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A trio of teenage girls, Imabong Nyang, Tonye Femeiya and Ivie L’di, are casualties of the Warri Crisis of 1997. All three were close friends and classmates who lived in the same neighbour-hood at Lower Erejuwa in Warri South Local Governmeni Area of Delta State. Calamity struck when the crisis heightened in 1997, which took a toll on their families, with each of them losing a blood relative in the most disheartening
way. They reconnect twenty-two years later, in the most awkward circumstances, each nursing the scar from the wounds the crisis inflicted on them.

The story begins with the scene of Mr Femeiya’s butcher in the presence of his only child; Tonye Femeiya at the school of the trio where he went to rescue them, the subsequent separation that occurred as a result of the killings of members of each of their families and then cascades down to Imahong Nyang, now 37, who woke up to a nightmare that recaptured her past during the crisis. That same day she reconnects with Tonye Femeiya at trespitai where she works as a neurosurgeon, and days later, she reconnects in the lie Udi in another situation.

The writing captures the trio’s life journey from their teenage days to their present day. It shows their love lives, career and family life and details how each casualty was able to navigate the difficult hurdles of life while nursing the wound they each sustained from the 1997 crisis.

In the late 1960’s, Adah, a spirited and resourceful woman manages to move her family to London. Seeking an independent life for herself and her children she encounters racism and hard truths about being a new citizen.

Nkechi, Yeni, and Tale all want the same thing: children of their own. But with each passing year, their dreams turn into nightmares of a future they never anticipated. Infertility is the unwanted guest in their homes, mocking all their efforts and feeding on their misery.

But these three women are fighters. They will not stop or back down – no power is too heavy and no strangeness too unacceptable in their quest.

The Waiting Room is a place of unusual strength and courage.