BOOK: NUMEN YEYE
AUTHOR: BIOLA OLATUNDE
PUBLISHER: IFWG PUBLISHING, INC
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| Numen Yeye |
REVIEWER: SUNMOLA OLOWOOKERE
This work of fiction by this seasoned writer, Biola Olatunde
is not a novel for the ordinary man, it is for deep thinkers who are striving
for higher and ennobling recognitions and the human link with the spiritual
world.
The book open with a scene from a level that is much
different from ours, Terra firma, to use Olatunde’s words. Princess Numen in
the place of light is getting ready to go on an earthly journey. The author’s
display of emotions is explosive as the reader struggles to understand the
identity of the narrator in the story.
With infinite care, she established a link between the
spiritual world and ours in the characters of Jasmine and Fehintola, Lije and
Ayo, Numen and Imole Ife. Hence the first lesson; our journey on earth is
predetermined and nothing by chance.
Fehintola was an unlucky woman who was plagued by “Abiku”.
In the Yoruba Mythology, Abiku simply means evil child that dies only to be
born again by the same mother, and keeping on the evil and vicious cycle until
it stops. She was desolate with the turn her marriage took as her husband
another wife.
An end is to come to her troubles as she was visited and
favoured by the priestess of Numen. Her life took on a new glow and demeanor of
quiet confidence was surprising to her detractors.
Fehintola’s journey in life and understanding of the
mystical world around her evolves quietly as she became acquainted with the
spiritual beings that were deteremined to help her once she found her own link
with the spiritual.
Lesson Two, each human being has a link to a divine
connection which once detected helps individuals in tackling life challenges.
Amidst guidance and extraordinary tranquility, Fehintola had
her baby and the child grew and began school with her knowledge of her
extra-terrestial link still intact.
In the society however, she was seen as “strange” Even her
friends could not understand her strange gifts. However, the people around her
were glad of the divine intervention they got in the time of distress through
her special gifts.
Her father and maternal grand-mother understood her being
partially while her mother who ought to understand her more due to the
other-worldly experiences she had before giving birth to her was surprisingly
uncomprehending.
Due to the divine powers she possessed, she has a running
battle with her paternal grandmother who could not subdue her. In several
scenes, the reader is shown the woman’s dark powers and how she attacks her
victims mercilessly, even those with whom she had familiarities.
The novel “Numen Yeye” portrays two main forces, one of the
light and the other of the darkness. The duo are tackling at loggerheads as their
missions are as different as day Is from night.
I am mostly intrigues by the regal figure of Numen, the
Priestess of the Rose. Her humanness and empathy with people she came into
contact with shows when she observes them through her spiritual visor.
She came to the world to help some important figures that
she perceived to be in distress. The novel’s setting is based ontwo plains;
one, earthly and the other, esoteric.
On the esoteric, we have Princess Numen, Lije and Jasmine
amidst other creatures. And on earth, we have Lije and Jasmine as couple with
earthly names Ayo and Fehintola respectively.
Princess Numen came to the planet earth with a mapped out
mission of how to help mankind especially those around her to fight forces of
darkness that might want to destroy them.
However, once she was born, she had trouble linking to her
spiritual world from where she came. She could not understand the sudden
insight about happening around her that comes to her inner being at intervals.
She had difficulty in identifying her inner self and this
mad her uncomfortable as she wondered at the source of her sudden but steady
insights. In her household, the family regarded her with a mixture of fear and
respect.
However, her grandmother had no liking of her because of her
wicked plan which were thwarted by the goddess that she sees as mere slip of a
girl. Her several attempts to destroy Numen whose earthly name is “Imole Ife”
failed and her hatred for her young granddaughter grew. However, she could not
make mincemeat of her as she did with the other family members.
With her witchcraft, she had upended the destinies of her
children and those who refused to bow to her whims had been destroyed in her
anger. In short, Imole Ife’s grandmother had met her match in the mere slip of
a girl who was her granddaughter.
Imole Ife who was known to her mother before birth became
estranged from her when she was growing up because the woman could not
understand the strange daughter that fate had bestowed on her.
She was called several names “Emere, with witch, Ogbanje”
etc and she was disturbed by the beliefs until she found her true self.
On the earth plane, three people had been her mainstay, her
maternal grand-mother, Yeye at the shrine and her father. Her rapport with
these people had helped her stabilize until she found her true self by
discovering her link to ther eternal roots.
It was only then that she found peace and she could easily
tap into the power that she could use whenever she needed to help anyone in
distress. Her understanding and insight was so awesome that people began to
respect her and see her as the high priestess that she was.
She had come to terms with her mission in life; to be of
help to humanity. Despite the knowledge of this mission, she studies to be a
doctor with her father’s help and support.
The novel was set in an era when females were not encouraged
to go to school. However, her father supported her in her desire for western
education.
At long last, she discovered herself and accepted to lead
the virgin dance that she had dreaded and scoffed at. Ultimately, she found a
worthy companion to mate with for life in Babatunde, her friend.
The novel, Numen Yeye, is about intertwining worlds and it
teaches about predestination. The novel also her satiric properties as the
readers become aware of the ills of polygamy and extended families. It also
gently scoffs at Nigerian’s show of religiousity which had not helped in
solving our problems. It also encourages female education.
It is a work rich with cultural practices of the Yoruba
people. While the author does not bore the reader with traditional numbo-jumbo,
it has brought home to us that we cannot forget our roots and our links to what
has been before our existence.
The author, in this work, has outdone herself. Her understanding
of man’s existence and the importance of understanding his purpose in life is
portrayed in Imole Ife and her desire to understand her mission in life.
Really, I want to say the readers who know Biola Olatunde
and the richness of her prose could not have expected anything less that the
dexterity she exhibited in “Numen Yeye”.
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