“Of Gods and Their Claytoys” unfolds predominantly in Lagos, Ogun and Enugu and brims with remarkable characters. There’s Chiamaka, a fierce feminist who eats like a newly freed convict, drinks like a sailor, and loves with the hunger of a nymphomaniac. Mama, the only mother he has ever known, provides a grounding presence. Then there’s Gbotie, the closest thing RB has to a father figure
Book Review
Ultimately, A Journey in Service is less an honest reckoning with history and more an exercise in self-justification. It offers some insight into Babangida’s thinking but fails to confront the full weight of his administration’s failures, making it a disappointing, incomplete and highly selective account of his legacy.
It is rare to see African politicians, especially the Nigerian breed, espousing a pan-African credo…
The pain and suffering Sena endures is counterbalanced by the beauty of the Voltaic waterscape and the sense of wonder it inspires in him. His grandfather’s stories about swimming alongside Mami Wata lends a touch of magical realism to the book, and it would be pleasant to see the author explore this genre in future works, as she has demonstrated a flair for it.
Guerrilla Journalist, 320 pages long and published by Babafemi Ojudu could have been better edited. Writers are notorious for not liking their work to be edited but every writer needs the detachment of an editor. It is a major flaw that the book has no index – it is impossible to find with ease, invaluable references to people and events.
Odafen’s novel raises critical posers: Is it right for a husband to feel slighted because his father-in-law bought his wife a car without informing him first? Why do some men find it easy to turn their wives into punching bags? Does corporal punishment bring about good behaviour in a woman? Why does a generation of mothers justify the domestic abuse of their daughters? What are a woman’s primary responsibilities?
Nkowo’s resilience becomes the heart of the novel. Despite being shunned and cursed, she chooses to leave Ayam village with her daughters, venturing into the unknown. Her unwavering faith provides her with strength as she navigates rejection, poverty, and fear. Her journey in the city reveals her resourcefulness and tenacity.
Given that the Nigerian judiciary, like many other organizations in the world, has its merits and demerits, this article posits that the delineated judicial anomalies that surround Gbadamosi Eletu vs Ojomu’s case are not sufficient to “de-market” the entire Nigerian judicial system as being “criminal”.
Things take a scary turn from there onwards and the world Turaki plunges us into is no longer familiar. The things that occur are the sort that make us scream and wonder where we are being led. Though we still see Jos and its streets, churches and other landmarks, the goings on aren’t what we are accustomed to.
The opening chapters are thick with blood, dust, and sweat, evoking all the violent imagery these elements often conjure. They suggest a dark, complex narrative, one whose conclusion may be fraught with complications. Pain and death are hinted at, drawing the reader in with an irresistible pull to uncover more.
There is a lot of loss recorded in this book, which is very telling of how this desire and longing to hold on to something we cannot control and the loss of such things causes us to spiral in different directions and to find stability only when the gap is filled. At the core of this book is the fight for the truth and all the obstacles that stand in the way of that
It appears as though one construct that continues to fascinate Yishau’s intellect is the duality…