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The great Chinua
Achebe once told the story of how, when raising his daughters, he could
not find books written specifically for them. He proceeded to write
books for them. The writer Ayodele Olofintuade (a.k.a Ayodele Enitan
Alabi) has written such a book. I have just finished reading her book,
Eno’s Story; I am simply blown away by the beauty of its story. This is
one of the best works I have read in a long time. The illustrations
alone are worth the price of a copy. The artist, Bolaji Liadi is quite
simply brilliant. Using watercolour as a medium he masterfully sketches
the angst and joys of children born into a war that they did not ask
for. I am so pleased with the quality of this work; it rivals any
Western piece on children’s literature that I have ever read. The words
that I can think of in describing this little book are: Engaging,
enchanting, instructional, funny, and well researched. The dialogue
flows quite well too.

All parents will
warm to this triumphant tale of a brave little girl who has to deal with
the trauma of being accused of witchcraft by mean, ignorant adults. In
Eno’s story, we inherit a heart-break of a story, and we become living
witnesses to the tortured lives of children who believed they were
infected with witchcraft because they had been so labelled by
misbehaving adults. Eno’s story is both heart breaking and heartwarming.
It is really affirming of our humanity to see a Nigerian book that
actually celebrates a little girl who is in a loving, wholesome
nurturing relationship with her father. What a novel concept.

I am so in love
with Eno’s Story. I read it in one sitting because I wanted to see what
was lurking on the next page. I adopted this little girl Eno; I wanted
to protect and nurture my little Eno. Again, the illustrations are to
die for. I am quite simply in awe of the collaboration between writer
and visual artist. The illustrations leap bravely from the story, they
are an integral part of the story. We may have just found the most
effective way to tell the story of what is happening to children, youth,
and women in Nigeria. Perhaps the publishers, Cassava Republic, could
partner with talented authors like Alabi and start a Children’s series. I
will pay for every one of them, yes. And I am going to adopt Eno. I
don’t care that she is a fictional character. Here is a standing ovation
for Enitan Ayodele Alabi and Cassava Republic. There is hope. Yes. A
few editorial issues mar an otherwise stellar production, but this is
how to tell a story. There has to be a way to publish this story abroad,
in the West. This book proves that we can really tell a story about
injustice our own way. There is no overwrought sensationalism here; this
is not a tired tale, even though it is covering familiar material.
Eno’s Story is quite literally the story of thousands of beautiful
children born into a war in Nigeria and it sounds like somehow they are
surviving and triumphing over the trauma. Adults should be ashamed of
themselves. Our leaders should be shot for allowing this to happen to
children.

It is not a
perfect production, but who cares; I am in love with this book. I would
have liked the book to complement the English names of indigenous
offerings like akara (bean cake) and Fried yam (dun dun). It is time for
us to start asserting our heritage. I am also worried that thieving
NGO’s in Nigeria, begging bowls allegedly working on behalf of the
Nigeria downtrodden will gleefully adopt ‘Eno’s Story’ as proof that
they are doing real work in Nigeria. I can see them stapling this
beautiful book to their beggar-applications for funds from the West to
fuel their opulence. An unspoken scandal in places like Haiti and
Nigeria is the amount of Western aid that has been gobbled and wasted by
these pretend-angels with not a penny going to the intended
benefactors. On the other hand, maybe this little tome will inspire them
to do their work. But for now, shame on every one of them engaged in
doing nothing in Africa.

Alabi brings together simply and expertly without any fuss, many
issues. It is a fidgety person’s delight. The illustrations are so good,
the reader’s face falls with disappointment whenever one flips to a
page without an illustration. The illustrations break up the text nicely
and it is possible to stop reading on a page and simply gawk or gawp
with joy at the illustration. No space is wasted, the layout is
exquisitely done. This is indeed one of the best children’s books I
have ever read and believe me, as the parent of four children I have
read more children’s books than I ever care to count. Eno’s Story is a
refreshing approach to confronting our anxieties.