Nigeria, it appears, doesn’t offer Nigerians much of the positive side of the human experience. Why wouldn’t Nigerian writers write about what they experienced? When, for example, an Ogoni young man eventually begins to tell his story, what do we expect this story to be like? If he accuses Nigeria of having failed him, would any of us blame him for washing our dirty linen in the public?

I see no reason why the tide of bad news in Nigeria can not be stopped. Perhaps all it takes is a change of heart that begins with a radical rejection of the thought that the West is only interested in grubbing in the African compost...

Can my enemy or my former enemy ever be right? Can he posses a smidgen of truth? The answer to this question might well reside on whether we are able to reboot and let go of our corrosive state of injury...

It is mind-boggling that a Continent that has still a lot of spaces to make up for in excellence, smuggles through the backdoor silly exclusionary clauses that end up making parts of its constituencies feel unwanted...

My goal in this short piece is to address some important issues raised by Emmanuel Sule in his inspiring essay, "Literary Language and Recent Nigerian Fiction " It is not in my interest to rebut any of his ideas. Rather, I am interested in putting them, especially the importance placed on literary language, in perspective...

Shoneyin is strongest when she narrates. She instantly captures our imagination and challenges us to rethink the structure of our world. Lyricism is not Shoneyin's strength. Perhaps those of us who enjoy her poetry might sing alleluia, for she will soon abandon this Achilles' heels of Nigerian poetry...

"While I understand the tendency to sing dirges to the decaying country, I would rather appreciate a poet who draws our attention to the bright speck of hope in the overwhelming darkness of our humanity, and who does so in the most realistic form possible..."