Chike and the River

2 Chike in Onitsha

At first Onitsha looked very strange to Chike. He could not say who was a thief or kidnapper and who was not. In Umuofia every thief was known, but here even people who lived under the same roof were strangers to one another. Chike was told by his uncle’s servant that sometimes a man died in one room and his neighbor in the next room would be playing his gramophone. It was all very strange.

But as the months passed Chike began to feel at home in Onitsha. He made friends at school and became very popular among them. His best friend was called Samuel. They were about the same age.

Samuel was very good at football. [2] He could dribble past any opponent. Whenever he played particularly well his admirers clapped and shouted, “S.M.O.G.! S.M.O.G.!”

S.M.O.G. was Samuel’s nickname which he gave himself. His full name was Samuel Maduka Obi; so his initials were S.M.O. Then one day he saw that if he added a “G” to his initials he would become S.M.O.G. He immediately did so. In Onitsha the letters S.M.O.G. were said to bring good luck because they stood for Save Me O God.

Chike was also pretty good at football and very soon his friends gave him a nickname too. They called him “Chiks The Boy.” Chike liked the name very much and wrote it in his new reader.

It was from Samuel that Chike first heard how easy it was to cross the River Niger and come back again.

“I have done it many times on the ferryboat,” Samuel told him. “All you need is sixpence to go over and sixpence to return. Finish.”

“But I have no sixpence,” said Chike.

“What?” said Samuel, “a big boy like you has no sixpence. Don’t let people hear it. It is too shameful.”

Chike was really ashamed and so he told a lie to cover his shame. He said, “It’s not that I don’t have money. I have plenty but my uncle keeps it for me.”

“Then tell your uncle to give you one shilling out of it,” said Samuel. “What is the use of having money that you cannot spend?”

“I shall ask him sometime,” replied Chike, “but not yet.”

“Time and tide wait for no man,” said Samuel in English. It was their teacher’s favorite saying. “And have you not heard,” continued Samuel, “that they are building a bridge across the river? They will finish it soon and then there will be no more ferries.”

Chike had indeed heard of the bridge they were building. He was greatly troubled by what Samuel said.

A few days later Chike’s friends were again talking about the river. They spoke about Asaba on the other side.

“Do you know,” said Samuel to Chike, “that as soon as you step out of the ferry in Asaba you are in Midwestern Nigeria?”

The others agreed excitedly. They all had been to the Midwest. “And do you know,” said another boy whose name was Ezekiel, “that once you are in Asaba it is one way to Lagos?”

“Yes,” said Samuel. “Lagos. Second-to-London. I have not been to Lagos. But I know Asaba which is poor-man’s Lagos.”

His companions laughed. Samuel sometimes talked like a grown man; this was one of the reasons why he was so popular with his companions.

Chike’s mind was far away-in Midwestern Nigeria. He liked such flowing phrases. Midwestern Nigeria, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Isle of Man.