The reality of everyday struggle, by Michael Olatunbosun |

KontrinewsNovember 6, 20252 Mins read2

The book: “These Scars Won’t Fade (2018, Wine Press Publishing)” is a work of fiction written by Nnabuike Chukwuezue, a budding poet, an amateur pencil artist, and an associate of Nigerian Institute of Management, chartered and a certified international auditor. Nnabuike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and an MBA in Human Resource Management. He has also authored the novel, Bitter Taste of Honey.
In this work, These Scars Won’t Fade, Nnabuike introduces us to Uzonna, the older son of Ezigbo, a widow whose life is weighed down by the ravaging hands of sickness. She is seriously sick and suffers from breast cancer. We also meet the gentle, easy-going, and pleasant Muna Chimso, Uzonna’s brother.

In this work set in Enugu, eastern Nigeria, the family of Uzonna and that of Dr. Emenike Obi graduate from good to bad and then to worse.

In this work, These Scars Won’t Fade, we learn about how tragedy can redefine the lives of people and make them both strong and weak at the same time. The central character, Uzonna, is depicted as a hard-working, easy-going 16-year-old boy who is thrown into adulthood too quickly.

He is made to drop out of school to make money to take care of his mother and manage what is left of her cancer-infested life. He also must keep the promise he made to his dying mother to make sure that his brother goes to university. In this work, we encounter the Emeka family.

Emeka is a bully, at home and at school. He is the type of classmate many children would never like to have. But he must spend more time out of school than he does in school because of frequent suspensions. Mama Emeka, a former tenant of Ezigbo, perpetually torments her sick landlady until she is forced out of the house. But she remains relentless in her pursuit of revenge. She eventually procures a charm that kills Uzonna.

Nnabuike is a great storyteller whose power of description is quite potent. His deployment of local imagery is equally fantastic. Expressions such as “verdant green valley of colourful trees and flowers”, “leafy landscapes” and “erect and strong, like the breasts of an Abatete virgin” etc. are splashed across the pages of the work in intricate beauty. This beautiful deployment of graphic narration will surely keep the reader turning the pages. The work also powerfully operationalises the Igbo cosmology and wise sayings, a pointer to the strong grounding of the author in this sphere.

The work, These Scars Won’t Fade throws up some motifs. Chief among these is the pervasive hold of witchcraft on the lives of characters in the novel. The deities or gods in this work seem to continually punctuate the worldview of the people in such a way that they must even pay homage or go to the village for one sacrifice or the other before their lives can be meaningful. The work also throws up the tragedy that befalls humans when fake and expired drugs are sold unchecked. Uzonna’s mother, though in the throes of death, dies as a result of the fake drugs procured from Bato’s shop. The fiction: “These Scars Won’t Fade,” is a great work of art, and the author provides both entertainment and strong lessons for all readers.

. Olatunbosun, a broadcast journalist, fact-checker and book reviewer, is reachable via 08023517565 (SMS and WhatsApp only) and [email protected].