Book title: Midnight Cry
Author: Paul Ugah
Publisher: Chapugah Publishers, Makurdi, Benue State
Year published: 2016
Reviewer: Adjekpagbon Blessed Mudiaga
Paul Ugah’s collection of short stories published with a cover story titled “Midnight Cry” is a potpourri of different moral lessons concerning human relationships in politics, marriage, religious abracadabra, traditional value, lost freedom and so on and so forth.
Hence, the 116 – page collection of twelve very short stories contains the following titles “Conspiracy of Silence,” “Deception,” “Web of Love,” “Woeful Tales of Resurrection,” “Freedom,” “The Secret of Adamu,” “Midnight Cry,” “The Man Must Die” “The Night Masquerade,” “Fruitless Search,” “Diary of a Dead Man” and “Portraits of Honesty” respectively.
Each story has its own uniqueness and different lessons it shares with the reader. The desperation of politicians to outwit each other through diabolical means especially among Nigerian politicians, is the meat and potato of “Conspiracy of Silence.” The questions that comes to mind while reading the story are: “Is it a must to win election at all cost?” “Has any person ever carried the world to his or her grave after his or her political tenure, when dead?”
However, the cover story (Midnight Cry) seems to be satirizing the traditional style of burying the dead in Africa. It frowns at the exorbitant sum of money usually wasted on burial ceremonies because of various rites that must be observed, comes to the fore in the storyline.
The author says that is why some men and women in Africa usually convert to Christianity and embrace western world’s lifestyle. Echa the special character of Midnight Cry refused to abandon her traditional ways of worship till her death. This calls for full traditional burial rites to honour her. A womanhood cult (age group) made up of women from age 70 and above has to engage in a special ceremonial rite in her honour.
In the midst of the burial ceremony season for Echa, a loud cry of a woman’s voice is clearly heard asking questions thus: “..Is Apa asleep? Where is the sole eye of Apa, the vigilante group, that locust descends on Apa unchallenged? Fulanis are coming. They are now at Orkorkortor. Soon they will descend on us and unleash terror on our land…”
This shows the menace caused by Fulani herders in Nigeria since the current administration of Buhari came to power from 2015 till date. It reminds the reader about such genocidal activities of Fulani herders recorded by the Nigerian media, which are also stated in Adjekpagbon Blessed Mudiaga’s nonfictional work titled “From Recession To Depression (The Endless Blame Game).” Nonetheless, Midnight Cry also dwell on some religious issues bordering on Christian faith and the power of prayer.
Moreover, the noticeable characteristics of the collection is its general focus on traditional rites, political voodooism, marriage, religion and honesty with karmic rewards and punishments.
In conclusion, the author has particularly succeeded in using various traditional settings of Apa society as a metaphor to keep African oral tales from becoming extinct. Laced with African wise sayings, proverbs and biblical scriptural references, the collection is a commendable piece of literary creativity that both traditionalists and Christian readers could learn some lessons from.
Ugah, the author, is a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Benue State chapter, Nigeria. Besides being a creative writer, he is also a practicing journalist with humanitarian orientation. He has other books published to his credit.
