EAGLE DRIVE IS THE WINNER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIAN AUTHORS, ANA, PROSE PRIZE 2020
Terna Abu's EAGLE DRIVE recounts with great creativity the life of the protagonist, Bemdoo, who struggles with great pains amidst frustrations and recurrent setbacks, to engage in entrepreneurship as a way of contributing significantly to the development of his country through the creation of jobs. The major character also has a dream to aid the technological development of his country through the invention of an agro-processing machine. This dream of his is first sparked off during a lesson taught by his Commerce teacher, Mrs. Gyoh, while he is in form 3 in Bristow Secondary School (pg. 10). At this time, it becomes clear to Bemdoo that almost everything produced in Nigeria, including toothpicks and pencils, is imported from other countries and he begins to think of a way to contribute to the development of manufacturing in the country. In pursuit of this dream, Bemdoo works very hard and secures admission to study Mechanical Engineering at University of Lagos. There he meets Prof. Adelogba who further fires up his vision. On graduation from the university, after a prolonged search, Bemdoo secures a juicy job as engineer in an oil company, but much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Chioma, and the disappointment of his superiors, abandons the job to continue the pursuit of his dream.
The most fascinating thing about the story is the way it meanders, moving one step forward, one step backwards, as it straddles the protagonist's personal love life and his professional struggles. The smooth movement from the past to the present and back again without any awkward jerks is a technique which helps to make the work more engaging. This is a technique used by modernist writers to create suspense in fiction. The author does not use the traditional, boring chronological movement of events; as a result, the reader does not immediately find out what happens next but instead, has to wait for a while, reading about a past occurrence which however has some influence on the present.
It is not only the form of the story that swings back and forth but the content too. One minute, the protagonist seems to have made a break with a thriving chain of grocery stores and the next, he is robbed and taken almost back to square one as a startup. One minute the protagonist seems to have made a break as he finds investors and the next, he is deserted by some of the investors who have lost faith in the struggle. At the end, just when Bemdoo is about to give in to despair, he is reunited with his erstwhile lover, Mimi, who lifts him out of the depths of despair. This back and forth movement in the form and content of the novel is used by the author to create conflict and suspense in the work.
A discussion of Terna Abu's EAGLE DRIVE will not be complete without mention of the use of language. The author's use of language is very simple and conversational, yet rich with vivid descriptions of people, incidents, places, feelings, etc. Notably, the author also uses humor to douse the anxiety that wells up in the mind of the readers at critical points in the story.
Terna Abu's EAGLE DRIVE is no doubt a refreshing read; a departure from the boring traditional chronological style of storytelling. By swinging back and forth both in form and content, it holds the reader captive right up to the end of the work.
