4. On A Nigerian PK Wedding

You know that the bride’s wedding gown will be ultra conservative as will be those for the bridal train. There will be no low cut, cleavage accentuating, eye candy-ish, strapless nonsense, and the hems will be at least an inch below the knee. You know that there will be at least ten different preachers – each with the belief that he is a colossus in his own right - and where both bride and groom are PKs, they might be nearer fifty than not. You know that the program will be tweaked to provide an opportunity for every one of them to do something – give a word of admonition, pray, or lead the reading of the vows, or take a thanksgiving offering. You know that every speech and every prayer will be interminably long, as though there were an unofficial contest with a prize for the longest, most colourful speech. You know that it will be baking hot, and dry, because the powers that be have ‘decreed’ that there will be no rain. ...

June 30, 2012 · 3 min · AJ

#2- The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives..

Book number two is Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives. This was one of the books I’ve actually tried to buy off Amazon and failed - twice (the other one being Teju Cole’s Everyday is for the Thief). I thoroughly enjoyed this one - maybe because Baba Segi used to be a moniker I was known by. My summary: Shoneyin takes polygamous life - the rivalry, the struggle for the bread winner’s attention, the gumption that ensures survival - and condenses it into a compelling narrative. The genius of it all is that is completely believable. ...

February 2, 2011 · 1 min · AJ