Umar Abubakar Sidi’s The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus is a compendium of grotesque tales that showcase the imaginative ability, non-linear storytelling prowess, and élan for letters and books of the author, to the reading delight of those with a palate for language, mysticism, and surrealism.

I read this marvellous work in multiple settings in multiple cities, between travels, a writing workshop, and a poetry festival. They say we should never judge a book by its cover, but the beauty of this book begins from the cover.

The novel is divided into four parts with the last two parts disguised as books inside the book. The Critic, Carl Terver, describes it rightly as “a book about books”.

In this sensational literature, one thing is clear: the author came prepared with something unique to the table of Nigerian literature. In this book, even animals are interested in books. You will meet an army of apes and chimpanzees and striking antelopes ransacking cities in search of a manuscript.

Garba Dakaskus, the narrator in the book, as we read, we come to realize is also a book. Initially, an idea that refuses to be developed and written, and later, a globally coveted manuscript that resists publication for centuries but gets published in the end. Perhaps, Sidi is trying to portray to readers the laborious and torturous process and the sacrifices involved in bringing a book to life.

In the book of mysterious narrations, the first part of the novel, ideas and counter-scholarly arguments are so celebrated that you may think you are reading academic literature reviews. The conversation on the Kabuki revolution is one stunning part of the book. It features a story of the fictional Japanese writer, Kabuki, and his fictional book, The Teachings of Kabuki and The Philosophy of Suffering which discusses the theory of the cycle of stories, which sees humans as story animals who come from story. It is a very delightful part of the book.

After several twisted stories that incongruously celebrate books, wisdom, writers, and scholarship, clarity arrives in page 132 of the book:

“You are beginning to get on the proper track of the story. We are also learning how to scrutinise the first letter. This is a secret contained in A Guide to the Secrets of the Alphabet, a book supposedly authored by the Persian mystic Al-Juzjani. We now know that this book, or manuscript, is also referred to as Text of the Parrot in occult circles and is believed to be in Sokoto. We also suspect that the original manuscript of A Guide to the Secrets of the Alphabet was written after Baghdad was sacked by rebellious beasts led by the recalcitrant ape, Gogol. Wait, let there be no ambiguity here.”

The first alphabet is Ba, and the Ba is likened to the word in the book of John, and the word is most likely kun (Be), fa ya kun (and it shall be). Who wouldn’t want to possess the secret of the word then? However, the quest for this manuscript, coauthored by man and parrot, which contains the secret of the first alphabet proves mission impossible. Yet, the book reiterates the significance of the alphabet to man:

“Ideologies fail, political statements wither, riches and wealth diminish, but letters glow; the destiny of mankind lies in the alphabet. The alphabet exposes the mind of man to open portals of knowing and the hidden pathways of illumination.”

Save for Tapan the red monkey, almost every character in this story is both a saint and a sinner. The mad Caliph, for example, is a good leader but commits incest with his sister.

The book is also adventurous. All attempt to get hold of the manuscript happens to be foiled by Tapan, the righteous Superman in the story. In Memoirs of Al-Sudani, in the second part of the book, as we read, a man called Rishad Al-Sudani meets Al-Quti, the custodian of the manuscript. They travel in a flying boat to Timbuktu and later to Kebbi. Al-Quti dies of illness and he hands over the manuscript to one Mallam Agali in his deathbed. The manuscript stays for generations in the family of Mallam Agali until the city falls to Sultan Bello, the Sultan of Sokoto, but even after Tapan, the manuscript proves to be beyond reach.

Dakaskus is a literary triumph, evident in its lyricism and language appeal. Even the names of characters are carefully selected to reflect such appeal, one of which I appreciate is Labaran the Liar of Lambara. Not just the book, Sidi will perhaps one day be best remembered for this powerful quote:

“When written with fidelity, books become the souls of writers”

The book is a pirate technique piece of writing, reminiscent of Italo Calvino’s If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller. It celebrates past and contemporary writers like Jorge Luis Borges, Abubakar Imam Kagara, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Richard Ali, Ibrahim Malumfashi, and Carl Terver to mention a few.

The closing paragraph of The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus is a powerful reminder of the vanity and nothingness of life that echoes the perishability of everything. Read Dakaskus before you die. 5/5.

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