By M.O.Ozah

The Last Dictator authored by Ned Tony Emeni, is hard cover book with 1029 pages that is in the same size category as the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

The author of this daunting exercise in literary adventure captures the ugly political situation that bedeviled the Nigerian nation between 1979 and 2011. A bold statement on the failure of leadership, The Last Dictator examines the political intrigues of the military and political class which was hinged principally on tribal sentiment and how these rubbed off negatively on the society by stalling the development of true democracy and social progress.

The central theme of the book is power and responsibility as they affect political governance in Nigeria. The novel chronicles the gross abuse of power and privilege, the corruption, bloodshed, moral and social decadence that characterize leadership and the general disillusionment with post-colonial political irresponsibility or rascality.

Thus, like in his debut novel, Daybreak Massacre, which captured the infamous massacre of Obiaruku residents by police following a mob action that burnt down the police station for failure to respond to distress calls during a bank robbery, the author deployed his incisive skill at the service of the oppressed citizenry and has proved to be not just a writer or novelist but a chronicler of socio-political events and a crusader for positive change and social justice. The immoral and corrupt whirlpool into which the nation has descended was such that society was reduced to a jungle where might was right and survival was the natural preserve of the fittest; where injustice was the order, the rule, rather than the exception and “monkey dey work and baboon dey chop”.

The book examines several major social and political events in Nigeria between 1979 and 2011, capturing all the military coups which shocking, never-before-heard revelations. The stiffling grip of the Kaduna mafia oligarchy on political power and attempts by “General Olani” to break this hold on power, the creation of states, Ecomog military intervention in Liberia, June 12 election annulment and the complicity of the international community and selfish local politicians, the gagging and driving underground of the press and human rights activists, interim government, the decay, rot and corruption in government parastatals, civil service and police, decaying facilities like roads and other infrastructures, the rot in the educational system, Boko Haram, election rigging and environmental issues like erosion and flooding are major features or highlights of the book.

In spite of these challenges, political office holders carried on as if all was well, being more interested in seeking re-election even against constitutional provisions and procedures than seeking the public good. The author also captured the complacency of the citizenry in what he called the ridiculous political awareness of Nigerians.

The author adopted a prosaic and satirical style of writing to interweave fiction and nonfiction. His critical and combative take on the military juntas in particular and leadership in general are in line with modern approach of literature as tool for protest, assertion, emancipation and self re-evaluation. The intricate weaving and application of highly sensitive, sometimes classified, materials and the marriage of strands of contemporary experience with historical antecedents went a long way to prove the writer as a master craftsman.

The Last Dictator has a compelling pull that prods the reader into searching for answers to the broad question of political leadership in Nigeria. Notwithstanding a few literary and grammatical imbalances,  the book is a must read and I recommend it to all, particularly to the conscious Nigerian.