Ill-fated journey

Written by Okon E Essien and published in Ibadan: Daystar Press, 1986. The Ibibio people are people found in southern Nigeria. They are frequently found in Akwa Ibom and Cross River. They are associated with the Annang, and Efik people.

The joys of motherhood is a gripping fascinating tale of a woman - Nnu Ego who gives everything away to the cultural responsibility of a woman needing to be fertile and produce sons.  The Joys of Motherhood is a fundamental text in the wider cannon of Nigerian postcolonial literature.  The story of Nnu Ego will stay with the reader for a long, long time. 

From the award winning creator of We Should All Be Feminists - the story is about the narrative of two Nigerians advancing in the U.S. also, the UK, bringing up widespread issues of race, having a place, the abroad experience for the African diaspora, and the quest for identity and a home. Ifemelu and Obinze are youthful and in love when they left military-administered Nigeria for the West. Delightful, confident Ifemelu sets out toward America, where regardless of her scholarly achievement, she is compelled to wrestle with being dark for the first time. Calm, smart Obinze had would have liked to join her, however with post-9/11 America closed to him, he rather dives into a risky, undocumented life in London. After fifteen years, they rejoin in a recently democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion for one another and for their country.