THE OIL IN OUR SOIL: A New philosophical novel moves to reveal 60-year-old secrets about nigeria's niger delta

A refreshingly new title has been published. It's called The Oil In Our Soil. The new digital book sets out to be using "a non-preachy inoffensive narrative style" to delve into the serious issue of "the remote and underhand influences in the Nigerian oil economy from rear to fore and top to down, revealing among other things how come the owners of the land are slaves in their own homes and exactly how these people, ab initio, never needed to blame anyone but themselves".

The Oil In Our Soil introduces quite provocatively with a damning allegation. "The number one problem with Nigeria is neither region nor religion. It's also neither the people nor their cultures. It is crude oil" it says. That's quite a claim but the author seems rather bold about it, saying, "to achieve this end with profound effectiveness, I have chosen to adopt a non-preachy, inoffensive narrative style. As you go through the twists and turns of this simple narrative, you will personally see the remote and underground factors that have played out in the Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole but which most Nigerians may have lost sight of for about six decades now".

An 'Episodic' Story

Those are really unique content claims. Yet, where you may be in for the big shocker is in how The Oil In Our Soil is delivered. This is probably the first ever 'episodic' novel by which the author Chipfu Igube presents it as a literal soap opera where you read as the thought keeps developing and incorporating relevant daily and historical events. After reading one episode, you expect the next, full of suspense.

But, the author did not mention suspense as his reason for choosing this style. Instead he says, "this is to make each reader find a personal connection with the developing thought process that is the story. Historical and daily events feature at the appropriate segments. This style is also to prevent the story from boring you (since they say Nigerians hate to read a lot. Sorry if I've just lied about Nigerians. But, mind you, great readers become great leaders, especially in this knowledge-driven era of history). Another reason this piecemeal delivery has been chosen is so that you will have time to reflect on each episode or set of episodes before the next one is published. That's because it is meant to teach you very profound lessons about personal and community success which Nigeria and Nigerians have missed and become prey because of it".

How To Access The Story

Is it not now a cliche that "the real taste of the pudding is in the eating"? So, there is hardly any doubt that you'd like to personally have a feel of this new philosophical novel. If this describes you, you can take the following steps to follow the story:

1. Download the Okadabooks Free Reading App either here on Google Play Store (for Android devices) or here on the App Store (for Apple devices).

2. You can either sign up with your Google account or with any email OR you use 'preview' if you don't want to sign up.

3. Use the search function (the magnifying glass icon at the header) to search for "the oil in our soil chipfu Igube'

What else can one say? Enjoy the ride... oh, the read. Thank you.

REVIEWER: Amanda Dowling