Madam Alaezi Dike, BSc (Hons), MLS, MBA is a HR Strategic Leader/ Consultant and author. She is a strong advocate for the development of the girl child education in Africa and widows.
Her foundation, the Sapphire Green Valley Foundation, focuses on projecting the girl child and the widow to avoid humilation, dehumanization and abuse. She spoke to Aro News on a number of issues.
Aro News: Can you tell us a little about yourself.
Alaezi Dike: I am delighted to be interviewed by Aro News. I am a daughter and a wife of Aro Kingdom from Atani Nmawuru. I am also a mother of six (6) successful children and a grandmother of ten grandchildren.
I am a Human Resources technocrat as well as a Librarian, with over thirty-two (32) years working in the corporate environment of various industries in Nigeria, United States and Canada. My wealth of experience includes Academics, Banking, Consulting, Environment Science as well as Medical.
AN: What inspired you to write the novel
AD: I am a storyteller that tells different stories, primarily to entertain and to share information that creates emotional connection to people, particularly young girls, and the youths.
I have a desire to teach young girls to remain strong during adversities or when they are faced with different storms. I am motivated to pay attention to young girls, especially those from poor homes, who do not have a voice. They are faced with many vices, exposure to different things from their mates, internet, and the society at large. Some of the issues include self-esteem and body image, racism, stress from family dynamics, bulling fromothers, depression, drinking and smoking, teenage pregnancy, underage sex, and cyber addiction.
In my books both published and unpublished I always share a message of hope by encouraging them not to take difficult behavior personally and not to sweat on small stuff, rather to focus on the positives, as well as learn as much as they can.
AN: What is the book about
AD: This is the intriguing, suspenseful and fateful story of a twelve-year-old orphan girl from a West African kingdom, Arochukwu, in southeastern Nigeria. It’s an engaging journey of how she was kidnapped from her village by unknown men during the Nigeria-Biafra war of 1967 to 1970. Amidst all the challenges, she found inner strength to survive the ordeal after she was taken across the “enemy line” to the war zone, where Nigerian soldiers were in charge and had many young women and innocent girls at their camp.
The protagonist, Ijego exhibited extraordinary resilience, wisdom, and strength. She forged ahead to educate herself, believing that it’s the will of God for her to survive regardless of where she found herself: the Nigerian and Biafra war zones. It is a thoughtful story to encourage girls and young women who find themselves in different but difficult situations in life. It challenges them to hold strong and endure the struggle to survive towards a good end.
With the affection of a young, handsome army Captain from the middle belt of the country surrounding Ijego, she became pregnant, but her son was forcefully taken away from her. Afterwards, she went through bouts of depression and disillusionment, as she journeyed past many rivers, valleys, and mountains in search of the baby. He had been moved beyond the boundaries. As he grew and became a man, he was looking for her as she was looking for him. Then, the unplanned meeting, the fateful coincidence of destiny, and….
It is a novel will be a useful tool for educational purposes especially contemporary African literature, sinceit is centered around the challenges which young girls and young women face in the time of war and conflict. It is also about family and dedication of a very young and courageous igbo girl Ijego. It has relatable context and message.
For girls, it is the story of determination to overcome sudden and unanticipated challenge and twists in the lives they live.
AN: Is Beyond the Boundaries your first book
AD: Yes, Beyond the boundaries is my first published work. Many others will soon be published.
AN: How has the book been received?
AD: The book has been received very well by everyone who has read it. The book resonated with People of the Eastern Nigeria origin as they relieved their Nigerian Biafra war experience. The other Nigerians who have read the book believe that they now have the full appreciation of what their kith and kin suffered from the other side of the war. Based on the book, both groups believe that there is no need for war that will destroy us.
The feedback received so far from Americans and Canadians who have read the book, are that this is a well toldstory that showcases the sufferings and challenges witnessed by Igbos of Southeastern Nigeria, particularly from the view of a young twelve-year-old girl, who is the protagonist.
The book currently has a five-star rating in Amazon in the United States.
AN: Is the Book available in Nigeria?
AD: Yes, it is available in Nigeria. The book can be purchased in Arochukwu at Accord Hotels and Suites, Atani Village, Arochukwu and maybe from Aro News and Aro News office, Isinku village, opposite, Arochukwu. You can also purchase the book from Amazon.com and Lulu.com online bookstores.
AN: What is your message for the youths, especially the girl child?
AD: The youths should spend useful time to learn and acquire knowledge. They should always strive to do what is right.They should not be afraid., rather they should believe in themselves, evenduring difficulties and challenges. I urge the youths to remain focusedregardless of the distractions in the world and seek for help from adults who can guide them properly.
After puberty, young people crave for independence from parents, teachers, and adults, especially in this era of internet. That frustration, most times,is expressed in the form of anger and negative reactions.
In this global environment,they will encounter the good, the bad and the ugly. Many of the things they will encounter will disturb them and may try to distort their thought process.They will see a world that is rife with corruption, incompetent leadership, racism, tribalism, injustice etc.
Every youth must remain focused on his/her dreams, ambitions, and aspirations.
They should endeavor to eliminate things that are contrary to their views and values. Once they can isolate the thingstheycannot do, and would not do, thenthey can focus on their strengths and do what will give them greatest and deepest satisfaction.
My message to the girl child is that they are blessed to be strong, and they should have the aura to make their hearts and home happy. The girl child is designed with the power to educate and teach the whole family. As girl children, they need to be patient and listen to the adult voice and learn as much as they can.
The girl child should not allow social conditioning to thwart their trajectory of life over who they are, so that they can find their place in life.
As the girls learns to carefully eliminate those things on earth that do not align with their values, which her parents and other adults have impacted on her, God will show her what sheis designed to do and accomplish.She should understand that she can do anything she puts her mind to, basedon her competencies and skills.
Due to poverty, a good number of girls do not go to school, as they are compelled to stay home and work as an extra income to subsidize the family livelihood. Early child marriage is also another obstacle the girl child experiences in developing nations amongst others.The parents of girls should therefore ensure that they encourage theirdaughters to acquire knowledge, skills, and develop basic competences to survive in today’s global environment, before marriage. If this is done, the girl child will be empowered socially, psychologically, economically.
Elevating and recognizing the importance of girl child education, ensures inclusiveness, and quality exposure for the whole family as the women will train and educate their children.
Literary icons that reviewed the book, Beyond the Boundaries by Alaezi Dike, had these to say about it.
Reviewer: MAZI PROFESSOR OKORO IJOMA
In ten short chapters, Alaezi Dike puts together a fascinating account of a young girl, an intelligent and highly gifted orphan, who waded through the vicissitudes of a horrendous civil war and saw the rough edges of the conflict. The author of the simulating and engaging novel is a Nigerian of the middle-class Igbo parentage, currently living in the US, with university degrees in Library and Information Science, Personnel Administration and Human Resources. While in Nigeria, her working career spanned through banking, academics, and telecommunications industries. It is not surprising therefore that she provides the reader with adequate information of the main locations, namely, Arochukwu, her place of birth in Abia State, parts of present Akwa Ibom State, Lagos, and the Niger/Benue Confluence Area, where the major events connecting the main characters took place.
Alaezi Dike demonstrates an amazing insight into Igbo traditional society .Ijego, the heroine, begins her childhood experiences, like the other peers, with the symbolism of udara fruit. Udara and its tree (ukwu udara) have emotional attachment and significance in Igbo folklore: moonlight stories about the exploits of the young ones in trying to outsmart each other in the early morning encounters.
At an early age of 12, Ijego is kidnapped by the Nigeriansoldiers in her hometown, Arochukwu, and taken to a neighbouring non-Igbo community where Nigerian soldiers are camped. Here, she could be brutalised and raped, Capt James Banfa, born in Langtan in Plateau state, gives her protection and spares her being “public property” shared by different men of all ages at that tender age. Through this milk of human kindness, Banfa and Ijego fall in love and have a son, James Banfa (Junior). In the course of duty, Capt Banfamakes the supreme sacrifice in the war front and the young James Banfa is brazenly snatched away from Ijego by a couple looking for a baby. By a twist of fortune, Ijego reunites with her kith and kin in Arochukwu. But she is haunted by the agony and sorrow of the loss of her husband and son. In the trying circumstances, she resigns herself to the efficacy of prayer and hope. She eventually trains as a nurse and marries a medical doctor, and they have children.
The search and hope for reunification with her son are not lost. Alaezi Dike, the artist, keeps us in suspense all along and in a closing drama; there is a moving and pleasant reunion between a son, now a distinguished medical doctor, and mother, Ijego.
What is important is not so much the story, but how it is told. Alaezi Dike brings many themes and perceptions into one single cast. In fact, these can sustain one or two other novels. In the Beyond the boundaries, we are treated to both social history and the cultural milieu. The novel gives us a graphicpicture of social condition in Biafra as a result of blockade mounted by the Nigerian government. There was scarcity of essential commodities, and the young women were engaged in Ahia attack and often exposed to the degrading treatment of the military on both side of the divided. Alaezi Dike tells the story of pains and vestiges of the civil war that warn us against provoking similar crisis now and in the future.
Beyond the Boundaries is written in a simple and readable language and has an abiding message that commends it to the reading public.
REVIEWER: MAZI EMMA KANU IVI {Ogene Ukwu Aro)
Having been involved in that civil war, reading through this exciting book reminds me of the unfortunate painful experiences our people, especially young girls and women went through during that unfortunate Biafra-Nigerian civil war.
It is an amazing true life war experience story well-crafted in a fiction style, full of bitter truths of some of the physical, emotional and psychological pains, trauma and humiliations our people on the side of Biafra went through during that needless gruesome Nigeria civil war. It is a pathetic story of a traumatized teenage girl, full of agonies, intrigues, betrayals, and love that keeps the reader in a suspense all through, but eventually ending with some feelings of fulfillment of her inner desire coming true with some joyful tears.
Few extracts from the book are very touchy and will convince you to search more facts by reading it in full:
“My son, there are many things you need to understand. During that war in Nigeria, just like most wars, a lot of unthinkable things do happen….”
“Frankly, I do not know your biological mother, but she must have been one of the victims of the war…. At that time, the women were not treated well nor recognized as wives even when they have children” for you. “Even the women and girls who go through these traumas end up with the feeling of shame, humiliation, self- blame and fear, and sometimes reject the children born in this circumstance”.
“This is one of the well-kept secrets of war that only exists in rumors and usually denied by the perpetrators and the victims.” ….” The agonies of the war remain strong rooted in the hearts of the oppressed many years after the war had ended and sometimes forever.”
“The victim of different kinds of atrocities end up with inner wounds that remain with them and keep them permanently and psychologically traumatized, until the inner scars are addressed”. Finally, … “as I was looking for him, he found me; as he was looking for me, I found him.”
I recommend this interesting book to all. I therefore urge you to pick up a copy and you would not like to stop reading it until you read it repeatedly.
BOOK REVIEWER: PROFESSOR CLEMENT EMENIKE ANYIWO
I read Alaezi Dike’s Book of Beyond Boundaries as a drama telling a true-life story decorated with a fictional dramatis personae. The pogrom that took place during the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War and after was brilliantly rehearsed by the author, whose performance does not reflect the character of a “beginner” which she confesses to be. Judging from the pattern of her rendering, the author qualifies as a good storyteller, with emphasis on details. If she were to say that a rainbow appeared on the sky, Alaezi will go further to describe the colours that made up the rainbow. I wonder whether she did not go under the tutelage of the world-renowned literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe, of blessed memory-the esteemed author of “Things fall apart and There was a country.”
Although Beyond Boundaries narrates a gory picture of a gruesome and pathetic experience of kidnapping and molestation, accompanied with psychological trauma, of a teenage girl, during her inauspicious outing and the aftermath, it would make an interesting and educative reading, particularly for those people, including my humble self, who was outside the shores of Nigeria, during the war, on academic expedition in the Soviet Union.
The aspects that really excited me most are three:
1. How the author dabbled into medicine to discuss the curative benefits of Udara and the symptomatology of Kwashiorkor (protein calorie malnutrition) of victims.
2. The excursion of baby James, Ijego’s biological son, from the time of his delivery, his “painful saga” to the time of his discovery as Dahiru sold to a retired Nigerian army officer Danladi Hamza after ijego’s prolonged but fruitful patience.
3. The investigator’s detective modus operandi which facilitated the discovery of now, adult Baby James, as the author expressed in her “Connecting the dots. “What a masterpiece!
Finally, I join the author and Dr. Lilian Asomugha, who wrote the Foreword, to wish that there should be no more war in Nigeria so that people, particularly young girls like Ijego can go under any tree, including the Udara Tree.
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