Prisoners of Jebs

This is a series of articles that originally was published weekly in a newspaper. Using a hypothetical prison off the coast of Nigeria and initially built and financed by Nigerians, the author paints a satirical picture of social and political events in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. The prisoners were supposed to have come from all over Africa, to put heads together to find solutions to Africa’s problems. But no sooner than they were settled this objective seemed forgotten as the prison gradually took on the look of Nigerian society.

Some of the characters could be likened to real people and events in Nigeria between 1985 and ’86, like Joromi the Kangaroo who represented ‘kangaroo courts’ (probably tribunals), Professor who resembled Prof. Wole Soyinka and Madam Kokane (cocaine pushers). Towards the end the director of the prison wanted to secede from Nigeria due to the evils going on there, while the Nigerians wanted to bomb the prison out of existence, as a perceived threat to their head of state. But it was magical Professor who conjured up an earthquake that sunk the prison without a trace except for one survivor (himself), robbing the Nigerian Navy of the taste of victory.

It was interesting reading till after the middle of the book. Then the author’s sarcasm seemed to get in the way. At the end you are sort of left wondering what exactly was the core message of the book, apart from the entertainment value.

February 11, 2015. Review initially written in 1993. Work first published in 1988. Author image source: Yahoo Images.