Ugochukwu Amobi, a first year student of Government College Ahia, a colonial educational institution, acts as the central character of this fascinating book written by Chukwuemeka Ike. Amobi’s life is turned inwards into conflict as he starts to have dreams where he sees and feels himself as a leopard. As a young boy completely committed to submitting himself to the mental reprogramming western education promises him and sworn in from the very beginning at his arrival to his new school to denounce the ways of his ancestors and discard everything he knew from his “bush” village as outlandish even diabolic,
Amobi finds himself very confused by his new reality which kicks off in his dreams. Plagued with the uncertainties of his own spiritual realities, as well as other phenomena he hears about from his soon to be girlfriend Nma, he finds his reputation in his school being ruined by all the questions he keeps raising with his teachers in his hopes to get answers.
At some point Amobi is suspended from school with his American friend and classmate Chuks, who is born of an Igbo father but knows nothing about Igbo culture and Igbo ways of being. They both get to spend two weeks at Amobi’s village Ndikelionwu, where Amobi reaches what seems to be the summit of his paranormal experiences of shapeshifting into a leopard through his dreams.
Worried by their son’s predicament, his parents decide to consult a famous Dibia Ofia who reveals the surprising factor that connects Amobi to the leopard he dreams about. Amobi has to surmount mountains of internal conflicts before he is able to come to terms and make peace with his spiritual gift passed on to him as the chosen one of his lineage to carry on the Agwu mandate for his family.
Chukwuemeka Ike’s work in The Bottled Leopard engages some very interesting subjects which are relevant till this day to Igbo culture and spirituality. Some of those subjects include, Ilo nlo – Dreams as channels for messages from others worlds and as a space for spiritual initiations, the role and office of a Dibia in Igbo communities, Agwu as a condition and a cure for those with a spiritual mandate, Ilo Uwa – the purpose of reincarnation and Onye Uwa – having a reincarnator, Spirit animals that can act as alter egos, Shapeshifting as a sacred art, Sacred trees that also act as guides and healers with very potent forces, the presence of a family Obi and shrine, Igba Mgba – Igbo wrestling and many more.
The author did a good job of highlighting the conflict people faced during the colonial era as well the hypocrisy which became prevalent as a practice as a direct result of western education which had succeeded in naming and treating everything traditional as diabolical or primitive in a derogatory sense.
The Bottled Leopard is one of those books which require patience in reading from its readers. If they intend to enjoy it thoroughly then it would be wise to stay with the storytelling technique of its author till the very end. The farther one gets into the book the more interesting it becomes. Chukwuemeka Ike in his quest to tell us a story of a young boy who has been chosen to be a leopard man, reminds us of the terrible harm western influence brought upon the minds and lives of Igbo people and their ways of being. He confronts the dilemma of how incredibly difficult it is to have a good western education and still be true to the spirit of one’s own culture. The author reminds us of what an unending battle such an internal conflict to make peace with one’s roots can be from start to finish.