Proudly Nigerian

Peter Idenala’s stable but uninteresting life, as an ambitious young banker, is disrupted when he comes across a book, published as fiction, recounting the torrid experiences he lived through during his days in the university. He is shaken because the writer is Neta Okoye, a girl who broke his heart and dumped him six years before. Peter is forced to revisit his past, to relive his once complicated relationship with Neta and the mistakes that marred their years in school; the friendships they found and lost.

When the book leads him directly to her, they are faced with a difficult decision: Continue with their emotionally-empty lives, independent of each other, or be together again and confront the trail of past misfortunes that binds them. For Neta, accepting Peter again comes with a promise of happiness, but it also carries the risk of uncovering the secrets she has carried throughout her life. Secrets involving a brother she used to sleep with.

Their relationship faces a battle against this past blighted by pain and loss, by youth and stupidity, by unprotected sex and incest, by betrayal and heartbreaks, by manslaughter and suicide.

The stories in Vaults of Secrets flirt with the limits of freedom and bondage. They are means through which award-winning journalist Olukorede S. Yishau examines the nature of man and his ability to make choices and live with the repercussions. The complex, beautifully drawn characters unveil the many grotesques of human life and shed light on their dark recesses exposing their weaknesses.Heartrending, luminous, and indelible, this is an astoundingly audacious collection of short stories.

THE SPIRIT OF DANFO, a story of class, power, the legacy of civil war, and maverick gods in Nigeria.
In DANFO, Ebulu, a brilliant student, longs to restore his mother, Nkoli, ostracised by the village at his father’s death. Ebulu makes a tragic mistake and tempts fate by switching majors from medicine to philosophy.

The choice is the first mistake in a chain that imperils his family and his promising career. The gods are saboteurs. Ebulu will learn hard lessons on the streets of Lagos, where the pace is set by the city’s pushy, death-defying, and improvisational danfo drivers.

DANFO is an intimate portrait of Nigerian city life, illustrating the resilient kindness and humanity of everyday people like Binta and striving to capture the voice of Lagos–most dialogue is in local
patois, including Yoruba and Igbo- while aiming a critique at the city’s notorious patronage and corruption.