Onyinyechi
Anikwata
would stun you with her beauty and while you are busy trying to classify her as
a model, she will introduce herself as a writer and when you read her book, the
artistic beauty of her literary work will captivate you.
She described
‘A
Welcome Stranger’ as:
‘...a classic play which uses subtle
dialogues, lucid imagery and historical setting to address the contemporary
issues of Nigeria and other African countries. Rhetorically asking the
question, ‘If we have finished learning from history, why are we still repeating
the mistakes of the past?’’
Though the
book was set in the past, prior to colonial era, its relevance lies in its
reflection of the contemporary era. One of the most favourite quotes in the
book is in page 83, when the Whiteman after converting the people to
Christianity said:
‘In no man’s soul is the believe in
religion of equal standard with the believe in science: he must be more
inclined to one and less inclined to the other, therefore, these people are
going to be more profitable than the Indians; the Indians accepted our
knowledge of science and neglect our religion but the Africans accepted our
religion and therefore would neglect our knowledge of science.’
One can see
that the quote alone has a lot of informative ideas which our present society
can learn from. This is how the educative value of the book spread from one
statement to another and from one scene to another.
A welcome
Stranger is available in bookshops nationwide and online at
About The Author
A Welcome
Stranger is a classic play which uses subtle dialogues, lucid imagery and
historical setting to address contemporary issues of Nigeria and other African
countries. It explores material
exploitation, love, greed and over ambitiousness etc.
The play also
appreciates our culture, tradition and the need to value that we have so that
we won't repeat the mistakes of the past.
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