Writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani explains how 419 scams became the subject of her humorous first novel 'I Do Not Come to You by Chance'. These were originally e-mails from fraudsters who inveigled their victims into parting with their banks details but now '419' has become shorthand for any fraud in Nigeria.

But the poem also asked the nation to take a long, hard look at itself, asking how it created the conditions which led to the kidnapping.Īnother issue for which Nigeria has achieved notoriety are 419 scams. When Boko Haram kidnapped 270 schoolgirls from Chibok in northern Nigeria April 2014, poet Titilope Sonuga responded with 'Hide and Seek', which captured the country's shock and outrage. Fela Kuti captured the essence of Lagos in his song Shuffering and Shmiling'.Īs she travels around Lagos, Wana considers how writers are reflecting the issues and concerns of contemporary Nigeria. In the first of two programmes spoken word poet Wana Udobang introduces us to Lagos: her home city, a megacity, an economic powerhouse and, according to its resident writers, the craziest, most congested, most entrepreneurial, hustling, joyful, energetic and creative space in Africa. A portrait of Nigeria, seen through the eyes of a new generation of writers and poets.

Efe paul azino poem creators