Ibtisam Part 1 Complete Hausa Novel

“Dear, let’s just leave. My mind is not at peace here.”

That was what Caroline told her husband for the countless time since they arrived at his village, Okwuohia Village.

As usual, he tried to calm her and asked her to allow them celebrate Christmas in the village before leaving. But this time Caroline strongly refused, especially because of the dream she had the previous night. Seeing that she had completely made up her mind, he finally said he would think about it.

Caroline frowned and told him that if he didn’t give her a definite answer before nightfall, she would take their daughter and leave the village the next morning.

“Please, Carol,” he said, joining his hands together in a pleading gesture.

Their daughter suddenly ran into the room, which stopped Caroline from continuing what she wanted to say.

The little girl ran straight to her father and jumped into his arms, breathing heavily from running.

“Daddy, I didn’t miss the steps today. I’m ready for the festival!” she said excitedly.

She stood up and began performing the Atilogwu dance, which she had been learning since they arrived six days earlier. As she danced, her father clapped for her while her mother watched with a frown because of how much she disliked her husband’s village and everything about it.

After finishing the dance, the girl ran out to go and take her bath.

After she left the room, Patrick looked at his wife and said in English,

“Let them finish the Mbom-uzo festival, then we will go. If we leave before the festival, Nkiru won’t be happy.”

“When is the festival?” Caroline asked.

“In four days,” Patrick replied, hoping she would agree.

She took a deep breath before saying,

“Once the festival is over, we leave.”

Patrick nodded.

Ten days earlier, Patrick, his wife Caroline, and their only daughter Mary-Nkiru arrived at Okwuohia village, located under Obowo Local Government in Imo State. They planned to stay until after Christmas before returning to their house in Owerri.

This was their first visit to Nigeria since they moved to England. Because of this, Nkiru was enjoying the village life greatly since it was something she had never experienced before. She was born in England, and this was the first time she had ever left the country of Queen Elizabeth to visit her parents’ homeland—Nigeria.

Elsewhere…

He sat at a desk in his room trying to solve a mathematics problem when someone entered.

“TJ the mathematician!” the young man who entered said jokingly. He was wearing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) uniform and tried to sit on the mattress spread on the floor.

“Eze, welcome. How was class?” TJ asked.

“Fine ooo, but my guy, I’m tired,” Eze replied.

TJ raised four fingers.

Eze said, “Four months is still long, my friend.”

TJ laughed.

After changing his clothes, Eze went to prepare food since he hadn’t cooked before going out. TJ told him to take a plate and serve himself from the pot. Eze quickly grabbed a plate and began serving himself the rice TJ had cooked.

Even after he finished eating, TJ was still working on the mathematics problem. Eze already knew that once TJ found a difficult calculation, he wouldn’t eat until he solved it. There was even a time he started solving a problem at night and continued until dawn without finding the answer—and he stayed the whole day without eating because he insisted he must solve it first.

Eze kept watching him until about 6:00 PM, when TJ finally found the solution. Apart from prayer, nothing could make TJ leave his work once he was focused on solving mathematics.

When the silence became too much, Eze asked TJ about their planned trip to Okwuohia village in three days.

Without even lifting his head, TJ asked,

“Which village?”

Eze reminded him it was the same village where they went to buy palm oil two weeks ago.

“Ohhh, that one,” TJ replied.

“We’ll attend the festival, right?” Eze asked.

“My friend, I don’t like places where they might cut someone’s throat,” TJ said.

Eze burst into laughter as he remembered the story TJ once told him when they first became roommates.

After TJ left the NYSC camp, he was posted to a small remote village beyond Amuzi. After passing Amuzi, you would have to walk about two and a half hours before reaching the village.

Three of them were posted there—none of them were Igbo. TJ was a Fulani from Northern Nigeria, while the other two were a Yoruba man and a man from Jos who spoke the Angas language.

The entire village had no Muslims, about 80% practiced traditional religion, while the remaining 20% were Christians.

One morning, TJ left early to go to the small primary school where he taught. On the way, he met some people dressed in red garments, holding sticks and calabashes. Their bodies and faces were marked with white chalk, and they were chanting incantations as they walked.

As TJ tried to pass them, someone grabbed him. Before he realized what was happening, they began beating him. Eventually they tied him up and took him before the village Dibia (traditional priest).

From the moment he was tied up, TJ began praying silently in his heart.

The Dibia, who looked very dirty and smelled badly, approached TJ holding a staff with the skull of an animal tied to its top with a red cloth.

As the Dibia approached him, TJ began reciting Ayatul Kursiyyu loudly. Suddenly the staff in the Dibia’s hand caught fire.

The Dibia screamed and dropped the staff. Then he shouted that TJ should be taken away because the village deity was angry with him. He ordered them to take TJ to the village square to be sacrificed.

So they dragged TJ there while shouting, while he kept repeating Ayatul Kursiyyu.

When they reached the village center, an announcement was made that a stranger who refused to obey their laws would be sacrificed, and that everyone should witness the execution as punishment for anyone who disrespects the laws of Amadioha.

Among the sons of the village king was one who had attended school up to secondary level in Owerri. He had long become a Christian and had abandoned the traditional beliefs.

When he heard the announcement, he ran outside because he knew there were only three strangers in the village—the NYSC members who arrived a week earlier.

When he got there, he saw TJ tied up while one of the priests was raising a knife, chanting and preparing to strike.