Guest of the Cannibals

By Godwin Ugwuozo Anukwe

Guest of the Cannibals is a true story my father told me about his encounter with cannibals while on a trip with his family in the early 1930s. He is the chief character in the play. Some names, characters, and places have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals in the story.

My father had five wives. He was a blacksmith by trade. He made guns, knives, machetes, crafts, etcetera. The nature of his trade involved traveling by foot from place to place throughout Nigeria in search of greener pastures. He did this with flair and with a lot of hard work and dedication to his trade and family.

He is extremely industrious but at the same time very impatient. He works very hard, and is able to garner enough money to get the prestigious “ozo title” in 1928; widely considered the highest title in the whole of Igbo land. He has his struggles. He is desperate to maintain his new found status and at the same time feed his enormous family. Market for his craft is dismal. He runs into a customer who suggests he moves to reboot his trade.

He takes the customer up on this offer and sets off with his wives and children. They move from village to village, traveling for days. First, he settles in a small town where he finds some success. There, he runs into another man who tells him of a remote place far away with even greener pastures. He decides to move again to this place against the advice of his family. This decision almost cost him his life and his family. He ignores several signs on the way to this place including the unique almost vampire-like shaped black stained teeth of the people on the way to this new place.

He ends up becoming the guest of the cannibals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662470233

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Guest of the Cannibals

Godwin Ugwuozo Anukwe

Copyright © 2021 Godwin Ugwuozo Anukwe

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2021

ISBN 978-1-6624-7022-6 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-7023-3(digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Dedication

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my late father Ozo-Anukwe. Guest of the Cannibals is a true life story. My father who told me the story was himself involved in it. He is the chief character. Names of the characters and places are not real for security reasons.

Act 1, Scene 1

(The order of days in a week of the traditional Igbo calendar: Orie, Afor, Nkwo, and Eke.)

Agulu: At Ozo’s compound.

Enter Ozo (a blacksmith) and Nwakaku his first wife.

OZO, addressing his wife. Nwakaku, I am sick and tired of home. Nothing seems to be moving. I have made many guns (Ozo is a blacksmith) and none of them has been sold. Only last Afor, Maduekwe came and bought one on credit. He promised to bring the money for it the next day; Nkwo but today is Orie—3 days later—and yet he has not come.

How can I go on with these children and their mothers? The other guns and new knives taken to the market yesterday were not sold. Ogbonne (Ozo’s third wife, also known as Ogbo) said that prices were lower than what I fixed for them. As such, she had to carry them back home. She only undersold a few knives to enable her purchase some tubers of yam so that everybody will not starve.

You know as Ozo (he continues), I cannot eat any food which is not cooked with meat or fish. She could not afford either of the above and only a big bone with barely any meat left on it was used in place of meat.

What shall I do, can I continue like this?

NWAKAKU: No, it is just not possible to go on so. You only know blacksmithing, otherwise, I should advise you on the other trades like wine tapping, farming, or weaving, but all of them are strange to you. How many guns have you now unsold? Including knives.

OZO: Five guns and ten knives remain. As you know, Maduekwe took a gun away last Afor but has not brought its money. Ogbo sold two knives yesterday, Orie, with which we are able to make both ends meet up today. You can see how the yam that I shared among you people were a mockery of the past shares.

NWAKAKU: Something must be done and soon, too.

Enter Ogbo.

OGBO: Ochinawata (addressing Ozo by his title as is customary).

OZO: Nwam (meaning my child).

OGBO: At the market, nobody was really serious with the guns and knives I displayed for sale. Unlike the previous markets when customers always besieged me and the wares. At one time, I thought that something must be wrong or that market was not yet in full session. But the situation continued unabated. By the past noon, I was sure I was not doing well. Then I thought of home, how that we shall feed your five wives and host of children. I even made effort to hawk some of the knives. It was when I was hawking that I was able to sell two knives with which money I was able to buy the yams I brought home. As you can see, something must be done. We are at sea. This is to mean we are lost.

OZO: My dear wife, we are in trouble. I know your energy and luck in markets; how that you are always lucky to sell off every ware whenever you are at the market. Up to now, I have made more guns and knives, but with nothing to eat. Tomorrow Afor, you will again go and try. However, let me go to my forge and continue to do my best.

Act 1, Scene 2

The forge in Ozo’s compound.

Enter Chike, Ozo’s son carrying a tool box while Ike (Ozo’s other son) is sweeping the forge.

CHIKE: Ike, have you not finished sweeping yet? For more than one hour, you have been sweeping this forge—you lazy fool.

IKE: Chike, you call me a fool? What have you done since morning? You are the fool and not me. (He keeps down the broom and they fight.) Take this (hitting him), and this too.

CHIKE: Ike, you hit me while I am carrying the tool box? You, you, you. (Dropping the box and rushing to Ike.) You think I’ll let you go scot-free. (They fight.)

Enter Elimma, fifth and last wife of Ozo.

ELIMMA: Ozo! Ozo! The children are fighting at the forge. They have scattered everything.

Enter Ozo, running.

OZO: You fools. Good-for-nothing children (hitting both of them). (They let go of one another.) I know that you are not good for anything (continues Ozo). I asked you boys to prepare the forge so that I can work, but see what you did. Is it how we shall get something to eat? Of course, you shall see today there will be no food for two of you. Now get out of here immediately (driving them out of the forge and sweeping the forge himself).

OZO: Kweku! Kweku! (calling his first son).

KWEKU: Father (answering his father’s call).

OZO: Come quickly.

Enter Kweku running.

KWEKU: What shall I do, Papa? What is this? (Looks down at the scattered tools and their box.)

OZO: Chike and Ike have been fighting here.

KWEKU: Oh! Useless children. They are at it again. I told you every time that these children are good-for-nothing children. Look, they do not know how things stand, and are fighting. Let them fight. We shall see what they will eat in the evening.

OZO: Please kindly complete the sweeping and keep everything in order so that I can start work at once.

Act 1, Scene 3

At the forge with Ozo hitting a very red hot iron with a mallet while Elimma blows the bellows.

ELIMMA: Ozo, you need to take time to rest a while so that you will not break down.

OZO: Alas. What can I do? Things are so much out of shape.

Enter Nwakaku

NWAKAKU: Ochinawata (addressing