Leke Giwa examines Omoseye Bolaji’s People of the Townships

It is now ten years since the publication of the first edition of Omoseye Bolaji’s People of the Townships which in its own way broke new ground as regards authentic representations of black people resident in the so-called “townships” or locations. It is a book which has been fairly well received over the years.

Many writers and critics posit that genuine writers must have a wide vista of life and must never be condescending or look down on their poorer brethren. Else how will they get most of their material or convince with their characterization? We recall for example that American writers like John Steinbeck and Erskine Caldwell were very sympathetic in their depiction of poverty in their works. Even the rather beleaguered Joseph Conrad was able to depict the horrors in the erstwhile Congo in his own classic, Heart of Darkness. As regards Bolaji’s People of the Townships, I must confess though that few critics or reviewers seem to have focused on the underpinning poverty, the excruciating impoverishment that partially produced and influenced the protagonist John Lefuo and his eventual fate. Lefuo is a fine example of a typical poor black man from the townships who has his own cross to carry as it were. Incidentally many of Africa’s finest writers have depicted poverty in their respective environments – like east Africa’s Meja Mwangi for example. Read a few of his books and one is in touch with what we might call grinding poverty in certain cases.

In Ayi Kwei Armah’s classic The beautyful ones are not yet born, published over 40 years ago we see glimpses of extraordinary poverty in Ghana. As we follow the travails and illuminations of “the man” we realize this is a man being rocked with poverty – the “toilets” in his house for example are so bad that the modern reader can not even begin to decipher what is going on. We might also mention Peter Abrahams the South African writer was probably the first black writer to show the world the excruciating effects of apartheid – and resultant disheartening poverty for blacks – in his early novels like Mine Boy.

Now back to Bolaji’s People of the Townships the fact that John Lefuo is poor, very poor is evident throughout the narrative – the book is written in the present tense for one thing. Lefuo’s vicissitudes mainly spring from this background; as he tells us from early in the work: "What can I do? I live in the same house as my sisters' and I must admit with some embarassment that I depend on the family for survival...actually I know their (his sisters') main grouse against me (is) the fact that I'm painfully poor," As the book unfolds we can see that Lefuo is very much the man with the grassroots touch, as it were. As he traverses his kasi he meets – in the main – “ordinary” people like himself; the so-called salt of the earth. Apparently from the narrative Lefuo does not know any comfortable or “rich” people, or perhaps he just does not care about them. We can see he is fairly well read and even when he refers to one of Charles Dickens works, Great Expectations, we can see it is the depiction of poor people here (cleaning, scrubbing) that really interests him. We can also deduce that John’s poverty contributes to his frustrations with the mother of his child, Alice Memela. It is difficult to imagine that if John was comfortable and could easily take care of Alice’s needs, she would be living such a “promiscuous” life. Hence the fiction here mirrors reality – is it not a fact that many women stuck with very poor male partners “stray outside” in a bid to garner a better lifestyle for themselves and offspring? This is only one aspect of what Bolaji delineates in his People of the Townships. What surprised me is that even after a fresh reading, the book still has a haunting, poignant essence. And the convincing depiction of the protagonist’s poverty contributes to its success.

Pule Lechesa reviews Omoseye Bolaji's People of the Townships

The title of this book is self-explanatory “PEOPLE OF THE TOWNSHIPS”. Its motif – the main character John Lefuo, is apparently loitering around the townships meeting old time foes and friends alike before his murder beans are spilled out. This is the centre and the core of this book. Summing up the theme of the book in a nutshell I could say it is all about ‘Societal rejection.’
The outer cover of this book that is a must-read, has a dagga smoking man wearing dreadlocks on whose shirt there are writings that read thus ‘Jah Lives.’ To enlighten some who do not understand this statement, Jah is the God of the Rastafarians. Because of that statement one without any shadow of doubt in his mind draws the conclusion (which might be wrong) that the main character John is a Rastafarian. This book is a vision of what life in the township is like. I think a lot of readers will agree with me when I say that the author has the ability to capture in full the essence of social lives.
The vision that one sees is the devilish interaction of the society and its people. They are still trying to dictate the other people’s lives. They still cherish the sentiment that ghetto-Rastafarians are “jailbirds” and associate them with all the bad things life has to offer. (Incidentally, my wife-to-be asked after reading this book to buy her a copy. But she went further to inquire ‘is the author trying to paint a bad image of the Rastafarians?’) The narrator is not as it is always suggested anti-women. There is the truth that we can not shy away from – some Ghetto-Rastafarians do not wash up, instead they smoke dagga and bask in the sun the whole day.
In page one, paragraph four, John’s sister gives us an idea of what the people thought of our John Lefuo: “People say you look wild, you dress in a horrific way. Nor would it hurt if you washed up sometimes.” This and other statements however do not suggest that John was wild but gives us the wrong impression they had about him. In the same page one we hear that John who seems to be the central character in this book relied on their mother for survival. This is typical of his kind in our townships. They are always in and out of prison. My humble submission to the readers is that they should not think that the narrator is anti– township people. The book is very interesting to some one who has been or never been to the township.
Surprisingly enough the story paints a justifiable picture about the people of the townships. I would like to restate that the book is perhaps one sided, as the narrator (author?) does not talk a lot about law-abiding citizens. His main focus was on the “bad” people only. Yes it is true as the narrator tries to show us that a lot of people’s lives have been destroyed by the women they loved. What confused me about the book is whether the narrator wrote it while in prison. A lot of people loved John as they were so happy to see him. Except the remarks passed by those that he rubbed the wrong way there is no sign of insanity in the way he handled himself. John was quite aware of the stigma “Insanity” that was attached to him. But his response was (I quote): “I do not give a leaf about all the criticisms, the snide comments, and the vilifications. I am not a criminal. I have not killed, nor robbed anybody.” The way he comes out is no different from the way the loafers in the township. It is evident that the author did his homework as the discourse that his characters employ is used in the township by people who smoke dagga . It reminded me of the novel, Maru by Bessie Head, the central character Margaret was not ashamed of what people thought of her. Even though in Margaret’s case it was racially inclined remarks.
Without any real success from my side I tried to reconfigure the etiology of John’s insanity. I did so by judging him on the basis of what he used to say and do. I am sorry to say that he struck me as a somewhat normal person who is so intelligent. I felt that I would be doing injustice to him if I could have chosen to believe what the narrator’s sister thought of him, as we know her for the critic and nagger she was.
John Lefuo is a well-read person. This becomes evident when talking to Lupna in page 31 he quotes Wordsworth. ‘A perfect woman
Nobly Planned
To warm, to Comfort
And Command’
When ever he talked with people there was logic. Women loved him as they could easily confide in him. According to his sister, people saw him as just a stinking person but surprisingly enough women longed to be with him. No woman would love to socialize with a man who does not wash up, more particularly a loafer like John. If the narrator said that he had money I would think that they were just after his money.
I am not convinced that this character “John” was indeed stark raving mad as some people described him. John also confessed:
“I am crazy” I say. Serame shrugs. “Maybe. But if things are falling apart, the centre can no longer hold, we should not blame ourselves. Remember Achebe’s book.”
On whether John was man enough to take the life of a fellow human being: the question that we have to answer is ‘was he a man who could harm even a fly? Let us look how one bouncer describes him on page 16 paragraph 6. “You attacked” that worthy said. ‘This guy (John) always minds his business and is the quiet type. I saw you (he mentioned her name) approaching him at least twice. Now, leave him alone, or I’ll be forced to get tough with you, eh?’’
On Page 54 paragraph 3 we meet one of John’s acquaintances named Thabiso. If you listen to this guy talk you will sense in his speech that he hated women as according to him his failure in life had been brought about by them. According to him his dreams are now a pipedream. He is now always in trouble with the police.
“The haunted look on his face becomes pronounced. The only battle a man can hardly win is women, temptation… you can beat smoking, drinking etc, but women? Because of them my life ambition was nipped in the bud. My greatest wish in life was to become a successful artist, painter,” There was a whine in his voice. “Was crazy about drawing since I could crawl I really believe this was my calling.”
The author has written this novel in what we call in literary terms the “first-person narrative;” in which the main character narrates the happenings he personally witnessed and was party to in a time frame of three hours prior his arrest. The book reminds me of a book by two of the respected African writers, Ayi Kwei Armah “Why are we so blest” and the late joint winner of Guardian fiction prize Dambudzo Marechera with “The house of hunger”. Personally I should confess that Ayi’s was not my cup of tea I only liked his style of writing in “Why are we blest”. This talented narrator (Bolaji Omoseye) has employed the realistic mode by which he is seen trying to provide a convincing illusion of life as we always witness it in the township. By this I believe that the author deserves, to a certain extent a pat on the back. I could easily identify with some of the characters in the book. If the reader has been brought up in the township he can get involved with the events when they unfold. It should be borne in mind in reading this book that the author has written about what he has first hand information on as he stays in the township.
On page 52 the narrator introduces us to Serame who, despite his brilliance and erudition was ostracized by the society. Serame, upon meeting John, quoted Dorothy van Ghent as having once written the following: “A person is sane who is socially adapted in his time and his place, in tune with his culture, furnished with the mental and moral means to meet contingencies, accepting the values that his society accepts and collaborating in their preservation…” We see the narrator’s mind as his writing has leaned in two-folded direction. On one hand he is suggesting that his main character should not conform to society’s standards; on the other hand he has to be bound to feel ostracized. According to his sister nothing good could come out of him as whenever he suggested some thing she used to dismiss him.
I want us to look at the central character and his friend Serame when they talked about how they were at odds with the society. In the same page 52 paragraph one: “Near the stream, I see Serame, brilliant, generally ostracized by society. Over the years he has always said: We blacks must – work like the Chinese did – to build ourselves”. When you read this statement you can see that this black consciousness exponent was a visionary but to the readers’ disappointment the society that he lived in did not see him as such.
Despite how much John’s brother worshipped every ground his wife treaded on; he used to beat her up. John was always a lifesaver to his brother’s wife.
Let us look at page 7 of paragraph 7.
“Which did not stop him giving her a severe, brutal beating one evening. And it was I who saved her in the end, from my irate brother by physically coming between them”
This shows that John did like people, and could be altruistic.
Despite how interesting this book is, I believe that there are some gaps that the author must try to bridge. For me, whether or not John killed the mother of his child can be contested. We have learnt that the new boyfriend was very abusive. When Alice Memela was talking to John she gives us the impression that this boyfriend would be coming back for her that night. When John was arrested he admitted being party to the killing. The way author ends his book is not convincing enough for me as it calls for continuity. I believe that the author must continue with the book and bring the “Perry Mason” character in the next book. Maybe when the post mortem is conducted, it can be proven that she had died of injuries that she sustained when the new boyfriend beat her up. The only evidence that the police have against John is that he was the last person seen with the deceased and the confession he made thereafter.
Before killing his wife if ever he did kill her, we learnt that his wife used to sleep over but he had never beaten her up except refusing to sleep with her as he feared contaminating sexual disease. He once swore on page nine paragraph five: “But I am not the type to bear grudge against anybody. I say the right things-I hope!-then moved to the main road” I cannot justify John’s act of killing his ex lover. The author could have got him caught up in different problems so that we could believe that he was capable of killing. The author had shown us that Alice’s deeds could create a monster out of an innocent puppy. Maybe John could not hurt a fly but his ex-s deeds and indiscretions drove him to do this premeditated murder. This book is so interesting but like I said, maybe it calls for continuity...

RIVETING FILM DOCUMENTARY ON BOLAJI

A special documentary is being made covering the literary feats and galvanic achievements of outstanding writer Omoseye Bolaji. The renowned Big Fish School of filmmaking, via the award winning Little Pond production, in Gauteng is orchestrating the documentary, in their special documentaries on provincial artists and authors. Winnie Mokhomo of the film-making firm says: “I saw all Mr Bolaji’s books and read every book review about them on the internet. And there are two aspects that caught my eye and I was interested to include them in the documentary, which is “People of the townships” and the Tebogo Mystery” series. The documentary will include the literary journey of Bolaji, reaching a crescendo when he was honoured by both the UFS and when he garnered a major Chieftaincy title; and also about the books of the celebrated author. Winnie added: “The documentary will also be about how Bolaji has inspired many people and his role in the community. It’s obvious that he has had a great impact in the community because of his achievements... it would be a great honour to do this documentary about him”. The script for the documentary is already being fine-tuned in Johannesburg, after initial trips to Bloemfontein by the documentary team to talk to Bolaji and other key literary figures in the province. The pivotal role played by the FS Provincial Library system will be highlighted in the documentary. Also expected to feature in the documentary are key FS writers like Lebohang Thaisi, Flaxman Qoopane, Pule Lechesa, and Hector Kunene Pule Lechesa, who has been liaising with the documentary team said: “It’s exhilarating times again...it is no longer news that FS Black literature is world famous with literary protagonists always checking on what is happening here. Omoseye Bolaji has played an extraordinary role in this miracle over the years and it is gratifying that this special international documentary will mainly focus on him,” Bolaji’s celebrated books over the years include Impossible love (2000), The ghostly adversary (2001), Thoughts on FS Writing (2002), People of the townships (2003), Molebogeng A Mokhuoa (2004), The subtle transgressor (2006), Tebogo and the haka (2008), Tebogo and the epithalamion (2009), Tebogo and the pantophagist (2010) and Tebogo and the bacchae (2012)

Book: OMOSEYE BOLAJI, Review by Paul Lothane.

Book: OMOSEYE BOLAJI

Review by Paul Lothane

This is a beautiful book put together by Mr Hector Kunene; proving once again that he is “a real breath of fresh air in the literary sphere” as Mr Lechesa puts it. This is a book that will really put the Free State on the map!

This new book bears comparison with virtually every major study on key African writers over the years – eg Fraser’s study on Ayi Kwei Armah; Dr Adele King’s study on Camara Laye; Wild’s initial study on Dambudzo Marechera; Mary Ebun Modupe Kolawole’s study on the late Zulu Sofola. This is a book that will be treasured by the scholars and lovers of literature for generations to come.

Kunene has gone out of his way to present a most pleasing book – apart from the main body of about 30 articles on Omoseye Bolaji’s works. There is the interesting introduction, revealing interviews late on in the study, an excellent piece by Ishmael Soqaka, and the book concludes with a world class Bibliography at the very end.

The articles, critiques etc themselves cover a wide range. All the books of poetry produced by Bolaji are reviewed. The most visible aspect of his writings; the fiction, is also extensively covered. Contributors like Peter Moroe, Pule Lechesa, Aryan Kaganof, Raphael Mokoena, yours truly, Hector himself – all have their say.

Such an excellent work challenges the critic who is in danger of becoming a “praise singer” as Lechesa puts it in one of his books. But of course this new work is not free of a few blemishes – happily such weaknesses are confined mainly to the Introduction to this book.

Hector, in his introduction shows what some critics refer to as a “butterfly mind” which is not necessarily a bad thing; but he also puts together many contradictory and illogical statements. Let’s take two of them here:

“I even asked him (Bolaji) how he expects to be well known if he was so private and distant and he would simply smile and shy away…”

(Page 17)

Also:

“Bolaji does not strike as a public figure; I continue to question myself how he has managed to survive in this industry that is dominant in competition whilst keeping a low profile. Can it be perhaps that he manages to keep up with the pressure…?”

(Page 14)

Yet, from the beginning and throughout his introduction the author keeps on stressing how much he wanted to meet the “great” Bolaji, the “legend” Bolaji – he repeats this many a time. Hector himself goes out of his way to track Bolaji down. This clearly shows that Bolaji’s fame already preceded him in the literary world despite his low profile. Hector ironically confirms this himself in the following passage which again contradicts what he is claiming:

“Whilst Bolaji and I were journeying the streets of Bloemfontein (people) would raise their fists in the air when greeting him, and in return he raises his fist back at them, smiling…I even feel like I am walking with David Beckham or a Will Smith”

(Page 15)

We should also note that the “competition” and “pressure” (in writing) Hector refers to is largely a creation of his own imagination, or his own approach to life. Distinguished writers like Bolaji who have amassed top quality awards and accolades for writing have a large corpus of published works and complementary studies which already speak for themselves; they do not need to be childishly running up and down “competing” or seeking cheap publicity.

But these are just minor blemishes in what is a stunning, superb work put together by Hector Kunene.

OMOSEYE BOLAJI: BEFORE OUR VERY EYES

OMOSEYE BOLAJI: BEFORE OUR VERY EYES

By Kehinde Laniyan (Abuja, Nigeria)

There is the tendency to perhaps be flippant, or rather to unconsciously undermine the achievements of those friends we grew up together with, went to school with; blossomed into adolescence, adulthood etc with. But I am sure I have never really undermined the writer Omoseye Bolaji.

Omoseye and I went to secondary school together (Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan) and our times at the same University Obafemi Awolowo University (Ile-Ife) overlapped. We have been close for decades despite distances of thousands of kilometres many times.

When Omoseye was conferred with a major Chieftaincy title on Aug 16 2008 by the Olubadan (King) of Ibadan there was an air of unreality among so many. Not because the recipient (Bolaji) was relatively very young at the time to garner such an accolade; not because he has always been something of a mystic (I know the word is rather old fashioned now in our modern technological world); not because his achievements as a writer did not warrant such a high honour; but somehow, those of us who grew up with him could not have envisaged such an occasion.

When we were in Lagelu Grammar School, Omoseye was more or less the youngest in the whole form, though he was lanky from the beginning. He was painfully shy, and for years one could not even imagine him befriending a member of the opposite sex. But more significantly, he loved literature from the very beginning and I must say our form (class) contained quite a number of precocious students.

Those who loved literature in particular throughout our days in school were Biodun Adesegun, Lanre Bolarinwa, Bolaji Owasanoye and Omoseye Bolaji (I suppose I should be mentioned too!). All of us were reading countless general books for leisure then; Bolarinwa and Omoseye in particular were already writing. Because he has always been a very private person, one can not pin-point exactly how many manuscripts Omoseye worked on in his youth, but I have no doubt that they were staggering, even then! It was good practice for the near future when he would become what many would call a professional writer.

It was clear from the beginning that the world of writing was fundamentally the most important to Omoseye. As a shy, introverted person he relished both reading and writing; and he also followed sports a lot. But it was not really the type of sports most people are used to – Omoseye would rarely go to the Stadium, for example, but prefer to listen\watch sports on radio and television. I was a bit surprised to learn later on that he became a sports reporter in South Africa for some years – actually filing in his reports from stadia; I guess he had really grown up by then!

How well I remember Omoseye coming to our house in Ibadan (Nigeria) so many times in those early days. I often went to his house too. We were both teenagers when we learnt how to drive, although I learnt the art of driving before him. Like other youngsters in those days Omoseye would drive the family cars – and his own when he had his – but he did not really love driving (He’s never been much into material things). I recollect driving his car many times when we were on outings in those days; it was a bit strange because he taught quite a number of people how to drive then, and he was subsequently happy for such people to do the driving!

Whilst scholars and researchers might not know much about his early published work, I know as a fact that The Termagant was NOT Omoseye’s first published book (despite what you might read elsewhere on the internet). Omoseye’s first published book appeared when he was a teenager and was locally distributed in Ibadan, Lagos etc in those days. 

The rest is now history, as they say. Most of his books would subsequently be published in South Africa, but the foundation had been laid many years ago during our youth. It was just that his “peak” as a creative writer coincided with his stay in South Africa. He started the Tebogo Mystery series which now numbers seven in all:

Tebogo Investigates (2000)

Tebogo’s spot of bother (2001)

Tebogo Fails (2003)

Ask Tebogo (2004)

Tebogo and the Haka (2008)

Tebogo and the Epithalamion (2009)

Tebogo and the pantophagist (2010)

Other important works of fiction written by Omoseye include Impossible Love, The Ghostly Adversary, People of the Townships, The Guillotine (A complete list of what is usually regarded as his published works can be seen below). Omoseye has published not only fiction, but also drama, criticism, poetry, and other general works.

Apart from the Chieftaincy Award, Omoseye has also been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award in South Africa. A major highlight for him was also when he was conferred with the Chancellor’s Medal by the University of the Free State – all this thanks to his creative writing.

It is also encouraging (evidence of the impact he has had) that many books have been written about Omoseye Bolaji, mainly focusing on his literary work. Authors of such books include Pule Lebuso, Flaxman Qoopane, Charmaine Kolwane, Petro Schonfeld, Pule Lechesa, Urbain Tila and Julia Mooi. The very latest study on Omoseye titled OMOSEYE BOLAJI – written by Hector Kunene - is quite celebrated already.

Oh, Omoseye! I still see him seated shyly behind his desk at school in those days...always reading a story book, novel, or play...his bedroom at home a veritable library when he was just entering adolescence...we his old pals are so proud of him...

BOOKS BY OMOSEYE BOLAJI

FICTION

Impossible Love (2000)

Tebogo Investigates (2000)

The ghostly adversary (2001)

Tebogo’s spot of bother (2001)

People of the Townships (2003)

Tebogo Fails (2003)

Ask Tebogo (2004)

Tebogo and the haka (2008)

Tebogo and the epithalamion (2009)

Tebogo and the pantophagist (2010)

SHORT STORIES

They Never Say When (1994)

The Guillotine (2001)

You never know with women (2002)

The quack of Qwaqwa (2003)

POETRY

Snippets (1998)

Reverie (2006)

Poems from Mauritius (2007)

LITRERARY ESSAYS/CRITICISM

Thoughts on Free State Writing (2002)

Molebogeng Alitta Mokhuoa (2004)

BIOGRAPHIES

The story of Collins Mokhotho (2000)

Gilbert Modise: the man and the myth (2001)

My life and literature (2007)

DRAMA

The subtle transgressor (2006)

GENARAL

Eagles at USA 94 (1994)

The golden pen of Eselby  (1994)

Fillets of Plaice (2000)

My Opinion (2005)