and bored in the village without electricity or his playmates. he did not have the opportunity of making new friends at the cinema or cyber cafe while browsing on the internet. However, he found sympathy in the company of his cousin, Onome who lighted up his sojourn. But for his cousin Igho's life and holiday would have been a sojourn in hell.

    Indeed, Onome who lives in the seaside resort city of Warri, made Igho's visit a month long time of fun. In the circumstance, Igho forgot he ever missed following his siblings to America. Igho Goes To Farm written by thespian, literary critic and journalist Anote Ajeluorou, is a short novel for children. Published in 2019 by Winepress Publishing, an imprint of Noirledge Limited for Creative Alliance, Ibadan, Nigeria. It has 10 chapters, 60 pages in paperback and beautifully packaged for safekeeping by its readers.

    The book was written and dedicated to author's daughter, Oghale- Oghene for her generous spirit and to regale other children of her age all over the world. The book was also dedicated to Anote's mother from whose laps he learned Isoko folktales which inspired this art of storytelling in him. "But if Igho knew anything about the village, he would have worried less about boredom. As he found out, he only had time to read just two out of the ten books he took with him. The village proved to be another form of excitement which even Disneyland could not provide! And Igho knew he would have more interesting stories to tell his siblings and schoolmates than they could ever share with him this holiday."

    The story is located in Delta state of Nigeria. Travelling in Delta is the heading of its chapter Two. Igho travelled from Lagos to Warri by air. His uncle Utomudo had gone in the company of Onome to pick him up by car from the Warri airport. Onome, a girl and Igho chatted from Warri all the way through Agbarho, Ughelli, Iyede and finally arriving at Ozoro their destination. When they alighted from the car at the family compound, several relatives who had not gone to the farm, came out to welcome them.  "Igho and Onome were city children and they instantly became the centre of admiration." But they could not stay much longer there because their grand uncle they had come to see was unwell and had been taken to a healer's home.

  So they departed Ozoro and headed for Ibedeni, their final destination. "Swimming in the Open River," is the heading of chapter Five. After the delicious meal of beetle soup, the next experience of village life for the duo of Onome and Igho was a bath in the open river. They enjoyed Akoto game and catapult hunting. Away from books, the rough and tumble of city life where vehicular movement have become hazards to human existence, their sojourn in the village was paradise on earth. In spite of a boat mishap when a boat capsized throwing both Igho and Onome into the water, the youngsters thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

    Igho Goes To Farm is an excellent example of good storytelling where infusing a solid vocabulary for the adolescent is concerned. The story is coherent, with real life anecdotes and down to earth conversation. It exudes good moral upbringing bereft of obscenities. I recommend it to Federal Ministry of Education for adoption as a must read in primary and secondary schools in Nigeria. Its author, Anote Ajeluorou graduated in English literature and Education from the University of Benin in 1995. He started his journalism career with the literary magazine, Hints. He joined The Punch from The Comet, later roaming The Nation before finally settling at The Guardian where he became The Art Editor. He is presently Head of the  Political Desk at The Guardian