Lagos:  The presentation couldn't have gone any other way given the content of the book. Commentaries on happenings in the nation's political sphere - especially the continued absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua, away in Saudi Arabia on health grounds since November 23, 2009 - dominated the discourse on Thursday, January 28, when Wale Okediran presented his latest novel, ‘Tenants of the House' at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Okediran was a member of the Federal House of Representatives on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy from 2003 to 2007, and the novel is a factional account of his term in the House. Politicians belonging to the author's Action Congress (AC) party, progressives and members of interest groups including the Nigerian Bar Association, candidly appraised developments in the Nigerian state and politics at the occasion.

Ring of familiarity

Gbenro Adegbola, Managing Director of Nelson Publishers Limited, publisher of the work, sidestepped politics but Toyin Akeju who represented the chair of the occasion, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, did not. Adegbola said ‘Tenants of the House' is "one of the most engaging books I've read in the last three months."

The publisher touched on Nelson's antecedents in Nigerian publishing. He revealed that Evans Publishers, which acquired Nelson some years ago, decided to keep Nelson separate in order to maintain its tradition of excellence in publishing.  "We know the tenants but we don't know what they are doing. The book is a key to what is happening in the House," said Akeju.

The reviewer, Reuben Abati, described Okediran's book as "an artistic portrayal of the enduring challenge of leadership not just in Nigeria's tottering political space but Africa.  It is a haunting portrait, with a strong ring of familiarity and topicality. I find most instructive the realism of the narrative, a strong indication of how so little progress has been made in Africa's development process, and the living, continuing threat of corruption."

Though Abati commended Okediran's exact portraiture of events during his term in the House in the novel, he upbraided the author for failing "to probe deeper into his material" and his reportorial approach.

‘Fertiliser'

A drama sketch excerpted from the work and directed by Tunde Awosanmi further underscored the influence of violence and ‘fertiliser' (as money is referred to in the novel) in Nigerian politics.

"Fertiliser is the soul of politics," declares Honourable Kasali who has been contracted to steal the mace in a twisted plot to impeach the Speaker. The band of unscrupulous politicians including Honourable Elizabeth Kande Bello, even justify murder with, "To kill is a crime, to kill at the right time is politics" in a sickening depiction of events in not only the House but also in Nigeria.

Moral politics

Olorunnimbe Mamora, AC caucus leader in the Senate who tried unsuccessfully to differentiate between the Senate and House throughout the event, was the first to touch on Mr Yar'Adua's absence. He described the situation as "treason." He added that, "Nigeria is being governed in a manner that is not consistent with the Constitution."

The politician who was one of the many alumni of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Okediran's alma mater, at the event, also made a case for morality. He argued that contrary to the belief of Nigerians, there is morality in politics.  "The basis of any just society is morality. I'm not aware of any religion that preaches immorality."

Mamora also encouraged honest Nigerians to join the political train.

Another Ife old boy and President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Rotimi Akeredolu, urged Nigerians to stop being docile and become involved in governance. "The only thing democracy gives us is the power to choose our leaders. Nigerians must stand up, we should stop being docile."

Former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye and Kayode Soremekun of the Department of Political Science, University of Lagos, toed Akeredolu's path. "We are faced with a failed nation. The failed nation syndrome is already there with us," said Agunloye.

Soremekun, Okediran's ‘squatter' for three years at Ife said that though it was a book launch, it felt like "a funeral ceremony, funeral ceremony for the Nigerian State." The duo asked Nigerians to rise up and stop being docile. Writer Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo's views were not different. She promised to include the book on the reading list for her students at the University of Lagos so its message can reach more Nigerians.

Immoral all

Poet Odia Ofeimun made people laugh with his candour about the author.  "Before Okediran started writing the book," Ofeimun began. "I told him if you know you can't tell the truth, don't write it. So, he decided that the truth cannot be told as fact; it has to be told as fiction. Reading through it, I also noticed he is being very careful to be a good reporter. I can assure you he was honest in one thing; both the narrator and the narrated are equally immoral, they are people you wouldn't like to touch."

The poet advised Nigerians to take interest in politics because their apathy makes politicians unaccountable.  "If you are one of those who don't join politics because it's a dirty game, you are one of those perpetuating this culture. A true citizen pays tithe to the party the way he pays tithe to the church," he noted.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, an AC member of the House decried godfatherism in Nigerian politics. She noted that Okediran and a number of others didn't return to the House in 2007 because a godfather somewhere didn't like their faces. Like Ofeimun and others, Dabiri-Erewa said, "As long as we don't take our destiny into our own hands, say no to oppression, things won't change." She later read an excerpt from the book.

Fiction as truth

The governor of Ondo State and another alumnus of Ife, Segun Mimiko, noted that though ‘Tenants of The House' "is conveniently packaged as fiction, it tells a lot of stories about who we are."

He argued for electoral reforms.

"The irreducible minimum for us to start talking about democracy is that we must all decide that there must be credible elections in Nigeria. Otherwise, we will just be deceiving ourselves... Until we have credible election, we will be groping in the dark."

He reiterated that intellectuals should become active in politics and not just talk. "Odia, go and run for Senate, we will support you," he told the poet. "Why not president, I want to be president,"

Ofeimun riposted from the floor.  The publication of the book, the author told the gathering is, "the fulfilment of a six year project."

He added that writing the book was a burden he carried into the House because other writers demanded that he return from the House with a story.  The former president of the Association of Nigerian Authors also disclosed that though he wanted to write a true account of his stay in the House, he had to fictionalise it because of its explosive content.  A five-city tour including Ibadan (held on Saturday), Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Kano, he added, would be held for the book.