In Dependence tells the story of
Tayo Ajayi, a Nigerian man who
gets a scholarship to study at
Oxford in the 1960s, and
Vanessa Richardson, the
daughter of an ex-colonial officer. While it is a story of their love
which spans from 1963 to 1998,
it's way more than that. It's also a
story about Nigeria, its
independence and the changes
that occur in the country post- independence - the Biafran war,
the first coup and the numerous
countercoups, military
dictatorships, the brief return to
civilian rule, exile of Nigerians,
and towards the end of the book the eventual return to democracy.
There are also issues of race,
racism and cultural differences.
We see Tayo, Vanessa, as well
as a host of other characters, live
their lives amidst all these issues. Tayo is an intelligent man but he
always seems to do wrong. He
tries to do the right thing, never
wants to hurt anyone but in the
end he does, especially the
women in his life -
[TO BE CONTINUED]