Walking in the Shadow by Emiola Opasina

Between literacy, tradition and value system in Walking in the Shadow as reviewed by Elvis Uche EMIOLA Opasinaâ??s novel, Walking in the Shadow is a story that naturally whets the appetite of any lover of good story. The setting is Anjorin, a typical rural African village, where the suspenseful novel revives the historical rivalry that exists between Western education and African traditional society and value system. The esoteric nature of communication employed by government officials in relating with the rural populace, which normally breeds suspicion and disillusionment, is well explored by the writer, especially between government officials and rural farmers. For the African intellectuals, the role Western education plays in the self-realisation of the individuals and society is as imperative as human potentialities. However, irrespective of the manifestation of this, the traditional African society still harbours huge reservations. To this end, therefore, Western education is summarily seen as an archenemy of traditional African history and cultures. Nevertheless, in real life situation, governments of African countries have been battling with legislations aimed at compelling parents and guardians to send their children and wards to, at least, the Junior Secondary school. This is the thrust of the Olusegun Obasanjoâ??s administration through its universal basic education. As a follow up to that initiative, some state governments have made it an offence for parents whose children of school age are not in school. Some parents have been made to face prosecution for allowing their children engage in economic activities while they should be in school. While some parents and stakeholders attribute the problem to poverty and lack of proper awareness, others think it is ignorance borne out of cultural belief. As Nigeria marches towards modern nation status, care must be taken to delineate the meeting points of the two civilizations otherwise they will continue in their mutual suspicion. It is this yawning need that attracts the literary fancy of Emiola Sunday Opasina in Walking in the Shadow. At the centre of the conflict is Fola, a school dropout orphan whose dream of education and becoming a medical doctor is put at risk by the sudden death of his father. Sent to his foster uncle, Pa Adekoya, a successful farmer and community leader in a typical African society where farming is as important to physical and spiritual existence of man, Folaâ??s school aspiration grew dimmer. At the base of formidable forces threatening to frustrate Folaâ??s educational dream is the demise of his father at a tender age. This forces him out of school but the dream of furthering his education does not die. Closely following this is when he wants to go to school, his uncle swears against it saying, â??What do you mean? â?¦. Going to where? Why should you go back to school now after planting a lot of cash crops? .... I am not in support of this decisionâ?¦â?? (pp. 123-124). This is made real when his uncle gets police officers to arrest Fola and the headmaster who admits Fola into school. The other stumbling block confronting Fola is funds for his school fees and up-keep. The nervous and tragic romance between him and his classmate, Ronke, a beautiful and intelligent girl, who he is to marry but who later become wayward when she enters higher institution; these are challenges that Fola has to overcome. But time would later prove that Foluke, a virtuous and pretty lady, is his greatest friend, partner and consolation as wife. In his uncleâ??s farmstead at Anjorin the dream of Fola is further threatened by his uncleâ??s belief that Western education is poisonous: â??My uncle believed that Western education was purposefully designed to kill the black manâ??s culture. Therefore, he resolved to preserve his culture. None of his children would smell Western educationâ??, said Fola (p.115). This is fuelled by the fact that the farmers are not getting any important incentives from the government through the agricultural inspectors. Anjorin elders believe that government is not useful to them in any way. It sends supervisors to assist farmers, but they (farmers) argue that government should have its own farm if it wants to carry out any experiments. Government people, they further say, cannot feed the nation despite their education and agricultural expertise. This, couple with the fact that there are no infrastructural facilities and socio-economic development to show any government presence, further convinces the villagers that Western knowledge is purposeless and totally useless. This is clear in chapter 12 where an absurdity plays out when the framers are invited from their farmstead in far away Anjorin to Eko, a replica of Lagos, and lodged in a sophisticated hotel just to learn the value of education. But ironically, despite all these suspicious circumstances, young men are deserting the village. The virile young men who are the symbol of strength and the pillars in the farm are now running away to the urban areas. This sudden rural-urban exodus is predicated on what the frustrated and illiterate young men term as lack of mechanized agriculture and the inconsequential roles of framers in the society dominated by educated elite. â??Farmers were seen as the underdogs in the society because there (sic) were illiterate and poor. Their opinion never mattered on national issues; they were never taken seriously. The young men were ashamed of being regarded as farmers in the society because farmers, unlike other professionals, were not accorded due respect. Why would the farmers who feed the society, including the elite, be treated as secondclass citizens? They would leave the farm at once in order to put a stop to this ridiculeâ?? (p.118). Opasina creates and optimistic vision as Fola eventually surmounts all odds to become a medical doctor â?? his lifeâ??s dream.