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.
It really portrays nigeria
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