Book Review

The Ugly Ones Refuse to Die by Habib Yakoob

Spectrum Books, Ltd, 2004

75 pages


When Jude, a former politician, returns to Nigeria with his wife after spending six years in the United States, he’s sucked into the political realm he once tried to escape by his old friend, Esam. This happens while Esther, his wife, rambles about her obsession with the idea of living in America and how she hates the fact that they left.
This drama depicts the deteriorating democracy of a country due to its political corruption on a lighter side. It focuses on politicians trying to establish their place in political power by any means necessary. These are the ‘Ugly Ones’ as they always re-emerge; turning what is meant to be a democracy upside down. They simply refuse to disappear, like Jude. After looting millions from the country, he still showed up again, refusing to step down for good.
It distinguishes between the good and corrupt ones and what convinces them that their way is right. Most of the characters seem to be the same, with the same goals and they achieve them by the same means. They are known as dishonest, unjust, and manipulative and they use these traits to get whatever they wanted. Jude plans to rig the elections and tries to manipulate others into stepping down from their place while the others want to do the same thing. They simply bribe their ways to the top without any intentions to do otherwise, unlike Hajiya Billy, one of the few candidates who stood up for a fair and equal campaign against the others.
Yakoob actually goes to the extent of showing the gender bias in Nigerian politics. It compares men and women in their search for political power and who is more worthy of such. The men make fun of the women for being too impractical by attempting to win by playing fair. The women are very hopeful and optimistic giving them more reason for them to underestimate their capabilities.
I think the book is ahead of its time, predicting a country in which both sexes are regarded as equal and treated as such in politics. Some of these women were petty, like Esther, in my opinion, unlike strong, confident women like Billy who really knew what they were doing and they did so. Billy was underrated and in the end was relentless.
The author didn’t touch on anything that the general public isn’t aware of, although he ended it in a very different perspective. He wrote cleverly, with a clear understanding of the good, bad and the ugly and their place in politics.

Comments

  1. It really portrays nigeria

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  3. Thanks so much for this wonderful story

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