THE STORY OF A TYPICAL AFRICAN CHILD

      

The Story Of A Typical African Child

 Books, LIFE Aug 23, 2015Aug 22, 2015  daily Editor

The Story Of A Typical African Child

Title: The Road We Traveled: A Memoir Of Two Worlds

Author: Uchendu Precious Onuoha

Reviewer: Yemi Adebisi

Publisher: iUniverse

The Road We Traveled… is a lucid prose, captivating and inspiring. It tells the story of Uchendu, a lad from an idyllic rural setting in Nigeria, who sought for greener pasture in the Whiteman’s country. It has deep lessons to be derived from, even as it is informative and entertaining.

This event filled book catalogues the writer’s odyssey through life, from his early childhood experiences to his present day realities, and it is both frank and philosophical in its interpretation of his encounters and the circumstances surrounding each episode, from the sweet, the bittersweet to the downright unsavory but the great charm and magnetic appeal of this book lies in its surreptitious humor and some of the hilarious incidents that are captured within it is delightfully engaging and highlights a few life lessons which remain constant through the ages. It is, above all, a testament to the resilience of the human spirit against all odds and in the course of his voyage of discovery. The writer, by his reactions at every instance gives credence to the oft quoted maxim that there is no chance, no destiny, no fate that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.

Uchendu Precious Onuoha has wittily created a cosmic realities of today’s global village from a fistful memories of his background.

The Road We Travelled holds in it what the great literary works can hold because not only that it submerges you but also it takes you deeply through history lanes into the socio-economic, political and cultural divides between the North and South.

It is a wonderful book about the in quietude of the writer to search and discover facts outside the sphere of his infant and rudimentary knowledge, written with exuberance to entertain and refresh the minds of its readers, a book which each page must be read and reread in order to savour its wisdom and message.

It is carefully constructed, sensitive to issues that matter and funny enough that it creates a conducive atmosphere and a rethink for both those in the diaspora and the home-based folks.

The record the author of The Road We Traveled,  Uchendu Precious Onuoha, has put together will always be there for posterity to read and learn from.

Apart from the author’s biography which it represents, it has come to break the silence or rather, the TABU and veto implicit on talking openly about our individual adventure to Europe. From the time our people started scrambling to travel to Europe and the developed World in search for a better future and knowledge, nobody has so far dared tell the true story of their own personal experiences in the sojourn in the “Land of milk and honey”, bringing out comprehensibly the discrimination, total rejection and other hostilities Africans undergo in Europe and which they keep silent about, thereby inducing others to follow their footsteps and depriving that continent of her youth.

Onuoha, author, is the Foreign Correspondent of the Daily Independent Newspaper in Spain.

He is a member of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ).The Coordinator of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC) Spain. He works at Madrid International Airport. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass communication from Atlantic International University (AIU) Honolulu Hawaii U.S.A. Diploma, Flight Despatcher from Panamedia School of Pilots, Mallorca Spain.

A writer, poet, and the editor’s choice award winner in Poetry competition by International