Afonja The Fall is the second book in the Afonja Trilogy. Historical fiction, set in the final days of the collapse of the Oyo Empire.
It continues the story of the titular Afonja, the generalissimo of the Oyo Empire and his clashes with the Alaafin who is nominally his lord. Ultimately, Afonja comes crashing from the heights of power he attained in The Rise and Ilorin is forever lost to the Yoruba.
Winner of the International Board on Books for Young People, Certificate of Honour, this story for young people teaches the lesson that honesty is the best policy. Ure comes from a poor but honest family, and works as a houseboy to pay his own school fees. Towards the end of his primary school days he is accused of stealing money. He is saved by the well-placed total trust of his parents and his teacher.
She’s the creator and producer of some of the most groundbreaking and audacious shows on television today. Her iconic characters live boldly and speak their minds. So who would suspect that Shonda Rhimes is an introvert? That she hired a publicist so she could avoid public appearances? That she suffered panic attacks before media interviews?
With three children at home and three hit television shows, it was easy for Shonda to say she was simply too busy. But in truth, she was also afraid. And then, over Thanksgiving dinner, her sister muttered something that was both a wake up and a call to arms: You never say yes to anything. Shonda knew she had to embrace the challenge: for one year, she would say YES to everything that scared her.
This poignant, intimate, and hilarious memoir explores Shonda’s life before her Year of Yes—from her nerdy, book-loving childhood to her devotion to creating television characters who reflected the world she saw around her. The book chronicles her life after her Year of Yes had begun—when Shonda forced herself out of the house and onto the stage; when she learned to explore, empower, applaud, and love her truest self. Yes.
A picture book showing works of fine art that are being privately held by art collectors in Lagos, Nigeria. Information on the history of the works, the artists, and collectors are also provided.
The whole family gathers at Tobi’s house to celebrate some good news and Tobi chooses a special way to say well done to her big brother Dare. What did Dare do? How does Tobi surprise him? Find out in TOBI BAKES A CAKE.
TOBI BAKES A CAKE is a picture book for children aged 2 – 6.
This is the renowned play which was developed with Kikuyu actors at the Kamiriithu Cultural Centre at Limuru. It proved so powerful, especially in its use of song, that it was banned and was probably one of the factors leading to Ngugi’s detention without trial. The original Gikuyu edition went to three printings in the first three months of publication
Lagos is a city for all . . . you share this place with flesh and not-flesh, and it’s just as much their city as it is yours.
Èkó, the spirit of Lagos, and his loyal minion Tatafo weave trouble through the streets of Lagos and through the lives of the ‘vagabonds’ powering modern Nigeria: the queer, the displaced and the footloose.
With Tatafo as our guide we meet these people in the shadows. Among them are a driver for a debauched politician; a lesbian couple whose tender relationship sheds unexpected light on their experience with underground sex work; a mother who attends a secret spiritual gathering that shifts her reality. As their lives begin to intertwine—in markets and underground clubs, in churches and hotel rooms—the vagabonds are seized and challenged by the spirits who command the city. A force is drawing them all together, but for what purpose?
In her debut novel VAGABONDS! Eloghosa Osunde tackles the insidious nature of Nigerian capitalism, corruption and oppression, and offers a defiant, joyous and inventive tribute to all those for whom life itself is a form of resistance.
A deeply-reported examination of why “doing what you love” is a recipe for exploitation, creating a new tyranny of work in which we cheerily acquiesce to doing jobs that take over our lives.
You’re told that if you “do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Whether it’s working for “exposure” and “experience,” or enduring poor treatment in the name of “being part of the family,” all employees are pushed to make sacrifices for the privilege of being able to do what we love.
In Work Won’t Love You Back, Sarah Jaffe, a preeminent voice on labor, inequality, and social movements, examines this “labor of love” myth—the idea that certain work is not really work, and therefore should be done out of passion instead of pay. Told through the lives and experiences of workers in various industries—from the unpaid intern, to the overworked teacher, to the nonprofit worker and even the professional athlete—Jaffe reveals how all of us have been tricked into buying into a new tyranny of work.
As Jaffe argues, understanding the trap of the labor of love will empower us to work less and demand what our work is worth. And once freed from those binds, we can finally figure out what actually gives us joy, pleasure, and satisfaction.
Dada Ade does not like her hair. So she goes to see the Good Hair Fairy in hopes of receiving some good hair. But when she gets to the Good Hair Fairy, a big surprise awaits her.
The book is a compilation of 25 recollections around Richard Mofe Damijo to commemorate his 60th birthday. The book opens with a short prologue penned by RMD himself who in a past life had worked as a teacher, admin officer, journalist, publisher before finding fame and fortune as one of Nigeria’s most recognizable and bankable stars of stage and screen.
Known as the African Giant, Nigeria’s story is complex and often contradictory. How, despite the ravages of colonialism, civil war, ongoing economic disappointment and most recently the Boko Haram insurgency, has the country managed to stay together for a hundred years? Why, despite an abundance of oil, mineral and agricultural wealth, have so many of its people remained in poverty? These are the key questions explored by Richard Bourne in this remarkable and wide-ranging account of Nigeria’s history, from its creation in 1914 to the historic 2015 elections and beyond.
Featuring a wealth of original research and interviews, this is an essential insight into the shaping of a country where, despite the seemingly dashed optimism that was raised at independence, there remains hope ‘the Nigeria project’ may still succeed.
Michael Phelps is one of the greatest competitors the world has ever seen. From teen sensation in Sydney, to bona fide phenomenon in Athens, he is now – after the Beijing Games – a living Olympic legend. With an unprecedented eight gold medals and seven world-record times, his performance at the 2008 Games set a new standard for success. He ranks among the most elite athletes in the world, and is both an inspiration and a role model to millions. In No Limits, Phelps reveals the secrets to his remarkable success, from his training regimen to his mental preparation and, finally, to his performance in the pool. Having been raised by a single mother and diagnosed with ADHD, Phelps’s success is imbued with defeating obstacles and earning one’s way and No Limits explores the hard work, commitment, and sacrifice that go into reaching any goal.
Filled with anecdotes from family members, friends, team mates, and his coach, No Limits gives a behind-the-scenes look at the makings of a real champion, and reveals a step-by-step guide to realizing one’s dream.
The Gods Are Not To Blame is a 1968 play and a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi. An adaptation of the Greek classic Oedipus Rex, the story centres on Odewale, who is lured into a false sense of security, only to somehow get caught up in a somewhat consanguineous trail of events by the gods of the land.
You Must Set Forth at Dawn is an intimate chronicle of his thrilling public life, a meditation on justice and tyranny, and a mesmerizing testament to a ravaged yet hopeful land.
This is a heartwarming illustrated children’s story of a young foal who wanders away from his herd and gets tricked by a cunning hyena. Kob thinks hard, breaks free from the lair of his captor and reunites with his long lost family.
Most accounts of Nigeria’s colonisation were written by British officials, presenting it as a noble civilising mission to rid Africans of barbaric superstition and corrupt tribal leadership. Thanks to this skewed writing of history, many Nigerians today still have Empire nostalgia and view the
colonial period through rose-tinted glasses.
Max Siollun offers a bold rethink: an unromanticised history, arguing compellingly that colonialism had few benevolent intentions, but many unjust outcomes. It may have ended slavery and human sacrifice, but it was accompanied by extreme violence; ethnic and religious identity were cynically exploited to maintain control, while the forceful remoulding of longstanding legal and social practices permanently altered the culture and internal politics of indigenous communities. The aftershocks of this colonial meddling are still being felt decades after independence. Popular narratives often suggest that the economic and political turmoil are homegrown, but the reality is that Britain created many of Nigeria’s crises, and has left them behind for Nigerians to resolve.
This is a definitive, head-on confrontation with Nigeria’s experience under British rule, showing how it forever changed the country–perhaps cataclysmically.
