Omenuko: The First Igbo Realistic Novel

Abstract

Omenuko, the first Igbo novel, was published in 1933. Before it, there was no work in the Igbo language that is of the length of a novel. There were then booklets and pamphlets of different sorts mostly published for religious purposes rather than the expression of the art of the Igbo language with the view of discussing the environment. This novel is realistic because it is woven with stories of what could occur and the cock-and-bull type. In it, Omenuko who is the protagonist has his biography x-rayed by Pita Nwanna. He started as an apprentice merchant. He was installed by his master. He grew up and made it in life, but the ill-fate of losing his goods in a river forced him to sell his apprentices and load bearers into slavery. This offence against mankind forced him and his relatives into exile. He later returned for the home is the best.