Who is Niakoro, Ad'jibid'ji, Assitan from God's Bits of Wood and what is their importance?

These are members of Bakayoko's family. Niakoro is his elderly, opinionated mother, Assitan his submissive wife, Ad'jibid'ji (Assitan's daughter) his precocious stepdaughter. Assitan plays a relatively minor role in the action, her submissiveness representing and embodying the traditional state of women in the African culture of the time. Niakoro is a voice of sharp-tongued wisdom, a catalyst for the revelation of one of the novel's key themes.