OMOSEYE BOLAJI: A passion for the World of Writing

Omoseye Bolaji remains a fascinating writer, a man who has been blazing
literary footprints for decades now. His corpus of 40 or so books published
is very impressive for an African writer, a man who seemingly cannot stop
writing.

Budding writers  - and even many established ones - often wonder what his
"secret" is. Probably the reviewer for Leiden University Library in Europe (whilst
examining Bolaji's work, Sorry you've been troubled) comes close when she
writes:

"Omoseye Bolaji’s enthusiasm for African literature is infectious.
Here is a passionate plea for the written word - for books, for
African books in particular, and for reading and writing in Africa
generally...'

Certainly Bolaji has proved a very versatile writer. Apart from over a
dozen works of fiction, he has published many other books on poetry,
literary criticism, general works and sports, and drama. He of course
started the Tebogo Mystery series of books, about ten published volumes thus far.

Talk to literary lovers/readers/aficionados about Bolaji, and you will
see which particular genre of his they are particularly enamoured with.  I for one,
prefer his contributions to literary criticism, where one might be
surprised that he has actually published at least five solid books which are held in high esteem. This also confirms his love for literature.

As Pule Lechesa, the powerful  South African author and critic points out: "Bolaji loves African literature a lot and loves to celebrate and appreciate dozens of African writers and poets on a regular basis. And the man himself has been a mentor, a teacher in his own understated, shy manner. How many African writers have confessed the debt they owe him?"

 In Bolaji's  countless essays on literature (collected in books of his like,
Thoughts on Free State Writing, Miscellaneous Writings, Cognoscenti, Sorry
you've been troubled, and Calamity Angst) Bolaji often mixes the formal
with the informal, with personal anecdotes, his sense of humour very much
in evidence.  He has also combined with other African writers to produce works
on Literature, a recent example being the book, Further Glimpses into African
Literature, which he co-edited with I.M Soqaga of South Africa.

The quality of Bolaji 's prose is often elevated and sparkling in his literary essays. Here, for example, is his Introduction to his essay on the wonderful early African writer, Peter Abrahams:

"Not far from becoming a centenarian now, the South African writer, Peter Abrahams  in his pomp brilliantly inspired a generation of disparate African writers ".

(from Glimpses into African Literature, 2015)

As for his assorted fiction, Bolaji strives to find a simple, accessible style which
is not completely pedestrian.  He no doubt finds this easier to do when the books in question are written in the first person, like most of the Tebogo adventure
books. It is noticeable that his style veers towards the more formal and pedantic when he is addressing serious issues. This can be seen in the third of the Tebogo books (Tebogo fails) in an often quoted passage:

" We got to a sort of field, like a meadow, copse, quite
attractive. It was a romantic setting. Shame about those who abused
the place, stalking, slinking in the dark, ready to pounce on
individual females who chanced to use this route alone. But the
ambience itself was magnificent. Made for lovers... Youngsters no
matter how intelligent, often have a devil-may-care trait in them, a
predilection to brave the world and its perils sometimes. Undoubtedly,
many females here must have traversed this quote short cut route in
the dark, intermittently. Rape is different from murder. No child
believes he/she would be killed. Decent people do not harm the young
of the world...’

(from Tebogo Fails, 2003)

Selected Books written by Omoseye Bolaji (not a complete list):

The Termagant
Fillets of plaice
Impossible Love
Tebogo Investigates
The ghostly adversary
Tebogo’s spot of bother
The Quack of QwaQwa
The Guillotine
People of the Townships
Tebogo and the Haka
Tebogo and the Epithalamion
Tebogo and the pantophagist
Far up far out far more
Miscellaneous Writings
Cognoscenti
Tebogo and the bacchae
Sorry you've been troubled
Tebogo and Uriah Heep
Further Glimpses into African Literature (with I. M Soqaga)
Calamity Angst

THE PLAGUE. By Albert Camus

... a work that is a striking precursor to the current beleaguered covid-19 pandemic

Book: The Plague
ALBERT CAMUS

Originally published in 1947

Review by Jr Bacdayan


A few years ago, back when I was a freshman in University, I read and reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus. Being quite the optimistic and impressionable young lad that I was, the resolute bleakness of the
book left a bad taste in my mouth. I was then filled with eagerness and vigor for life stemming from this new found independence afforded by higher education. I wanted no part of the apathetic darkness enshrouding Mersault and rejected any shred of wisdom the book presented. I called it poison.... However if I was to read it as I am
now, I am inclined to write a different opinion. That boy is long gone, instead here writing is a man resigned to the bitterness he has since learned to appreciate.

Life has never tasted as bitter as it does presently. Tragedy is upon us. A pandemic has struck the world killing thousands, infecting millions, and testing the limits of modern civilization as we know it. The Plague by Albert Camus basically explores this same concept but in a smaller scale with his scope contained in a coastal town called Oran.



The Bubonic Plague is carried into the unsuspecting town by hosts of infected rats who literally fill the place with thousands of decaying rodent carcasses scattered throughout. From here starts the silent but methodical hands of infection and illness. Death starts to move around leaving despair and grief in its wake. And finally the town realizes
the gravity of their alarming situation. The response of Oran ironically does not really differ from how modern governments reacted to the havoc of COVID-19. And as with doomed places, Oran was isolated, placed under quarantine, with everyone inside imprisoned indefinitely.

When you expose a collection of individuals to a certain phenomenon you can always expect varied reaction. No two individuals will produce exactly identical reactions to one stimulus, which is in this case the deathly plague. So Camus presents us with five different individuals we follow throughout the period of containment.

Rambert, Tarrou, Paneloux, Rieux, and Cottard represent five different reactions to the plague that we examine. The journalist Rambert is an outsider visiting to write an article when the plague hits and gates of the town closes. Trapped inside, his only desire is to get out and escape via any means. The driving force behind his existence is a deep passion to reunite with his beloved wife. Next is the mysterious tourist Tarrou who was vacationing when the panic starts. An objective outsider, his reaction to the plague is anchored on his philosophical views placing value on human life and denouncing any form of support or allowances for the taking of it. He volunteers to create a response team because of his personal philosophy. Third is the Priest Paneloux. Initially he delivers a scathing sermon blaming human sinfulness as the cause of this suffering but slowly his views change from punishment,
he develops a more hopeful stance and gradually sees the plague as a test of faith. Then we have Doctor Rieux who is among the first to discover the presence of the plague. His raison d'etre and his leadership in the medical response to the plague rooted in a moral optimism. He fights the plague, treats people because he must, it is
the only course of action for a human being. Finally we have the entrepreneur Cottard who proves to be an anomaly. Happiest when the plague is at its peak he is an opportunist who takes advantage of the plague for his personal enrichment. Cottard wishes for the plague to last all eternity and when it ends is beaten to death after he fails to cope driven to insanity.

 Each represent a unique area of existence that drive their actions from romantic, philosophical, spiritual,
humanist, and economic. Camus allows us to observe these people that have their centers based on the different points of existence in order to give a holistic study to the human condition in troubled times like these.

The Plague by Albert Camus is an intelligent and deeply affecting caricature of human integrity in the face of death. Camus reminds us that a plague does not consider race, sexuality, religion, politics, or wealth but only acknowledges one species trying not to become extinct. A faithful narrator asks us only to consider that we are
human beings.

"I have no idea what's awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing."

COVID-19 is ravaging the world at this present moment. I do not know where you are or what has already happened to you. But I do hope in these troubled times that you are safe, that you have good health, and
more importantly that you feel the warmth of humanity who has already done so much for each other.

We are getting through this...

* Courtesy of goodreads

ZAMBIA SHALL BE FREE. By Kenneth Kaunda

Kenneth Kaunda is revered as one of the early African leaders, nationalists, visionaries, who led their countries to political independence; in this case Zambia. By the time he published this book, Zambia was more or less on the cusp of such independence. Remarkably, Kaunda would go on to lead the country for almost 3 decades! (And by the way he is still alive, and on the way to becoming a centenarian.)

Kaunda always loved literacy and education from the very beginning, as both his parents were teachers (his father also a parson). All this we learn from this work, the early life of Kenneth Kaunda, and his determination to garner political freedom for his country (ironic that much later on in his life, Kaunda would somewhat be persecuted on the grounds that he was not even a Zambian!) His commitment to Zambia is very much obvious here, how education could help in forging the country ahead (Kaunda whilst in power did start wholesale changes/innovations in the educational sector)

Kaunda met the young lady - Betty - who would become his wife early in life, and they were to be together as man and wife for some 60 years, before her death. In this work, we see the hard work Kaunda and his then political colleagues put in, the meetings, the strategies, the sacrifices including incarceration - with the patent vision in sight: the political independence of Zambia. The latter country has now been "free" for well over 50 years; but we can look back on the genesis (generally) in this book