In Former Millionaires, Sule Abiche, an accountant and a sociologist by training, uses a fictional tale of Adole’s rural-urban-rural migration to illustrate his thinking about Nigeria’s loss of identity and delivers a hugely compelling read which turns notions of what real wealth is all about on their head.
With his protagonist Adole’s journey taking him full circle in his understanding of what lies at the heart of true wealth, Former Millionaire delivers a well-constructed critique on Nigeria’s loss of identity due to the pervasive and destructive nature of foreign but incompatible cultures.
And with storytelling holding immense importance in Nigerian culture, this author uses his nation’s beloved art form (which is embedded throughout society) to eloquently share his rant on the ravages caused by the ripple effects of Western and Middle Eastern ways of life weaving themselves into every aspect of society.
A book whose appeal extends further than to those with a connection with Nigeria, Sule Abiche’s tale will resonate with all who have realised, like Adole, that the proverbial green grass can be found anywhere if you are willing to apply yourself in something meaningful.
“Former Millionaire is about loss of identity largely due to the subtle introduction and imposition of foreign cultures of the West and Middle East on the traditional setting of the Nigerian ways of life characterised by simplicity, honesty, egalitarianism and other virtues,” says the author.
“The new cultures and ways of life have put the local populace in a mix, they can’t operate the new ways of life alien to them efficiently in a manner that would give them the benefits the West and Middle East that brought this their ways of life have and are enjoying. The conundrum buttresses the point that it is hard to be a master of two or more distinct ways of life, the new systems seem to have brought more conflicts and confusion to the local populace than good,” he says.
Abiche says his aim of writing the book is to shed light and compare through brilliant, exciting stories the struggle of the common man in each Nigerian setting as they try to adjust to the subtly imposed systems.
“And then to share how spectacularly they are failing in operating the new political, economic, social and religious systems,” he says.
Synopsis
It is hard to be a master of two distinct ways of life. Adole witnesses firsthand in a dream and reality the subtle erosion of the traditional way of life his community knows and understands and the foreign influences his community is still grappling to know and understand.
It begins with life in a traditional setting at the middle belt of Nigeria, a dream sojourn at the southern end largely dominated by western, Christian way of life and his reality check at the northern end hugely characterised by middle eastern, Islamic way of life. The loss of identity pitches simplicity against complexity. Which of them should, would, could win?
Former Millionaire exposes the predatory nature of capitalism where the rich take advantage of the poor and become an obstacle to free and fair competition. It gives an insight into ills perpetrated by youngsters who are given to youthful pressures to feel important and to have their way.
The book takes a swipe at the various forms of evil in the society today: religious fanaticism, social greed, political scheming, economic manipulations, etc.
