6 Best Books By Nigerian Authors To Read 2015
1. We Should all Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. The Fishermen – Chigozie Obioma
The Fishermen is the debut novel by Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma, published in 2015. The novel follows four brothers in a small Nigerian village who are given a violent prophecy which shakes their family to the core. It was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize.
3. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives – Lola Shoneyin
Lola Shoneyin (born Titilola Atinuke Alexandrah Shoneyin, 26 February 1974, Ibadan, Nigeria) is a Nigerian poet and author who launched her debut novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, in the UK in May 2010. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s’ Wives is a multi-protagonist satirical novel set in the Ibadan of Baba Segi, a polygamous and arrogantly illiterate trader. The author narrated through the voices of Baba Segi, his wives, and his driver in different chapters, taking the reader through the complexity of trying to co-exist with co-wives with differences in educational background. With the most dominant protagonist, we see a desperate struggle for acceptance by her co-wives and to find herself.
4. Everyday is For the Thief – Teju Cole
The title of this book is taken from a Yoruba proverb, quoted as an epigraph: “ojo gbogbo ni t’ole, ojo kan ni t’olohun. [Every day is for the thief, but one day is for the owner.] Every Day Is for the Thief tells the story of a young man return to his home country, Nigeria after fifteen years away. The man who remains anonymous throughout the book meditates and reflects on the condition of society in his native country.
5. Season of Crimson Blossoms – Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
Abubakar Adam Ibrahim is a Nigerian writer and journalist. He holds a BA in Mass Communication from the University of Jos. In conservative Northern Nigeria, the salacious affair between 55-year-old widow Binta Zubairu and a 26 year-old weed dealer and political thug with the very unusual name Hassan ‘Reza’ is bound to cause more than a ripple.
6. Born on a Tuesday – Elnathan John
Dantala’s story begins in the fictional
backwater called Bayan Layi, away from the capital of Nigeria’s only
legally recognised caliphate, Sokoto. He is introduced as a naive but
fast-learning Quranic student in a Sufi Quranic school, far away from
his parents. Very quickly after the end of his schooling, by
happenstance, he is introduced to the leader of a small urban street
gang, Banda, a nominal Muslim who lives on the fringes.
