Literature PADI

Literature PADI

6/16/2025, 6:58:09 PM

✍🏿 *African Drama* Characters in Nwokedi by Esiaba Irobi 🔗 https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2025/05/21/a-brief-analysis-of-nwokedi-by-esiaba-irobi/ Senator Arikpo looks like a respectable man. He wears the expensive agbada, speaks the polished political language, and carries himself with class. But underneath all of that? A monster. He is the true face of elite corruption. He uses his position, power, and charm to hide the fact that he murdered his own wife and children in a ritual to maintain and increase his political influence. What makes him scary is that people like Arikpo actually exist in real life. They smile on camera, donate during elections, quote the Bible but ruin lives behind closed doors. Arikpo represents a class of Nigerian politicians who will do anything to stay in power; even if it means sacrificing family, morals, or human life.

Literature PADI

6/14/2025, 5:35:31 AM

✍🏿 *African Writers* Dennis Chukude Osadebay: Nigerian Poet and Politician 🔗 https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2025/06/13/dennis-chukude-osadebay-nigerian-poet-and-politician/ Dennis Chukude Osadebay was a celebrated Nigerian poet and nationalist politician. He played a key role in shaping the early literary voice of modern Africa and participated actively in Nigeria’s journey to independence and regional governance. Born in 1911 in Asaba, Delta State, Osadebay later traveled to England in the 1930s to study law. It was during this time that he began exploring poetry, channeling his thoughts as an African grappling with the tensions between colonial influence and native identity.

Literature PADI

6/18/2025, 2:03:05 PM

✍🏿 *African Prose* A Brief Analysis of To My Husband from Iowa by Chukwuemeka Ike 🔗 https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2025/06/18/a-brief-analysis-of-to-my-husband-from-iowa-by-chukwuemeka-ike/ To My Husband from Iowa by Chukwuemeka Ike is an emotionally resonant narrative told using the voice of Ify, a thirty-two-year-old Nigerian writer and mother of two. The story is structured as a series of voice-recorded cassette messages sent from the United States to her husband and children back home in Nigeria. This innovative format allows the novel to present a deeply personal, reflective, and experiential account of her three-and-a-half-month stay in the U.S., where she participates in an international writing program at the University of Iowa, sponsored by USAID.

Literature PADI

6/17/2025, 4:41:15 AM

✍🏿 *African Writers* Shaaban Robert: The Father of the Modern Swahili Novel 🔗 https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2025/06/14/shaaban-robert-the-father-of-the-modern-swahili-novel/ Shaaban Robert (1909–1962) was one of the most revered literary figures in East African history. Born in Tanga, in the former Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania), Robert’s contributions to Swahili literature helped shape the cultural and ideological foundations of modern Tanzania. Shaaban Robert was widely celebrated as the father of the modern Swahili novel. He was a poet, essayist, biographer, and a national thinker whose works championed freedom, justice, and human dignity. His deep pride in Swahili language and culture, as well as his appreciation for other global cultures, positioned him as both a nationalist and a pan-humanist.

Literature PADI

6/18/2025, 2:05:12 PM

✍🏿 *African Writers* Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Biography: Life, Works, and Legacy of the Kenyan Literary Icon 🔗 https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2025/06/18/ngugi-wa-thiongo-biography/ Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1938–2025) was a celebrated Kenyan novelist, playwright, essayist, and academic, widely regarded as one of the most influential voices in postcolonial African literature. Known for groundbreaking works like Weep Not, Child, The River Between, and Decolonising the Mind, Ngũgĩ used literature as a tool of liberation. His transition from writing in English to his native Gikuyu redefined African literary identity. This biography explores the life, major works, ideology, and impact of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o on African literature and beyond.

Literature PADI

6/18/2025, 9:18:50 AM

✍🏿 *African Prose* Characters in Redemption Road by Elma Shaw 🔗 https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2024/03/31/characters-in-elma-shaws-redemption-road/ Moses Varney is the antagonist in Redemption Road. He is a 54-year-old man who has come to Monrovia to procure arms for his principal and bribe Judge Dagoseh to enjoy protection from the judiciary. He is a character torn between his desire for a better life and his recognition of the corrupt system in which he operates. Varney is frustrated by the injustice he sees around him but feels compelled to participate in corrupt dealings, such as giving money to Judge Dagoseh, in order to survive and improve conditions for himself and others. He reflects on his past experiences and dreams of a day when justice will prevail in Liberia. His encounter with Bendu in the text brings to light who he was during the war, before his name changed, and who he still is. During the war that brought Charles Taylor to power, Moses Varney was a ruthless and cruel rebel leader who oversaw dehumanising atrocities like extrajudicial killings, rapes, torture, and forced marriages. In other words, Cobra is depicted as a brute who committed a lot of atrocities during the war. We are informed, through the author’s introspection into Cobra’s thoughts, that Cobra did not suddenly become the monster that he is. He had a troubled upbringing and faced mistreatment in his uncle’s home after his parents died in a ghastly motor accident. He was subjected to abuse and exploitation. However, this is no excuse for his cruelty.

Literature PADI

6/18/2025, 2:13:48 PM

✍🏿 *African Writers* Richard Rive: South African Writer 🔗 https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2025/06/14/richard-rive/ Richard Moore Rive was one of South Africa’s most influential literary voices, known for using fiction and critical commentary to challenge apartheid, promote non-racialism, and contribute to the growth of modern African literature. His legacy spans powerful short stories, a banned protest novel, and decades of literary and editorial contributions that shaped postcolonial African thought. Richard Rive was born in District Six, a vibrant, multicultural neighbourhood in Cape Town that was later demolished under apartheid’s forced removals. His experience in this racially segregated environment profoundly influenced his literary focus.

Literature PADI

6/18/2025, 2:11:11 PM

✍🏿 *African Writers* Luis Romano: The Cape Verdean Voice of Resistance 🔗 https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2025/06/17/luis-romano-the-cape-verdean-voice-of-resistance/ Luis Madeiro de Melo Romano was born in 1935 in Cape Verde. He was one of the most significant literary figures in Cape Verdean history. A novelist, poet, and literary critic, Romano used his writings to amplify the struggles of his people under Portuguese colonial rule and to preserve the rich Creole cultural identity of his homeland. Though originally trained as an engineer, Romano’s political consciousness and creative spirit redirected him towards a life of literature and activism.

Literature PADI

6/18/2025, 2:08:00 PM

✍🏿 *African Writers* Ola Rotimi: Nigeria’s Foremost Playwright and Dramatist 🔗 https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2025/06/17/ola-rotimi-nigerias-foremost-playwright-and-dramatist/ Ola Rotimi (1940–2001) was one of Africa’s most influential playwrights, renowned for fusing classical theatrical traditions with Nigerian history, language, and culture. As one of the leading figures in post-independence African drama, Rotimi’s plays continue to shape the landscape of Nigerian theatre and literature. His ability to blend Yoruba oral traditions, Ijaw and Igbo influences, historical events, and Western drama set him apart as a literary genius whose relevance continues today. Ola Rotimi was born in Sapele, Nigeria in 1940. He came from a richly diverse background. His father was a Yoruba man and his mother was of Ijaw descent. Growing up in Nigeria’s Mid-Western Region, an area marked by cultural plurality, Rotimi became fluent in Yoruba, Igbo, and Ijaw. This multicultural background would influence his writing.

Literature PADI

6/14/2025, 5:24:26 AM

It was 3:30 a.m. in the morning. Afifekúmẹmu’s wake coincided with the first crow of the morning cock. He exuded perspiration. It was as though a masquerade pursued him from sleep. He shook his hand over his head and chanted vigorously: “Ikú kìi pa orógbó. Ikú kíkú kan kìi pa awùsá. Tí a bá láá mú òní, ọ̀la làá mú. Death is not on my face. Now is not my death.” He sat up against the wall, “But what does one make of this kind of dream? Me? Death? Not this time.” He invoked the earth and death to avert any looming danger wanting to befall him, “Ilẹ̀ afọkọ́yẹrí, the eater of flesh to rot, my flesh for you has become sour to swallow. Ikú dẹ̀dẹẹ̀gbò, my blood is bitter like bile; you never should drink from it.” For a little while longer, he looked dumbfounded. He thought of so many possibilities. When he wasn’t getting the answers he sought, he shrugged his shoulders and let out a hiss, “Shio! A mere lie. A child’s play.” He lay on the bed, side down and slept off. * * Later on when the day was ripe, Afifekúmẹmu would later beat his chest in the presence of his two wives and seven children he saw his deceased father in his dreams. All white, he had come telling him of an impending calamity; inputting into his subconscious mind a stern warning that he should not go on any outing that day. “Do not attend any social function while today lasts,” Afifekúmẹmu mimicked in gruffish voice the spectral warning before his marvelling audience. “Do not attend any social function while today lasts,” Afifekúmẹmu mimicked in gruffish voice the spectral warning before his marvelling audience. His dead mother appeared, he told them, in a sequel accompanied by an aura of darkness, her face as grave as a muddied stone. She cautioned, her head tilted—hiding the livid bores in her face—“Listen, listen, listen. The flood that carts away the mother hen can take away the chicks as well.” “Fife,” she called out. “Mother,” he responded. “Fife,” “Mother,” “Afifekúmẹmu,” “Mother,” thinking she would ask him how many times she had called him, he preceded in response, “Three times.” “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” She dissolved into thin air, her overwhelming aura following her. Now panting before his entire household, he told them how these were empty warnings, inert like the horse in Kola’s English textbook. His last son, Kola, broke into laughter at the instance of this analogy from his father, the mighty man of valour, the beginning and the end of effective juju. He watched with admiration and reverence on his face as his father went out for his early morning rite. Read more: https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2024/12/31/afifekumemu-ridwan-adedeji-fiction/