If you can, read to the end.
(Avg. reading time: 4 minutes.)

In the year 2021, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) changed the Use of English text from Bolaji Abdullahi's well-received 'Sweet Sixteen' to Khadija Abubakar Jalli's 'The Life Changer'. This is in continuance of its policy of reshuffling the books read in preparation for primary literature in Use of English.

As a candidate who, due to circumstances beyond my control, I have been opportuned to prepare with books preceding the new text and possess therefore the knowledge to objectively critique 'The Life Changer', in hindsight of other classics such as 'In Dependence', 'Sweet Sixteen' etc. Abdullahi's classic would serve as a rival, not because of any dubious motive, but considering that it was a book I prepared with before the new one.

Meaningless illustration on cover

Casting an initial glance at cover of 'The Life Changer', I was particularly impressed by the artistic representation of a female. I was in doubt if she was sad or happy, remorseful or recalling, but however suspended my conclusion until I was done with reading the book. Even, I didn't know if she was a mother or a girl dressed as a mother, because of the downward look she maintained.

My utmost confusion which is among the dissatisfactions I have about the book is that there is no connection between the story contained in the book and the female figure. It is not Ummi, the major character, neither can it be Bint, Jamila or Teemah. If it's Salma, who we learn is wayward looking remorseful, then, Mrs. Jalli should ask for a refund from her illustrator.

It could be argued that it is simply a way authors draw attention to their works without necessarily intending a connection, but the standard has always been the other way: that there should be a clue about the story from the depiction on its cover.

Usage of words

Apart from this flaw, the book reeks of mediocrity which can only be rendered by a novice in the business of writing.

Obviously, the author possibly mistook indiscriminate use of unusual words for quality writing. Contextual usage matters a lot in one's choice of words, but some words in the book deal one blows akin to those which Burna Boy refers to in his 'Bank On It' as seven box combo on occasions where a simple, every-day word would have done the magic.

Undiplomatic representation of religious and ethnic matters

Once I was through with reading Mr. Abdullahi's 'Sweet Sixteen', I was gushing over how a simple, seemingly-regular story of a young girl who had just turned 16 was able to be delivered so wonderfully by a man above fifty. In the book, the author would introduce us to a Muslim family.

I believe that his (author's) religion would have the upper hand in his work, and rightly so. I am a Christian, but the subtle, guarded messages he passed about Islam made a highly perceptive mind like mine to receive them without any qualm. There was a mutual and balanced representation of interest, and for that, the 52-paged book left a lasting impression on me.

Placing that aspect side-by-side Jalli's 'The Life Changer', all that can be seen is an explicit imposition of the author's religious inclination on readers with different convictions. There is a rather too shameful incident about burial in Christian and Islamic faith.

Khadija Aubuakar Jalli, armed with her characters, fallaciously represented the Igbo, and by extension the Christian reservations on interment and burial. As a reader who had been made wary of such by the previous implicit disgust sustained in the book, I was immediately able to decipher her overt aversion for and condemnation she penned down against the aforementioned aspects in pursuance of Islamic interest.

There is to be seen a petty consanguinity which exists between Salma and Tomiwa that consequently forces readers to occasionally forget Ngozi. A little history is gleefully given by the author of Tomiwa's tribe, but other characters have no such commensurate attention.

A national book must not be turned into an avenue to grossly defend one's views and pursue one's religious or ethnic interests, moreso, in an unbalanced manner.

Outrageous Omnipresence

Another detectable flaw is Ummi's (the lead character's) outrageous omnipresence. Omnipresence in literary terms, especially in a first-person-POV rendering, is the knowledge a character has of events, and by implication, his ability to tell of those events.

Granted, Ummi, the mother of four whose story is formed on her ordeal in school and on an account given to her by a once-wayward Salma, could have logically been able to tell some parts of the story, but not to give details that even Salma could not have had.

Citation
I cite these incidents to support this claim: She gave the name of the thug who trailed Dr. Kabir to retrieve the proceeds of gambling after he had left the gamble table for which there is no rationale; she was able to tell the names of the carjackers, an incident that is far, far away from the boundaries of her knowledge; the name of the phone one Salim bought; the name of the girl the said Salim found online and so many other illogical connections.

In the book, except one cannot identify it, there is also a trace of ethnocentrism and supremacist slurs. It reads like a revenge work prepared mainly to act as a ballistic missile fired constantly at a group which has been viewed as a threat to the very existence of the author's religious and ethnic interests.

Final note
While it is well deserved for a national matriculation and examination body like JAMB to receive questions concerning the approval of such a lopesided and poorly written book, I do not wish to venture into that area. All my interest is in seeing the board approve works that further enhances scholarly inquisition of students, and not one that would take them on a long ride of ethno-religious rigour.

Cc Authority1o1
Olawalebabs, Finestboi, Richiez.
Please, move to frontpage. Thank you.

A first-time critique. How well is it?

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MoneyMusthear:
A first-time critique. How well is it?

Share your thoughts about the book if you have read it.

Just like a story book for primary school students,me I like it that way I don't mind