ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE: YOUR FUNDAMENTAL POET/AUTHOR, SOCIAL CRITIC AND ACTIVIST JOURNALIST HAS ANNOUNCED THE RELEASE OF HIS LONG AWAITED BOOK, “THE DISGRACE OF MARRIAGE” BY HIS PUBLISHER, MCDYKE PRINTING SERVICES, PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE. PAGES: 116.
In an ongoing distorted world, it is rather hard to qualify which values are tolerable to human civility and which are not since what was formerly regarded sacrilegious has eventually found accommodation in our transformed society. The argument is centred on three distinct human personalities: the conservatives, the moderates and the fanatics. These three constitute the entire entity of humanity. While the conservatives think that the “old world” should be the lone sanctioned behaviour for mankind, the fanatics think otherwise. The moderates are “lost” midway and go by any order depending on the prevailing circumstances. What then is the acceptable norm?
Odimegwu Onwumere would like to identify himself with the first category, the conservatives. Onwumere is against any negative influence on the marriage institution. He frowns at the inception of the colonial hegemony in Africa which incidentally altered the marital institution of this sacred “Dark Continent”. In a rather confused attempt by the society to institutionalise the “new order”, he stands opposed to anything that contradicts the “old ideology”. Onwumere may be perceived by some readers as a fanatic of the “old order”.
But whatever the perception, it is important to note that the marriage institution remains the only institution which protects and propagates human values. If this institution is destroyed, our society is doomed as the current wave of crimes and destruction of lives and property would be a child’s play if the assault on the marriage institution and consequent erosion of our values are not halted forthwith.
The sound and witty presentation of facts, the intellectual urge accredited to them and the rare ingredient of wisdom inherent in “The Disgrace of Marriage” are the reasons why every beholder should count him or herself blessed to bump into this book or other publications of Onwumere.
By: Nkong Kima, BA (Hons), MA in English,
University of Yaounde 1 (Cameroon).
