The Juju Priest - by Ogali A.Ogali ( First published in 1977 by Fourth Dimension Publishers, reprinted 1985, 2002 )
Unputdownable storytelling with valuable organic insights into traditional Igbo Religion.
(Now I know where the flying lizard was coming from. No worries. In the spiritual and in the demonic realms too, you've got to be stronger than your enemy. Next time it should be "return to sender")…
From the second part of the foreword by Reinhard W Sander and Peter K.Ayers - pages xvii - xix - enough to whet your appetite:
" In The Juju Priest, Ogali returns to the subject matter of his earlier pamphlet, History of Item: Past and Present (1960), namely the coming of Christianity to a representative Igbo community. He likewise deals with anthem that has occupied him much in his recent works: the destructive influence of Western life on African tradition in general, and the peculiarly destructive effect of Western religion African moral and spiritual life in particular. Here the conflict is presented in its starkest terms; the Christian colonisers, creators of material and spiritual domination, are thrust into direct confrontation with the Juju Priests, custodians of traditional African values.
The novel forms a panoramic view of life in Umu Okpo Irem from the coming of the first missionaries to the first movement towards political independence. Umu Okpo Irem is closely modelled on Ogali's own birthplace, and the events are based on those related in the second part of the History of Item. It is in the differences between the pamphlet and the novel that we find the most used mode of approach to The Juju Priest. The Ogali who wrote the History of Item, the young man consumed with an admiration of all things Western, the ardent Christian who considered the introduction of Christianity into Nigeria to be little short of a miracle, has here reacted sharply against his earlier naivete. In The Juju Priest it becomes increasingly evident that the missionaries are the spiritual arm of a political and economic movement designed to take from the Africans their lands, their rights, and their identity. As one disenchanted Christian put it :" While we are laying our treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, they are tapping our natural resources and enriching themselves,"
The Juju Priest is in essence an attempt to trace the evolution of a new and distinctly African version of Christianity, one that acknowledges its debt to European religion , but that remains true to the cultural heritage of Africa. The structure of the novel suggests this evolutionary process. Thus the first five chapters reflect some of the unqualified enthusiasm of the younger Ogali. Dimgba and Nweresi, the protagonists, escape from Umu Okpo Irem, where they are cruelly and unjustly condemned to be fed as sacrifices to the giant boa constrictor .Eke, the Goddess of Iyinta ,Saved by missionaries ,they are nourished, clothed and cared for, educated, and eventually united in marriage.
It is at this point that scepticism begins to creep into Ogali's narrative. Dimgba and Nweresi, it is observed ,are " black-white people", who have become so Westernised that they speak English better than their own language. Dimgba refuses to respect traditional patterns of hospitality ;instead of food he offers his guests only magazines they cannot read. Dimgba and Nweresi return to Umu Okpo Irem as missionaries and the struggle between Christians and traditionalists begin in earnest. On one side are Dimgba and Resident, on the other side the Juju Priests. Gradually our sympathies shift to the side of the Juju Priests who thwart, through their spells and charms ,the various attempts of the police, the army, the artillery, and the Royal Engineers to dislodge them from their ancestral shrine in the enchanted bush of Njaba. The Priests are finally destroyed only by massive quantities of high explosives and specially imported caterpillar tractors .
The consequences of religious and economic imperialism are immediately felt. Corruption and bribery become rampant as the District Officer and his Clerk are manipulated by unscrupulous men who use the white man's ignorance of local conditions to their own advantage. Morals collapse as the traditional family bonds are weakened. " Girls who went to their husbands as virgins had all become prostitutes, simply because the new faith which we all embraced has lowered the moral standards of our people. Prostitution is now a well-financed industry ,an abominable thing before our fathers ",claims a disillusioned Christian.
The struggle against white domination continues after the death of the Juju Priests. It is carried on by the Iyi-Okpo secret society through kidnappings and terrorist assaults. By now, there's no doubt where Ogali's sympathies lie. Though also crushed, the spirit of the secret society, like that of the Juju Priests before them, lives in the souls of the people, who are increasingly embittered by the restraints and hypocrisies of an imported and racist religion. The breaking point comes in the wake of an attempt of the Anglican hierarchy, supported by Africans like Dimgba, to stamp out polygamy and palm wine drinking on Sundays .In defiance, those who have not forgotten their heritage found the Native Church of Africa, whose aim is to bind together Christianity and African values.
The two churches struggle for years, but time is clearly on the side of the Native Church of Africa, As the missionaries ushered in the political domination of Africa by Europe, so now does the creation of a genuine African Church lead to an African political renaissance. The Juju Priest ends with the electoral triumph of a nationalist party under the auspices of the Native Church of Africa. In the final confrontation, it is the religious and political rebels who are shown to represent the New Africa; Dimgba, the " black-white man" has for his legacy only defeat and disgrace"
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