Let's Write about Nigeria Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Purple Hibiscus"

First published in 2003, the story centres around a teenage girl named Kambili Achike. Set around the time when Nigeria was newly independent and facing a lot of political and economic instability, it tells the story of her life, growing up in an affluent environment and overprotected by an over-enthusiastic Catholic father.

Answer: "Things Fall Apart"

He wanted so much to prove his bravery that he ended up killing his foster son, Ikemefuna, on a journey undertaken by the clansmen to sacrifice the boy, despite being warned not to have a hand in the issue by an elderly sage. He later commits suicide after things started to fall apart.

Answer: "The Lion and The Jewel"

The book is a play written by Wole Soyinka which centres around the courtship of the lovely maiden, Sidi, by two dissimilar suitors: Lakunle, the humble village teacher, and Baroka, the village head who practices polygamy.

Answer: "The Passport of Mallam Ilia"

In the book, Mallam Ilia is on a train and tells the thrilling story of his life to a fellow passenger (who is actually his son): how he had sought to avenge the death of his wife, Zarah, caused by the fiendish Usuman. He had earlier fulfilled his cause when Usuman fell overboard during their final braul, but he too died on the train that same day.

Answer: Wole Soyinka

Soyinka is known for his numerous literary works as well as his criticism of the Nigerian government, which earned him a couple of years in prison. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.

Answer: Entertainment

The story is very similar to "The Passport of Mallam Ilia". It is about Shehu's search for his child and the desire of Abu Bakir to have revenge on him for coveting his (Abu Bakir's) wife.

Answer: "Half of a Yellow Sun"

The book dwells on the happenings of the civil war from the perspective of three individuals: Ugwu, Olanna, and Richard.

Answer: "Americanah"

The novel, first published in 2013, has won a lot of prizes including the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction. It talks about Ifemelu's life in America, having to cope with being regarded as black for the first time and her new very successsful blog, as well as Obinze's exploits in England and his later success. It was partly based on Adichie's personal experience.

Answer: Dele Giwa

Excerpts from Wikipedia state that Dele Giwa, the co-founder of the Newswatch magazine and a very active government critic, "was killed by a mail bomb in his Lagos home on October 19, 1986, two days after he was interviewed by the State Security Service (SSS)". Yikes, I really am grateful that I wasn't a writer by then, I might have gotten myself into trouble.

Answer: He was hanged.

His earlier writing, such as the play 'Transistor Radio', was satirical of Nigerian society as a whole; his later work became more political and critical of the government's refusal to allow the Ogoni people autonomy in their dealings with those who were exploiting their lands.

Poor Ken, yet another active critic of the military government, was convicted of murdering four Ogoni chiefs in 1994. Encyclopaedia Nigerianna states that "after several months of trial... Saro-Wiwa and eight others were sentenced to death by hanging. To the shock of the entire world, they were executed on November 10, 1995."