Remembering Gani Fawehinmi in A vow in a Thunderstorm By Yemi Olakitan

A vow in a Thunderstorm: A book Review
By Yemi Olakitan

A vow in a thunderstorm contains 222 pages of captivating work of fiction. Written by Chike Obayi, the book is dedicated to the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi who spent most of his life fighting against human rights infringements by corrupt military leaders. The author seems to have obtained his inspiration from the life of the Fawehinmi. The main character of his story walks the same path as the late activist. Obayi writes with clarity, imagination and a simplicity that one would find in the writings of great storytellers such as Cyprian Ekwensi or Chinua Achebe. Obayi writes with great promise and delivers his plot with enough enthusiasm that convinces his audience that he has both the talents and the imagination to deliver his stories.
Tijani, a young brilliant boy vowed to spend his life fighting for the rights of the less privileged in his society after he witnessed died of tuberculosis while in prison for a crime he did not commit. Tijani promised his father that he was going to study law and he would strive to use the legal profession to bring solace to the oppressed.
Written in simple language, the author tells his story brilliantly without boredom or unnecessary details he seems to command a kind of touch for keeping the readers glued as he moves from one stage of the story to the next. Obayi traced the story of Tijani’s life to his earliest educational background and showed the readers how the character strives to keep the promise he made to his father by fighting for the rights of the oppressed and the underprivileged and exposing the wrongful acts of the wicked ones in the society. He borrowed from Ibo land immensely in his use of proverbs, similes and metaphors, which are not far feched in the book.
While in secondary school at the Kings College, Lagos, Tijani rose to the position of clerk in the school informal law court by fighting for the rights of the junior students. In keeping with the promise he made to his late father. He fought courageously against the infamous compulsory free purchase culture of the college, in which senior students were forced to buy a long list of beverages and other items for senior students. This illegal practice ensures that the junior student used his money to purchase the items while the senior student freely enjoys the purchase. Sometimes a student has to steal in order to meet up with the CFP. A refusal to purchase the listed items means that the concerned student would suffer innumerable punishment in the hands of the students.
An alarmed Tijani takes the matter to the lower student court and appeal the judgment of the lower court. At the upper court he was able to win the case and the oppressed students were free. This is the beginning of Tijani’s fight against abuse of the peoples’ human rights. He went on to study Law at the University and he continued his fight for the eradication of all acts of intimidation and oppression in the university community. Tijani is a multitalented young man who plays football very well and his love of the game gives him popularity. In chapter 11 of the book he even took his love for the sports to the higher institution, which made him even popular.
As an undergraduate studying Law, Tijani displayed outstanding courage in chapter 13 of the book. When he exposed the members of a notorious secret cult operating in his school. The cult known as NASTO had kidnapped Kutoye, the son of the university’s Vice Chancellor over the student union election. This has pushed the university into confusion. Tijani displayed the courage of detective in the matter. He trailed the cultists to their hiding place. He recorded their discussions and obtained enough evidence for the arrest of the offenders. The head of the cultists Prof. Ozia was exposed in the process. All these were as a result of Tijani’s efforts in the face of threats to his life. He helped the police to get to the bottom of the matter and saved the life of his friend Kutoye who would have been killed. Tijani kept the vow he made to his father even in the university days. Tijani’s radicalism, like that of the late chief Gani Fawehinmi arises out of a desire to fight for justice and promote the welfare of humanity. Like the late chief Gani Fawehinmi, Tijani was determined to face danger in order to fight for justice and the enthronement of truth. Chike Obayi had rightly dedicated the book to fawehinmi’s memory. A vow in thunderstorm would make an interesting reading particularly to the youths. It provides an experience that many of the younger ones have not had before which may also yield them valuable lessons in human relationships and in many issues of life.
Obayi takes the reader through villages and the Lagos city to tell his tale. He makes use of words such as Igwe thereby using his cultural experience and language in the choice of location and the behaviuos of his characters. Although he did not provide a bibliography of difficult words at the end of the story, he left the readers to do the interpretation.
Obayi tells his story well and the readers could easily see that his inspiration came from the late Fawehinmi one of Nigerian heroes human rights advocacy. However, he err a bit on the part of suspense. Someone, one is able to predict the kind of life Tijani will leave from the earlier chapters of the book. A critical analysis of the book cannot overlook the issue of suspense. Obayi could have created more suspense in the plots by using some flashback instead of unfolding the story methodically as it occurred.
However, his use of imagination is good as he is able to use descriptive words and much imagery to tell the tale. For example, in his description of the chaotic situation of Lagos city in chapter seven, he wrote, ‘‘people were moving in almost all directions and in haste with no-one seeming to care for the other. It looked as if an invisible hand was propelled the movements. Here and there. People were conversing in a language he did not understand. Yellow painted buses cruising past in opposite directions with some passengers hang out from the doors like monkeys. He wondered whether something was wrong. ‘’
A vow in a thunderstorm will remain a great honour to the late Fawehinmi who truly deserved whatever monuments one might erect in his memory wether in the form of a literature or a sculpture. The author, Obayi Crescent Chikezie Agweri was born on September 28, 1966 at Nsukka in Enugu state. He attended Adada Secondary School. Npologu in Nsuka and Lagos state University where he obtained B.A Hons in Philosophy and a Masters in International Relations and strategic studies. He is married to Ngozika Eunice and they are blessed with children. Chike Obayi leaved in Lagos with his family.