Proudly Nigerian

The day a stained brown envelope arrives from Taduno’s homeland, he knows that the time has come to return from exile. Arriving full of trepidation, the musician discovers that his community no longer recognises him, believing that Taduno is dead. His girlfriend Lela has disappeared, taken away by government agents. As he wanders through his house in search of clues, he realises that any traces of his old life have been erased. All that was left of his life and himself are memories. But Taduno finds a new purpose: to unravel the mystery of his lost life and to find his lost love. Through this search, he comes to face a difficult decision: to sing for love or to sing for his people. Taduno’s Song is a moving tale of sacrifice, love and courage.

Tall Tales is a collection of short stories that cover a diverse spectrum of experiences with emphasis on dark humour and exaggerations. The stories are full of humour, and bubbly with unforgettable characters. The first three stories (Query, Jekyll and Hyde and Monthly Performance Review) are based on the experiences of a banker as he carries out his daily duties.

Electric Pole highlights the bizarre ways life is lived and lost in contemporary Nigeria. Chronic Hunger is about the irony of life through the eyes of a starving 13 year old. New Money paints a picture of a dysfunctional society that blindly lusts after wealth regardless of its source. Child Abuse details a typical day in the life of a house girl but with a twist in the end. Sanitation Day is a satire of sorts. People have become one with filth with disastrous consequences.

In The Dream, the protagonist has a vivid dream about an eccentric spinster and her mango tree. Just a Little Robbery is about three boys who decide to rob a mall, only for one of them to encounter unwanted consequences. In The lift, a young woman enters a car ride that rapidly becomes a life and death struggle with a lunatic. When John’s car broke down in an unknown terrain, the sight of one lonely house was more than welcome. However, he soon discovers that all is not as it seems in the Half Way House. In Weight Problems, things go from bad to worse for an obese lady keen on suicide. Farewell Party is set in the far future, where perfection is everything and flaws are not allowed.

Lagos, January 1976, six years after the Nigerian Civil War. A new military regime has been in power for six months, but rumours are spreading that a counter-coup is imminent. At an art exhibition in the affluent Ikoyi neighbourhood, Remi Lawal, a Nigerian woman who runs her own greeting-card shop, meets Frances Cooke, who introduces herself as an American art dealer, in Nigeria to buy rare beads. They become friends and over the next few weeks confide in each other about their aspirations, loyalties, marriage, motherhood – and Nigeria itself, as hospitable Remi welcomes the enigmatic Frances into her world.

Remi’s husband, Tunde, naturally suspects Frances – like any American in Lagos – of gathering intelligence for the CIA, yet she is unconvinced. Cynical about the country’s unending instability, and alienated by the shallowness of the city’s elite, she willingly shares her views with Frances. But the February 13 assassination of General Muhammed prompts Remi to reconsider one particular conversation with her new acquaintance in a different light. Her discouragement overcome by a reawakened sense of patriotism, she begins to doubt that the bead collector is who she claims to be.

With her signature subtlety and wit, Sefi Atta examines a brief but profound friendship, and one Nigerian mother’s yearning – amid legacies of conflict and uncertainty – to help build her country from home.