Book Title: The Up-Country
Man
ISBN 9781458004727
Part of Series: African Tales
Author: Kenneth
Ryeland
Available at: Smashwords Amazon UK
Print Lulu.com
Price: $4.69
Number of words (approximately): 179 904
Star Rating (of five): 4
Summary: A young
mechanical engineer obtains a posting to Nigeria ,
only a few months before the secession of Biafra . His experiences in parts of Nigeria and Biafra ,
tell of his development as a man and as a human, and describe the descent into
chaos of an already corrupt country. The
description is from the point of view of one man, but it provides a good window
onto the life of an expatriate in a turbulent time in African history.
Extract:
- Fred looked at me in mock disgust and said, “Well,
you mean bugger. Here’s this poor old sod, working in his own time and you give
him fifteen bob. You should be bloody-well ashamed of yourself. Go on; give him
another pound for God’s sake.”
Fred was right; the mahogany box was probably worth
£25 at home.
“Baba, this is your lucky day,” I said taking a note
from my wallet. “Here’s another pound.” It was as if he had been given the
Crown Jewels. He dropped to his knees and placed his forehead on my shoes. I
glanced at Fred and then down at the old man. His actions made me feel
embarrassed and angry, but not at the carpenter. He was only doing what his
tribal elders had taught him to do in the presence of his so-called betters.
The system was to blame; it had prompted an automatic reaction from an old man towards
a much younger and less experienced man of a different race and colour. It was
certainly not my right to expect this kind of behaviour, nor did I want it. The
old man just could not help himself. It was built into his system.
In the weeks and months that lay ahead, I observed
this behaviour often, especially between the Africans themselves. Due respect
for other people was one thing, but, in my opinion, this sort of thing was positively
medieval. I reflected on these and other similar incidents many times during my
stay in Africa and concluded it was simply a
matter of social evolution. We Europeans had gone through this kind of social
behaviour many centuries ago and, to be fair, we had to give the African people
time to develop at their pace. However, it did serve to remind me that the
British class system had only really started to break down after the Second
World War. Perhaps we were not so clever or socially advanced after all. The incident
was a clear reminder to me that in Africa there were bound to be many different
and varied behavioural patterns from those I was familiar with in England
“Get up, for God’s sake,” I muttered quietly to the
carpenter. “There’s no need for this sort of thing with me. I’m not the Oba of Lagos
The old carpenter looked up at me and said, “No, sa,
you no be Oba, but you dey catch na plenty good ting for we Africa
pepol.”-
- (At the Customs on exit from Biafra ) Suddenly he said, “What of money, wey him dey?” I
chose to ignore him and continued with my packing. He then restrained my arm and
said menacingly, “Make you hurry, na plenty pepol here today. I neffa get time
to waste for you.”
My feeling of contempt for the customs man was growing
by the minute, but I obeyed his instruction by withdrawing the solitary
banknote from my pocket and dangling it in front of him. All at once, he made a
grab for the note, whisked it from between my fingers and placed it inside a
notebook he had taken from his tunic pocket. Before I could utter a word of
protest, he held up his hand to halt my outburst and said with a smile, “Make
you listen to me, white man. You no fit take dissy money for Nigeria Biafra now.”
His explanation was not clear to me. The note was a
regular Nigerian fiver, issued by the Central Bank. My patience was exhausted,
but my common sense continued to urge restraint and thus my reply was delivered
in a calm and dignified manner.
“Excuse me, Officer, but that banknote you’ve
confiscated is Nigerian currency. If you care to examine it, you will see it
has Central Bank of Nigeria
The officer sneered and said with great delight, “No.
I no fit return dissy money to you, white man. Dem Nigeria
pepol, dem go change eberyting. Dissy money no fit for dissy Nigeria Biafra money outside. Sabby? Now move, white man. Go!” -
Reviewer’s Comments:
Structure: The book is
well-structured, meeting the requirements for easy eBook reading. The grammar and syntax, although written in a
light, almost chatty, style, are good.
The language used is colloquial English.
Content: The book tells
of one of the most harrowing periods in modern Africa, setting out the
characters and personalities that made Africa
what it is. It gives the background to a
political move that precipitated the greatest suffering Nigeria
Reviewer’s Comments: Reading this
book gives one a good understanding of the real Africa . The descriptions of the people with whom the
author came in contact are the good ‘salt of the earth’ people struggling to
find their way through the confusion and the propaganda, the followers who leap
on the bandwagon and ride with the wave of oppression to their own doom, the
expatriates who are the mainstay of the economy and, at the same time, the
whipping boys for the politicians seeking to drive up public sentiment for
their own causes.
If you desire to understand the reasons for why Africa has failed to take its place in the fellowship of
nations, you must read this book.
Nicole S
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