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From Utopia to Nightmare: National Disillusionment in The From Utopia to Nightmare: National Disillusionment in the Contemporary Nigerian Novel By Olumide Ogundipe A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in ENGLISH Department of ENGLISH AND FILM STUDIES University of Alberta © Olumide Ogundipe, 2014 ii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines representations of post-independence disillusionment in five contemporary Nigerian novels: Waiting for an Angel (2003) by Helon Habila, Graceland (2004) by Chris Abani, Everything Good Will Come (2005) by Sefi Atta, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and City of Memories (2012) by Richard Ali. Collectively, these novels detail a massive atrophy whose main characteristics are leadership failures, political resistance, ethnic rivalries, and the misery of the common people during the years of military rule in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999. Waiting for an Angel and Graceland describe the protests of citizens and their oppression by their leaders as the daily productions of the postcolony. Everything Good Will Come articulates the place of gender in contemporary Nigeria, and shows a character whose experience is caught between tradition and modernity while her identity is subsumed within the patriarchal powers dominating her home and country. Half of a Yellow Sun analyzes the symbolism and implications of the Civil War of 1967-1970, and describes this conflagration as the manifestation of ethnic tensions in the country. City of Memories examines the zealous struggle to protect the Nigerian confederacy in spite of the cultural hostilities and blame game among the country’s diverse ethnocultural groups. My analyses of the primary texts address questions such as (i) how does the non- manifestation of the utopian agenda offered by the political and cultural elites prior to independence now symbolize a postcolonial condition? (ii) to what extent does the contemporary novel hold the indigenous leadership accountable for the daily experiences of Nigerians? and (iii) how do Nigerians in the novels interact with each other in relation to their country’s contested history and ethnocultural diversity? Each of these texts is a fictionalization of a series of traumatic events that has overtaken the country since independence and has repeatedly left it iii dancing on the brink of collapse. The conversations these five novels have with each other over the country’s dysfunctional sociopolitical space have not, in my estimation, been adequately investigated. This study thus opens up these dialogues, and draws attention to the exceptionally tragic realities explored in these texts. My project is urgent at a time when readers and critics are being introduced to a proliferation of conflicting assumptions and ideas that simultaneously invent and misrepresent the crystallization of a Nigerian national consciousness. Besides contributing to existing scholarship on Nigerian literature, this work offers a fresh perspective on the reading of the interaction between the country’s postcolonial condition and its literary productions. iv Dedication To Phebe, my wonderful wife, jewel, and inspiration, for her understanding and extreme patience while I pursued my final degree. To my precious children: Olumide, Sade, and Tojumi, for giving me hope, comfort, and occasional sweet distraction from the stress of writing a Ph.D dissertation. I love you each very dearly, and apologize for not giving you enough attention during this process. To my mother, the very strong foundation of my life adventure. Words cannot describe how much I miss you. v Acknowledgments I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Albert Braz, for the patient guidance, mentorship, and genuine support he offered me throughout my doctorate program in the Department of English and Film Studies. He is such a sincere man whose kind nature is only matched by his humility and resilience. I am fortunate to have worked with him all these years. I am very grateful to my first reader, Professor Daphne Read, from whose advice, expertise, and experience I have benefited immensely. I thank my second reader, Professor Stephen Slemon, for constantly challenging my thinking and helping me to sharpen my argument in this study. I cannot forget the invaluable contribution each of them made to my project. I wish to thank my external examiner, Professor Pius Adesanmi, for breathing into me fresh confidence. Many thanks to Professor Philomina Okeke-Ihejirika for sharing with me her knowledge of feminist discourse. I would like to thank my friends in Edmonton and elsewhere for looking out for me. Their names are too many to mention here, but I hope that they will all recognize my profound gratitude to them. I thank all the graduate students in EFS, including those who have graduated, the current ones, and those that are just beginning. I am indebted to my extended family in Nigeria for their prayers and support over the years. I would like to thank all of my past teachers for enhancing my intellectual growth. I thank my first supervisor in EFS, Professor Onookome Okome, for all the advice and support he offered me. My deep gratitude goes to Professor Don Perkings who, as my EFS teaching mentor in the 2009/2010 academic year, helped me to improve my teaching skills. vi I am forever thankful to my long-time mentor, Professor Beth Virtanen, for encouraging and standing by me all the way from the time that I applied to the Ph.D program in EFS to my completion of this dissertation. Truly speaking, I am privileged to know her. I cannot forget Vern Warren for his unwavering kindness. May his soul rest in peace. I am grateful to Dr. Sola Owonibi, Dr. Z.A. Adejumo, and the late Professor Tayo Olafioye for their confidence in me. I would like to thank my father whose prayers always lifted me when I was down. I am eternally indebted to my late mother, Folasade. Although she was a blossoming flower cut down in her prime, her aborted dream continues to inspire me. I am also indebted to my late grandparents, especially Grandma Bridget, for raising me from infancy to when they passed away. But for their sacrifices and unconditional love, I might not have lived. I owe them so much. I thank my mother-in-law, Mrs. Juliana Akinwande, for her genuine concern and unflinching support throughout my doctoral program. For the strength that I found during the easiest and most difficult times of my studies, I will always be grateful to the Almighty God who is able to do more than I can think or imagine. vii Table of Contents Map of Nigeria……………………………………………………………………….viii Key Events in Nigeria’s History………………………………………………………ix Introduction: “Tomorrow Left Us Yesterday”: Writing Dystopia in the Third Generation Nigerian Novel ....................……………………………………………………………..1 Chapter One: Nigeria: The Genesis and Evolution of an Idea………………………….17 Chapter Two: The Scramble for a National Literature and Postcolonialism in a Pluri-National State......…………………………………………………………………………………..41 Chapter Three: Writing the Postcolony: Social and Political Critiques in Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel and Chris Abani’s Graceland..........................................................88 Chapter Four: Gendering the Discourse of Dystopia: Revolt against Double Tyranny in Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come............................................................................131 Chapter Five: “The Open Sore” of a Country: Ethnic Dysphoria in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun .........................................................................................167 Chapter Six: Symptoms of Trauma in “the Age of Iron”: (Se)Curing the National Psyche in Richard Ali’s City of Memories.........................................................................................196 Conclusion: “The Centre Cannot Hold”: Regionalized Narrativization in the Contemporary Nigerian Novel……………………………………………………………………………221 Works Cited......................................................................................................................229 viii Map of Nigeria Adapted from: http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/706.gif ix Key Events in Nigeria’s History January 1, 1914—The British Commissioner, Lord Lugard, amalgamated the Southern and Northern Protectorates to form Nigeria. 1954—Nigeria became a federation of three regions (North, East, and West). October 1, 1960—Nigeria attained independence from Great Britain. October 1, 1963—Nigeria became a Republic. January 15, 1966—Nigeria experienced its first military coup, and Prime Minister Abubakar Tafa Balewa was killed. May 24, 1966—The new military Head of State, Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi, abolished federalism and replaced it with a unitary system of government. July 29, 1966—Ironsi was killed in a military countercoup. August 1, 1966—Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon became the new Head of State, and returned Nigeria to federalism. May 30, 1967—Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu proclaimed the secession of the Southeastern region from Nigeria as the Republic of Biafra July 6, 1967-January 12, 1970—The Nigerian Civil War (or Biafran War). July 30, 1975—Gowon was overthrown in a military coup and General Murtala Mohammed became the new Head of State. x February 13, 1976—Murtala was killed in a military coup; Lieutenant General Obasanjo replaced him as Head of State. October 1, 1979—Nigeria returned to a civil rule. December 31, 1983—The Second Republic was terminated by a military coup, and a series
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