Armour in Fate
As the title suggests, only faith can offer protection against the harsh conditions in a place torn by civil war, food shortages, and scarcity of medical supplies - with no medicine, no beds for the sick, no medical doctor, no running water, no electricity, no classrooms, no sewerage, no factories, not even workshops — only a continuous cycle of hardships and deaths.
Dotun paints a sordid picture of the harsh ground realities of corruption, nepotism, bribery and administrative incompetence. At the same time he brings to life a true picture of old Nigerian customs practiced in the villages as well as life in the large metropolis, Lagos.
The protagonist, after a direct pledge to God to spare his life, in the midst of the civil war, becomes a Christian and goes on to study religion. Written in a lovely style, this book is a testimony to African realities, especially to Nigeria — a populous country, divided on the basis of beliefs in different Gods.
There is a good story in here but you must be willing to work hard to find it. In this story, the main character tells of their upbringing and the problems they faced growing up in Nigeria. After a direct pledge to God to spare his life, in the midst of the civil war, he becomes a Christian and goes on to study religion. Faith is a very important theme throughout the story and it is that which keeps the main character going through many hardships.
The trouble with this story is in how it’s told. It is quite difficult to follow due to the haphazard manner in which events are described. At some points it is hard to discern if someone else is talking and it jumps from one event to another. It struck me as a story that knew its beginning and end but meandered through events in between without lingering on any one. It lacked the common thread it needed to pull it all together and so it was harder to read than it should have been.
Overall it feels like a story which may not have been written primarily in English and lost the run of itself in the translation. As I said, you must be willing to work hard to find the find the story and follow it. If not, this is not the book for you.
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