"Their tomorrow is already dead. It died yesterday" - Doye
Introduction
Whenever there's a gathering of people, be it friends, family, work colleagues or just random people who met in the bar, I can bet conversation always surrounds the topics of money, sex, relationships and the Nigerian government. It is almost a certainty. Talking about Nigeria has a way of bringing out emotions in citizens, mostly sadness. It's truly pathetic how a country as Nigeria with such great potential has been reduced to what it is now; characterized by bad governance, inflation, poverty, kidnappings, corruption, embezzlement of public funds, lack of basic amenities and infrastructural systems, only to mention a handful.
Personally, I try my best not to indulge in conversations centered around Nigerian problems because if you actually think of all the things wrong, you can start crying. The state of affairs is sad like that. In all of the lapses of the Nigerian government one thing that breaks my heart the most is how Nigeria makes monsters out of its citizens. You'll meet people who were once ambitious, hardworking become thieves and kidnappers, because the country has failed them and they have to fend for themselves.
I was reading a book recently, Tomorrow Died Yesterday by Chimeka Garricks and it reminded me of how Nigeria fails her youth. Chimeka Garricks in his debut novel portrays one of Nigeria biggest blessing and problem - Oil. This novel focuses on the oil boom in the Niger Delta, a region in Nigeria that produces most of the country's oil. As a result of this, there's a lot of conflict between foreign oil companies and indigenes of the area who feel they are being cheated and exploited leading to kidnapping of foreign oil workers.
About the Novel
Tomorrow Died Yesterday is the story of Doye AKA Doughboy, a militant, Kaniye, a lawyer turned restauranteur, Amaibe, a devote christian, university lecturer and activist and Tubo, a corrupt executive in imperial oil, the oil company discussed in the book. Growing up together and being best of friends, their lives and friendship change following the boom of oil in the Niger Delta region where they grew up.
The novel starts in 2003 when Doye kidnaps one foreigner who works for imperial oil. This is a usual thing for Doye, almost like a routine so the process was quite easy. It is in the process of bargaining for ransom with Imperial oil and holding the white man hostage that things go south. After imperial oil agrees on the ransom money , Doye instructs them to send in the money through Amaibe his friend, who is adamant on not doing it initially but is later coerced into it. Upon his arrival to Doye's camp, he's given the corpse of the dead man to return back with it. It is as a result of this turn of event that Amaibe is arrested and locked up in jail for murder and kidnap. Tubo who works in imperial oil cannot save him because he's involved in corrupt practices. Doye would not come out to clarify because he's a bad guy and quite frankly, he's umbothered . It is Kaniye who has stopped practicing law for years to focus on his restaurant business that ends up defending Amaibe in the court of law.
The novel spans between three timelines, the period when the boys were born in the 1970s, the events surrounding the kidnap and Amaibe's arrest between 2003/2004 and the 70s till the 90s where we get a glimpse into each of the boy's lives displaying key events that took place, how they all became friends up till the death of the friendship. It's in the flicking of timelines that we also get to see the series of events that shaped the boy's lives making them who they are.
Chimeka introduces us to two women this book, Dise, Kaniye's sister who Amaibe was once married to but now divorced due to a devastating incident that made them estranged and Deola, a doctor serving in the Nigerian Youth Service Corps who visits the prison regularly and tend to the prisoners wounds. It is there she meets Amaibe and helps him plead with Kaniye to defend his friend. It is in this series of events that Deola and Kaniye fall in love with each other, making them the centre of the theme of romance in the novel.
The book explores the evil of the oil companies, that is the gas flaring into the river leading to the death of life in the river which affects the livelihoods of the people in that area as fishing is the major occupation. The author also explores the corruption of government officials from the national level to the local government and how they embezzle public funds for their own personal interest and providing substandard amenities for the people. The injustice of the judiciary is also discussed in this book as the government can pick anybody as a scape goat, whether he is innocent or not and how justice is denied by the payment of bribe to judges.
This is the second book by this author I've read and I'm in awe of his compelling storytelling. It seams together effortlessly and envelopes readers in the fictional world he has created. His characters are flawed and very much human which makes it easier to relate to them and understand reasons for their actions. This book is so good that the court scenes in the book are not at all boring which is a rarity because I mean, court scenes are usually long boring stuff but in this book it was one of my favorite parts. With the attention to detail and expertise in which it was written, it only made sense when I found out that the author is a lawyer also.
While I'm not forgetting any characters in this book in a hurry, Doye is the most memorable for me. He's a perfect example of how Nigeria fails her youth. After graduating the university with a first class in petroleum engineering and job hunting for three years, he had to retort to militancy. This is the state of so many Nigerians. Jobs are given to people who are less qualified because they have connections to the top boys or because they've paid their way which leads to many qualified people jobless increasing the rate of social vices in the country.
In Conclusion...
Intentionally, I didn't give a full summary of the book so I don't ruin the experience when you decide to read it. It's better to unveil the characters and turn of events yourself without the narration of another reader. This book is quite a page turner with the right amount of suspense and thrill. It also discusses friendship and family dynamics and the right amount of romance sprinkled into it which makes everything better. Reading this stirred emotions in me from happiness to heartbreak, sadness and laughter. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.
If you want to read this book and can't access it online, just let me know, I could send it to you.
I am @samostically,I love to talk and write about chess because i benefited alot from playing chess. sometimes i share my thoughts on life in general and i write about my love for hive!
I love to engage with others and i love communication. I believe life is all about staying happy and maintaining peace.
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