TENANTS OF THE HOUSE 

Wale Okediran

Now available for the first time in print and e-book form in the US/North America, Tenants of the House is a skillful depiction of the ugly colors of Nigerian politics unveiling the intrigues, chicanery, 'win at all cost' motivations and money which provide the driving forces behind the country's political and legislative processes. The book is a fictionalized account of the author's experiences while serving in the country's House of Representatives. It presents with gripping suspense a shrill voice of a nation in dire need of political renewal and rebirth

"The author, who served as an honourable member between 2003 and 2007, manages to fictionalise the events in the House of Representatives in a well-paced, bold novel with flowing and unpretentious narrative. Tenants of the House is a very interesting and revealing read built on an intriguing plot that engages the reader and guarantees the pages keep turning until the very last. It is one of the most exhilarating novels out there.

-- Abubakar Adam Ibrahim

Winner of the 2007 BBC African Performance Competition.

Sentinel Nigeria OnlineMagazine of Contemporary Nigerian Writing Issue #2, May 2010

"In Okediran's Tenants of the House, we are introduced to a terribly disoriented society, where there is much conflict between rhetoric and action, appearance and reality, individual and society, and this is reproduced not only among the political elite but also at all strata of society. .... 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. The point has been made ad nauseam that a critical causative factor in Nigeria, nay Africa's underdevelopment, is the failure of the leadership elite; their graft and greed, lack of enlightenment, and viciousness, made worse by their alienation from the reality and the people they are supposed to lead.

-- Reuben Abati

Chairman Editorial Board, The Guardian newspaper, Nigeria

THE AUTHOR

Wale Okediran is well known for his essays, short stories and novels which are deeply rooted in the contemporary Nigerian society in which he lives.

In 1990, his poem, Call to Worship, won a book prize of the American Poetry Association contest while his novel, The Boys at the Border, was shortlisted for the 1991 Commonwealth Literature Prize. Indeed, most of his works have been shortlisted for awards or are actually award-winners. His novel, The Rescue of Uncle Babs, won the 1998 ANA Prize for Children's Literature while Dreams Die at Twilight was shortlisted for the NLNG Nigerian Literature Prize in 2004. In the same year, Dreams Die at Twilight was adjudged one of the 25 best books of the last 25 years in Nigeria by Spectrum Books Limited. In 2005, Strange Encounters won the ANA Fiction Prize while The Weaving Looms was shortlisted for the 2008 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.

Okediran, who is a medical doctor, served as Member of the Federal House of Representatives, Abuja, Nigeria between 2003 and 2007. He was the National President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) from 2005 to 2009.

Subject Categories

Biography, Fiction/AFRICA

Paperback Trim Size: 5.5 X 8.5 Page Count: 246pp ISBNs: 0-9766941-6-6 (10 digit) 978-0-9766941-6-8 (13-Digit)

First Published in Nigeria in 2010 by Nelson Publishers Ltd., Jericho Road Ibadan

Subject Categories

Biography, Fiction/AFRICA

e-book format: ISBNs: 0-9766941-6-6 (10 digit) 978-0-9766941-6-8 (13-Digit)

First Published in Nigeria in 2010 by Nelson Publishers Ltd., Jericho Road Ibadan