The volume seeks to make a substantive contribution to contemporary global transformation debates in an era of “Rhodes Must Fall” and “Black Lives Matter.” It also aims to contribute to transforming fossilised Eurocentric curricula which have insisted for centuries that “dead white men” continue to occupy the central position in global epistemologies on almost every subject under the sun.
As in Nigeria, vagabonds are those whose existence is literally outlawed: the queer, the poor, the displaced, the footloose and rogue spirits. They are those who inhabit transient spaces, who make their paths and move invisibly, who embrace apparitions, old vengeances and alternative realities. Eloghosa Osunde’s brave, fiercely inventive novel traces a wild array of characters for whom life itself is a form of resistance: a driver for a debauched politician with the power to command life and death; a legendary fashion designer who gives birth to a grown daughter; a lesbian couple whose tender relationship sheds unexpected light on their experience with underground sex work; a wife and mother who attends a secret spiritual gathering that shifts her world. As their lives intertwine—in bustling markets and underground clubs, churches and hotel rooms—vagabonds are seized and challenged by spirits who command the city’s dark energy. Whether running from danger, meeting with secret lovers, finding their identities, or vanquishing their shadowselves, Osunde’s characters confront and support one another, before converging for the once-in-a-lifetime gathering that gives the book its unexpectedly joyous conclusion.
Blending unvarnished realism with myth and fantasy, Vagabonds! is a vital work of imagination that takes us deep inside the hearts, minds, and bodies of a people in duress—and in triumph.
The book (Reel Life) published under the imprint of SQS Publishing chronicles the history of public broadcasting service in Africa from a Nigerian perspective based on the working and personal account of the author, Engr. Vincent Maduka, as former General Manager of WNTV, 1973-1977; the 1st Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority, 1977-1986; and, a lesser extent as pioneer Consultant/CEO of Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC).
Reel Life is reported to be a masterpiece on Nigeria’s broadcasting history, bold and transparent public leadership, governance and finance of a public organization, and television content as a tool for forging national unity and a catalyst for national mass mobilization and social change. It is regarded as a must-read for all followers and students of mass communication, history, politics, and leadership in Nigeria
In an imaginary Nigeria, a cunning entrepreneur is selling body parts stolen from Dr. Menka’s hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Dr. Menka shares the grisly news with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer, and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne. The life of every party, Duyole is about to assume a prestigious post at the United Nations in New York, but it now seems that someone is determined that he not make it there. And neither Dr. Menka nor Duyole knows why, or how close the enemy is, or how powerful.
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a literary hoot, a crafty whodunit, and a scathing indictment of political and social corruption. It is a stirring call to arms against the abuse of power from one of our fiercest political activists, who also happens to be a global literary giant.
Formation tracks the unlikely series of events and characters that led to the creation of the modern Nigerian nation: from 1804 when the first Jihadists began their attack on a collection of independent nations to 1914 when the current shape of Nigeria was completed as a British colony through amalgamation. Formation challenges the orthodox understanding of Nigeria’s past as merely a product of colonial interference, revealing an incredibly complicated portrait of a nation with a tangled history, where slavery, violence and instability was and remains a primary organising principle for elite competition and political negotiations.
Influential figures loom large over the narrative including: Usman dan Fodio, the revolutionary Islamic reformer and founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Efunroye Tinubu, the prominent slave-trader and political figure, Fredrick Lugard, British colonial administrator, Nana Asma’u, revered poet and teacher, Samuel Ajayi-Crowther, Yoruba linguist and first Nigerian Anglican Bishop, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, political campaigner, suffragist and mother to Fela Kuti, maverick British statesman and industrialist, Joseph Chamberlain, alongside other well-known and many less familiar names. Formation uses colourful character sketches and first-hand reporting to show how local events and characters are intertwined with global occurrences over the period.
In the Corridors is a book about one of the most remarkable, yet largely unknown influencers in Nigeria’s often complicated political and business circles. Chief Obafemi Olopade, an outstanding businessman and long-time close friend to Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has for many decades had the rare privilege of seeing critical events unfold behind the scenes within the corridors of powerin Nigeria. In this autobiography, he shares some of his observations and experiences within those corridors, offering the reader insights into occurrences in Nigerian politics that are usually shrouded in mystery.
Chinua Achebe is considered the father of modern African literature, the writer who “opened the magic casements of African fiction.” The African Trilogy–comprised of Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, and No Longer at Ease–is his magnum opus. In these masterly novels, Achebe brilliantly imagines the lives of three generations of an African community as their world is upended by the forces of colonialism from the first arrival of the British to the waning days of empire.
The trilogy opens with the groundbreaking Things Fall Apart, the tale of Okonkwo, a hero in his village, whose clashes with missionaries–coupled with his own tragic pride–lead to his fall from grace. Arrow of God takes up the ongoing conflict between continuity and change as Ezeulu, the headstrong chief priest, finds his authority is under threat from rivals and colonial functionaries. But he believes himself to be untouchable and is determined to lead his people, even if it is towards their own destruction. Finally, in No Longer at Ease, Okonkwo’s grandson, educated in England, returns to a civil-service job in Lagos, only to see his morality erode as he clings to his membership in the ruling elite.
Drawing on the traditional Igbo tales of Achebe’s youth, The African Trilogy is a literary landmark, a mythic and universal tale of modern Africa. As Toni Morrison wrote, “African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe. For passion, intellect and crystalline prose, he is unsurpassed.”
BOXED CASE SERIES OF THE CLASSIC TITLES – AKE, IBADAN, ISARA AND THE MAN DIED BY THE NOBEL LAURETE WOLE SOYINKA. A COLLECTOR’S ITEM.
Theophilus Oluwole Akindele’s Memoir of Mixed Blessings tells the story of a man whose life took many interesting twists and turns to bring him to the pinnacle of the telecommunication industry in Nigeria. After leaving CMS Grammar School, he worked briefly as a radio monitor and announcer before going to the UK to study engineering. On his return, he joined the Colonial Civil Service as executive telecommunications engineer in charge of the Lagos territory. He rose through the ranks to become Director: General of Post and Telecommunications. Akindele’s account of key events in the political history of Nigeria, being close friends with Ademulegun, Ironsi and Ogundipe in particular, brings new insights to hoithe turbulent events of the first republic and the subsequent militarty regimes ,(Aguyi-Ironsi, Gowon and Murtala Mohammed’s).
Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe’s critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa’s cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man’s futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.
With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.
What happens when you infuse the likenesses, ambitions, and desires of legendary warriors and conquerors with an advanced AI? Well, you get a psychotic android named AVON, who goes rogue and concocts a plan to “reset” humanity!
E.X.O. Volume 2 picks up right where it’s award-winning Afrofuturist epic predecessor left off, as Wale Williams–aka tech-savvy superhero EXO–tries to save humanity! An Afrofuturist superhero story about redemption set in the bustling metropolis that is Lagos, Nigeria–with a creative team that’s also from Lagos!
**Part of the YouNeek YouNiverse! Extraordinary fantasy and superhero stories inspired by African history, culture, and mythology—created by the best Nigerian comics talent!**
Following the exploits of queen and military commander Malika, who struggles to keep the peace in her ever-expanding empire, Azzaz, this historical fantasy is set in fifteenth-century West Africa and created by an all-star team from Nigeria.
Growing up as a prodigy, Malika inherits the crown from her father in an incredibly unusual way, splitting the kingdom of Azzaz in half. After years of civil war, Malika finally unites all of Azzaz, expanding it into one of the largest empires in all of West Africa–but expansion will not come without its costs. Enemies begin to rise within her council, and Azzaz catches the attention of one of the most feared superpowers the world has ever known: the Ming Dynasty! As Malika fights to win the clandestine war within the walls of her empire, she must also turn her attention to an indomitable and treacherous foe with plans to vanquish her entire people.
Malika: Warrior Queen Volume 1 also features bonus stories “Malika: Dragon Trials” and “WindMaker: Birth of a King”—and a new “behind the scenes” section!
Malika, queen and commander of the fifteenth-century West-African empire Azzaz, has been flung into the year 2025.
After years of moving in the shadows, Malika is forced out of hiding by the Olon Jin–ancient sorcerers imprisoned for centuries because of their obsession with dark magic. In their sights is the Fire and Frost stone, a relic that holds the combined power of two legendary dragons. On her journey to Egypt to retrieve the stone, Malika uncovers a sinister plot that predates her own five-hundred-year-old legend as Warrior Queen and threatens to end humanity.
Discover the sights that endear Ogun State to every visitor…another masterpiece from the stable of ‘dayo Adedayo. “Ogun State: A virtual portrait” is an unmissable addition to your collection of narratives on nature and Nigeria from a trusted source.
In an imaginary Nigeria, a cunning entrepreneur is selling body parts stolen from Dr. Menka’s hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Dr. Menka shares the grisly news with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer, and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne. The life of every party, Duyole is about to assume a prestigious post at the United Nations in New York, but it now seems that someone is determined that he not make it there. And neither Dr. Menka nor Duyole knows why, or how close the enemy is, or how powerful.
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a literary hoot, a crafty whodunit, and a scathing indictment of political and social corruption. It is a stirring call to arms against the abuse of power from one of our fiercest political activists, who also happens to be a global literary giant.
Soon to be a Cartoon Network/Max/Lion Forge Animation animated series!
Part of the YouNeek YouNiverse! Extraordinary fantasy and superhero stories inspired by African history, culture, and mythology—created by the best Nigerian comics talent!
Iyanu, a teenage orphan with no recollection of her past, suddenly discovers that she has abilities that rival the ancient deities told in the folklore of her people.
It is these abilities that are the key to bringing back an “age of wonders,” as Iyanu begins her journey to save a world on the brink of destruction! The Corrupt—cursed wildlife and strange, divine beasts—are determined to destroy humanity, unless Iyanu can stop them.
“Our mission is and always has been about empowering African creatives and storytelling while bringing both to a global audience.” — Roye Okupe, Founder/Creative Director at YouNeek Studios
