Igho Goes to Farm is an informative and educative piece written by Anote Ajeluorou, former Arts Editor of The Guardian. The 56-page book published in Nigeria in 2019 by Winepress Publishing, an imprint of Noirledge Limited for Creative Alliance, Ibadan, is published for the reading delight of children.
The reader finds himself on a fascinating adventure that many who didn’t grow up in the villages may think only existed in fairy tales, as he takes an adventurous trip with Igho. The tale indeed, takes every reader on an interesting journey back to ‘our roots’.
Set in Ibedeni, a village in Isoko Delta State, the tale in Igho Goes to Farm begins in Lagos and ends at the Warri Airport, although much of the events occur in Ibedeni, Igho’s ancestral village.
Igho Goes to Farm appears a reverse of the classic novel by Onuora Nzekwu and Michael Crowther titled, Eze Goes to School.
While the characters in the book which of course are well rounded may be fictitious, the book uses real names of areas, towns, animals etc to get the reader closer to nature and reality. They make Anote’s tale of adventure believable
His narrative brings back the good old days when natural foods and environment had no rivals as against this age in which Nigerians have processed foods and highly polluted environments to contend with, due to urbanisation. A situation many believe is responsible for decrease in lifespan.
The book therefore underscores the importance of preservation and protection of nature from the negative effect of urbanisation.
Banished to his ancestral village, Ibedeni for very poor performance in school, Igho is determined to face his dilemma as a price he has to pay for surfing the internet on his new phone thereby neglecting his studies. He is to help his grandparents in their farms while his siblings, are to proceed with their parents to Disneyland in America, for the summer holidays. Igho is worried about how life would be in the village. He worried whether there would be electricity, DSTV etc, so he could watch his favourite programmes. To be on a safer side, he goes with a lot of books to read in case he finds the experience boring. With his cousin Onome who joins him at Warri, together with other hospitable grown-ups, the children have a good time like never before.
Its obvious that next year, Igho and Onome must do all they can to persuade their siblings to spend their summer holiday in Ibedeni rather than another trip to Disneyland or the moon as Igho’s mother promised.
The author is able to describe vividly towns and areas that make up Delta State. It’s rare these days to find a child born in the city (outside his hometown) who can say where he hails from, and even when they are able to mention it, that’s all they know. So, the manner in which the author describes towns and cities in Delta is helpful for children and adults.
The book is quite timely in that the author has been able to slide into the hearts and minds of the young ones, at a time there’s a campaign imploring parents to make conscious efforts towards aiding children know their roots as well as communicate in their mother tongue. Anote’s tale, therefore, possesses the capability to act as a catalyst that will trigger in the minds of children born and being raised in the city, a yearning to experience similar adventure to their various home towns.
For easy comprehension, the book dedicated to the author’s ten-year-old daughter, Oghale-Oghene, is arranged in ten chapters with each having a subtitle and beautiful illustrations that give the reader an idea of story content. The linear plot style employed by the author also makes for easy comprehension of the targets.
Anote Ajeluorou must be commended for putting his thoughts on how people can begin to appreciate nature, in print. It is not enough to talk and talk during programmes about how we can catch them young but practical example as seen in Igho Goes to Farm will make more impact. The book will remain a reference point for a long time and I implore the publisher to endeavour to make it available so that children, students and parents could have copies. Delta State should see championing the cause of the book as a sense of responsibility by recommending it for schools in the state.
