Book Title: Makwala
Author: E.E.Sule
Publisher: Parresia Publishers Ltd
No. of Pages: 326
Year of Pub.: 2019
Reviewer: Uthman Qasim
Reading Saint Sha’ Ade & Other Poems by Paul T. Liam, Instrument of Immortality by Umar Yo Giza Jr, Fine Boys by Eghosa Imasuen, Born on Tuesday by Elnathan John and some other Nigerian contemporary literary pieces that picture uncommon stories of our present realities, one is exposed to the deep inhuman atmosphere people live in. writers have consistently portrayed our predicaments in their creative expressions through styles and thematic preoccupation. These writers most often than not are driven by the passion to influence positive change in the society, thus they perceive the representation of the social realities of their times as a moral responsibility they must bear. Chinua Achebe in his seminal work, The Novelist as a Teacher, highlights the inherent disposition of the writer to correct ills and redirect the course of society. Achebe remarks that the role of the writer is “to help society regain belief in itself and put away the complexes of the years of denigration and self-abasement”.
Makwala presents the life of two growing boys, Ende and Jackson, in a post crisis Kano City slum of the early 2000s. Challenged with the question of identity, acceptance and hatred, Jackson is frequently abused sexually by quirk characters in the novel. Sule shifts the narrative from the norm of women and girls abuses as commonly depicted in Nigerian literature to representation of male rape and abuse. As depicted in the text, male to male rape is engender by violent homosexual behavior that preys on young vulnerable males. The character, Jackson in the text exemplifies the vulnerability of victims of gay rape in an emerging culture of homosexuality. It also shows less projected sexual perversity and predatory instincts by older females against younger males in the text. Jackson suffers from abuse by an older woman and from older gay men. His ordeal is represented thus:
Lara’s long arms came from behind. Jackson felt enveloped. Totally. He squirmed. But her arms were gentle, so gentle he relaxed into the cradle they formed. Then she started kissing him. Hungrily. Slobbering all over him. He was confused, strangely subdued, his eyes firmly closed. She throaty sounds like the ones from the image on the TV. Then in a quick move she pulled down his shorts and attempted to take his small, limp penis in her mouth. As soon as Lara’s lips gripped his penis, Jackson started kicking her head with his fist. (Makwala, 74-75).
Jackson’s sexual distress continues throughout the novel. It would have appeared normal if Jackson was a girl since women have faced this menace in many literary text. Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come justifies this assertion. Sheri suffers rape and abortion which results into her barrenness. Several writers have written about the plights of women in the society but very few have paid attention to the plights of men especially of boys who are often neglected.
Homosexuality features prominently in Makwala even beyond readers’ imagination; Sule stretches the narrative landscape of the novel. Although homosexuality is still regarded as taboo in many African societies and in particular, Nigeria; however, a few novelists have been bold enough to capture this scenario in their works. Sule paints one of the prominent depictions of male sexual abuse as a central theme and not just a side inference in the text. It is seen and felt at the same time. In the text, Jackson is raped by older gay men. The writer reveals one out of the numerous similar cases in the novel where Jackson faces sexual dishonour, sexual debasement by way of the abuses and rape encounter he had. This is represented by this passage:
The tallest and the lankiest among them gave Jackson a devastating slap. Immediately a kick from another got Jackson’s hip. He collapsed on the ground. He felt something like a thick cloth clamping over his face, muffling his voice, tightening at the back of his head. It blinded him totally. He was lifted by four hands. Those bearing him must have been trotting. They stopped. He heard a gate clank open and then close…Almost immediately it began rain. He was pushed roughly and turned on his belly, legs pushed apart. He felt two palms gripping his buttocks, opening them. Something sticky was roughly rubbed in, and then the hardness of a penis stabbed right at his anus, so harsh, so rough. His shocked body stiffened and began to jerk. The boy on top of him kept thrusting and with each assault, Jackson’s body went limp. (Makwala, 64)
Homosexuals in Nigerian literature are gaining huge prominence by the day as several writers are delving into the subject unabashedly, unlike previously when it was regarded as a sacrilege to talk about. Makwala in no small way has contributed in furthering homosexuality discourse by texualising it and putting it in the hands of many readers. There is no doubt that as many readers read the novel, they would not only encounter the subject but will also engage in the conversation. It has become clear that we cannot run away from the subject and it would be in our interest as a society to understand its reality in order to deal with the issue surrounding it accordingly.
UTHMAN, Qasim is a freelance journalist and a language instructor at Primegate International Academy, Kubwa, Abuja.