Category: Arts & Life

Title: Of Gods and Their Claytoys

Author: Olatunji Ololade

Publishers: Fabled Muse, Lagos

Year of Publication: 2025

Reviewer: Edozie Udeze

Only the bird that fears the hunter’s bullets gets to live long” she would say. “You are the only one I have. Remilekun, I have no other person in this world. Do not be my source of pain. God gave you to me to wipe away my tears. That is why I named you Remilekun. Let those who are protesting continue with their protests. You will stay at home with me to pray for their safety and the country’s wellbeing”, she said. (pg 113)

With this, Olatunji Ololade has opened up to the world one of the hottest and most thrilling tales of all times. This sensational novel titled Of gods and their claytoys, has shown Ololade as a fabulous and fantastic storyteller. Pronto, he uses his profession, the journalism profession to let the world into the inanities, frills, and thrills, highs and lows, sweetness and bitterness, betrayals and trusts and all that to define the practice of this Fourth Estate of the Realm. It is a strong story, very instructive and it beckons for attention.

Born into abject poverty and almost depraved and deprived and raised by a mother, Remilekun Balogun is the typical story of a man who tries to find his level in a tortuous, thorny and wicked world. Ololade uses Remi and his harsh background to showcase and mirror a child born without any hope. But this child rises surprisingly to the pinnacle of his profession. However that is not even the major contour of this narrative that sinks and emboldens you as you read it. It is the story of Nigeria. It is the story of journalism practice in this clime, a profession which has been thrown to the dogs. It is a noble profession that has been so debased and torn apart by those who are its gatekeepers, those who pay the piper. And those who incidentally dictate the tune and order the pace.

The fact is that as a fabulous and wonderful storyteller, Ololade uses his own involvement in the profession to tear at the heart of the matter. He leaves no stone unturned, in fact he ended up upturning all the stones. Remi takes off well as a reporter. Well into the profession, almost at the peak of it he chooses to go into investigative journalism as a pro. This he does well, he does effortlessly without recourse to the dangers and envies that await him. In the newsroom his colleagues suddenly become his primary enemies, prying into his joys and denigrating his achievements in order to bring him down. Remi Balogun is solid, nonetheless. He is strong-willed, believing in the practice of journalism at its highest height. Even when his own curiosity has suddenly put him in a precarious circumstance, he is still bent on discharging and pursuing his duties most excellently.

His attitude to it all, could be likened to what Paul’s critics told him in the Bible. Your knowledge and inquisition will drive you mad. And truly Remi’s ‘too know’, and too much exposure and strong headedness almost drove him to the labyrinths of destruction. But this is also the thrust and the crust of this story told in very brazen, powerful and articulate style with no holds barred. In it the world sees the habits and behaviours of most people in the highest level of their profession. Ololade makes the arena stink and ooze odours of hate, bribery and corruption.

Born without a father figure or someone who never knows the true origin of his background, Remi throttles between life and death in the hands of his lovely mother and also in the midst of terrible foes and sometimes affable pals in different locations and neighborhoods.

The author uses Remi’s unfortunate childhood circumstance to push on ahead with his story. With Remi’s accidental meeting with the owner of The Sentinel Media organization, Remi equally and quickly situates himself for the huge and onerous tasks ahead.

The story pushes up so many lessons of life. One, your background should not deter you from getting to the top. Two, there are unseen hands that can prop up destiny helpers in most uncouth circumstances. Remi falls within these categories. So the intentional narrative style by the author is to show how determination, resilience, and proper focus with the right people in tow can propel a willing mind on. Yet, Remi goes to the cliffs of it all, hanging precariously, pushing and stepping on toes. He bites the fingers that feed him in the process of this. He discountenances, snubs pieces of advice, distancing himself from such people.

Read Also: Ololade Akintayo receives 2024 global recognition award

Beyond that, he is a go-getter. He is audacious, incurably as curious as a pussy cat. But that curiosity leads him into the deeper foyers of government. His resilience and fearlessness lead him also into the core of government people and how they manage Nigeria. Ololade is tricky; he is a restless narrative expert who uses one stone to kill several birds. He utilizes the opportunity of this tale to zero closer and closer and even more profoundly into the workings of government. He reveals that it is a place where evil constantly prevails. He goes into the government houses, into the seat of power in Abuja and short of mentioning names to precision, thus making the story very interesting.

While you read the story, whether you are strong willed or feeble minded the nuances in it can make you vomit or spit on the system, more so the leadership itself. As an author he spares no one. As an insight expert, given the total revelation of whatever he sees or encounters in the pursuit and discharge of his calling, Ololade is a pro here. He tells a story of how a man’s insatiable penchant for the opposite sex can lead, easily so, to his perdition. Here Remi encounters so many Delilah’s and Jezebels. He could not escape the wife of Potiphar. He shows that it is not wise to trust too soon, throwing all cautions overboard.

He shows that as much as you know too much as a reporter, do not use so to endanger yourself and others. When you do so, sometimes you run into the hands of enemies or predators who want to use you in a very lugubrious way. A well told story, the author is incisive, he is a fabulous creator of circumstances that embellish a story. He penetrates the innermost core of government in an unbelievable way. He cleverly maneuvres through the precincts of political party leadership in Nigeria.

In all, he tells the events with ease; he reveals more than the reader can stomach and then he begins in earnest to force you to think about a revolution. This story can conveniently lead to that. Now here is a teaser; “Remi peed and defecated all over himself. The guttural noise of Ndoli-Edet’s (Charman of the ruling party) laughter clanged demonically in his ears, settling like shards of eyes in his bones. Immediately he saw Remi dripping with urine and perceived the stench of his excrement, he laughed louder, croaking to an interminate pitch. In Ndoli-Edet’s political maniac eyes, Remi saw the dreams of the Nigerian political class glimmer with treacherous intensity. He saw what extremes a man was willing to go and the boundaries he was willing to breach to acquire power”.

He goes on still, describing the ugly habit of someone entrusted with so much on behalf of others. “He saw the consequences of speaking the truth at least in his version of the relative truth, manifest like a sinister eclipse to a brighter tomorrow. He saw too, in profound horror, the beautiful cast of statesmanship he once idealized and fell in love with, contradicting the depravity that unfolded before him. Ndoli-Edet was a vulture that personified the nucleus of Nigeria’s most grievous malady. Remi saw him in true element, a rapacious bulk of all that is nauseating and unforgivable in the nation’s political class. (pg 255)

In order to make this story stick and stink till the end, the author adopts two styles -first person and second person narrative methods. Putting the story in different styles about the life of Remi, Ololade thus breaks the monotony. He also brings people into the beauty of the story, and what it portends for Remi, detailing his childhood and adulthood in breezy and fast storytelling style. This helps to heighten and enhance the suspense and inadvertently curry for sympathy for Remi and his mother.

Ololade tells the story of his loss of his mother with professional encumbrances and uncontrolled sympathy. It evokes, it touches, it breeds deep-rooted agony. The story places a huge question mark on the social malaise that rules the nation, bus and taxi drivers inclusive. He brings Remi to the points of grace to grass, from the highest point of his profession into the abyss. Yet he presents him as someone who never gives up easily. As he leaves the print media to the electronic media, Remi’s once more gathers his momentum. But this time, he is more cautious to face the new dawn in his life. He believes that one day he will revisit the scenes of his childhood and the circumstances of his birth to produce more stories.

In all, the author does not forget to remind Nigeria that the sentiments of hate, bigotry and others across ethnic lines portends evil for all. But what if the country divides into four -South-south, South-east, South-west and the North? How does this sound even if the book is a fiction. But it is also a faction because most realities of the nation are fictionalized. One should not forget that authors and most creative people are prophets.

Sometimes in the middle of the night when they write, they only see angels and spirits that foretell them what happens in the realm. Ololade may have encountered these unseen powers in the process of writing this book. Anyway this is a fat narrative offering of 326 pages, well spiced for easy reading. Yet a few minor typos and other errors must be corrected in the next edition.

This book can serve as a Literature book, a History or Sociology or Political book of Philosophy if well harnessed. A possible award winning offering, Ololade himself is an Associate Editor with The Nation Newspapers, Lagos, where he has won several media awards specializing in investigative journalism where insight is his forte.