The story seemed initially to be an easily predictable one. It tells of a condemned prisoner who was convicted of gruesomely killing Chief Benson Osifo alongside his personal secretary. This earned him all the ill-treatments meted on me by the prison warders. Wittingly, the writer introduces Mr. Akpan, a middle-aged prison warder of over 32 years’ experience became friendly to the pariah.
The conversation that ensued between the duo forms the bulk of the story.As the title suggests: “Too Late for Anything” is a heart touching narrative by Obioha Oti that chronicles unpalatable incidences in the life of the protagonist – David Kalu Udensi. In this fiction which can be mistaken for a true-to-life tale, the writer dwells on the themes of bigotry, elements of church intrigues, the demonizing characterization of ‘’self-righteousness’’ by Christians to fellow Christians and the dangers of revenge.The plot is set in the 90s, this is revealed in the contexts of the pages. The author fixated the timeline with the use video machine game; an analog phone; firing squad (popular in the military era in Nigeria), and the long lost culture of letter writing. The story still manages to hold its own against certain nuances of the 21st century realities.The author explores the use of blackmail as a weapon of physical and mental torture which imposes pain on the innocent suffering in the place of the guilty. He extends his story to national discourse by hinting on misappropriation of public funds for selfish use, and returns to the personal aspirations of men by showcasing the use of sexual overtures as power within the church, a reality that is denting the chastity of the church.Kali Udensi, a budding aspiring minister of the gospel and the son of a senior minister in Christ Kingdom Church seemed to have a good prospect. He was a respectable Sunday school teacher, a fire-brand prayer warrior and a mentor to many believers in the church. Infact, he was soon to be enrolled in the Bible School to becoming a pastor as his mother had longed envisaged.
His eyes was set on the goal. While the biblical David had received accolades for his battles, his namesake, had triumphed over many temptation mean to derail his focus, especially from the female folks. He was always too busy and preoccupied such that it helped him maintain a handshake across the table with female ‘believers’. David was a trained mechanical engineer and professional commercial bus driver, he exemplified the popular biblical text: ‘’ I shall dwell in the house of the Lord, forever’’ (Psalms 23:6). All seem well for the David until the oddities crept in, in the most unlikely manner. He was consumed by his blind trust in friends and brethren, a gross naivety for the wiles of a seductive, and revengeful young woman. David’s fall was great because it landed him behind bars.
The debut novel is cinematic. It has the potential of relatedness to the African reader who constantly comes across pentecostalism and the double-standards within it’s fold. However, the storytelling embodies some unavoidable narrative glitches that impedes the narrative transitions.
The writer’s narration regularly callused in a flashback style is not properly spelt out, leaving the reader to use their initiative to connect the dots. Hence, the question: is this literary work – a memoir or a fiction as the trajectory of the first chapter failed to keep up with the prologue. At some point, the literary work seemed to veer as a cinematic piece. Nevertheless, The cinematic troupe keeps the reader interested in the unfolding life and challenges of a young, sexually active and naive man of God. The writer’s lingo helps to stimulate the reader’s interest in the novel. The writer also has an uncanny ability to explain certain professional terms and complex ideas in the most simplistic form for highly competent users and low competent users.
This brings to the fore a nostalgia of the Aba Market Literature, a generation of stories that explores emerging modernity as a fascinating intrusion of the norms of the people. Nevertheless, the novel should have been exceptional under a critical and developmental editor, who would have noticed some unpardonable gaffes in the novel. Some of narrative possibilities to be explored, and the stretches of events that needed to be left out would have been engaged by a development editor. Perhaps these stretches of events may be effective when a screenwriter works on a script using the 3-acts rule first. The dynamics of prose is such that there is a showing in part, a telling in part and a silence in part so that the reader can morph from being a reader into a fully emotional participant.
TOO The book leaves the reader with a sweet-bitter feeling. The story reflects hope within the corridors of tragedy, bloodshed and deaths as extended symbols of justice. The title is in no doubt – a perfect one. It hints that it is not literary fiction, it is storytelling that intends to keep the readers on the edge till the end.
