Secrets, taboos and more in Yishau’s book of stories

BY FELIX AKINLAJA

Olukorede Yishau’s new literary baby, which he christened ‘Vaults of Secrets’, features 10 exquisitely written and thoughtfully arrayed short fictional pieces that are set in various locations, in Nigeria and abroad. These settings were concisely described with carefully articulated words that created vivid mental images of these locations. Yishau through his work lends strong credence to the claims that ‘books will take one everywhere’ by ferrying his audience in the thought realm to places beyond the shores of Nigeria, and it was an exciting journey.

With the stories, the author explored several themes, familiar and unfamiliar, including but not limited to justice, corruption, dishonesty, disappointment, love, family. And he powerfully blended these themes and made them work productively for the main theme of the book, secrets, to reflect the happenings in the lives of many Nigerians. I wager he wrote some of the tales out of his experience. Vaults of Secrets is without any iota of misgivings a collection of spellbinding, suspenseful short stories replete with perspicuous imageries and told exquisitely with intriguing plots that certify Yishau as an excellent weaver of words. The author weaves stories that kindle emotions just a few writers have the wit and brainpower, garnered through years of incessant perusal of materials and learning, to evoke when playing with words. Also, the ability of the author to both inform, instruct, and entertain, which is conspicuous in his weekly publication in a reputable national newspaper, was employed palpably in weaving the tales – little wonder they arrest attention with ease. Like he did with his first novel, Yishau also addressed many of the ills plaguing many Nigerian societies, from infidelity and corruption to slavery and human trafficking.

Yishau blew my mind right from the beginning with the story titled ‘Till We Meet To Part No More”. In the aforementioned story, we see how dynamic human attitude can be in that a once warm and loving husband turned violent and began subjecting his wife, Oluwakemi, to physical abuse which she tolerated until she exhausted her wealth of forbearance of incessant abuse and humiliation and she did what rarely did, ‘I fought back’, she said. Yet, we realize as the story progressed that the bitter fate of hers which resulted in her death began when she was sold to slavery by her parents at the tender of 14 under the guise of being helped. In the same story and the very next one to it in the book, Yishau indirectly cautioned about the danger of developing an inordinate affection for money – a possession the quest for which can corrupt a man, as it did Oluwakemi’s father and Nonso, a politician turned publisher who maliciously sacrifices truth on the altar of bribery in the story titled ‘This Special Gift’. The Special Gift, the story which a non-Nigerian might find difficult to relate, also touched on the subject of infidelity and desperation – revealing how much people can sacrifice just to keep their secrets safe. Wait, was Yishau hinting at secret-keeping being a lucrative business when you play cards well? I suppose not.

In another story titled ‘The Thing Called Love’, we see a “doting father who really devoted all to his children”, abandon his beloved family for the fleeting pleasures of romance, taking for granted his families’ lofty trust in him, and courtesy of abandoning them to elope with his secretary, brought misery upon his family and himself. It is funny how nemesis catches up on people. Yishau also employed the chance to communicate with a wide audience which his new book presents to teach important lessons by revealing some of the consequences of unprotected sex, infidelity, and having multiple sexual partners in the story titled ‘Otapiapia’ – a tale about the reciprocal acts of disregard for marital vows of a couple. And it is was indeed a delight to journey with Yishau to distant locations in some of his stories. The abundance of lessons in the book, which is obvious for all who keeps an eye out for them, is, I believe, a testament to Yishau’s commendable commitment to instilling good morals values in his audience and re-orienting them for the betterment of the society.

Besides, no one is better positioned to write on some of the themes, such as corruption, bribery, etc., that surfaced in his book than him, as he is a journalist by profession and an avid reader by necessity. His vast journalistic experience and an abundance of knowledge and experience gained from reading were manifest in Vaults of Secrets. While reading Vaults of Secrets, I found myself in an unfamiliar terrain, but upon the completion of the exercise of perusing the book, Yishau’s beautiful work had me searching for more short story collections to munch on. ‘Vaults of Secrets’ established reading short story collections as an exercise I would inadvertently desire to perform over and over, with no restraint at all – having been shown how smooth and pleasant it could be by Yishau. I have always opined that only intelligent wordsmiths write stories that leave one panting for more, even more so when they embraced a diversity of techniques and styles to achieve their aim in a singular work as Yishau did. Yishau wrote stories that triggered my quest for good short story collections, and I became more convinced of his ingenuity. Without equivocation, Yishau is a highly cerebral writer – obvious, not only in his columns in reputable dailies in the country but also in the books. He is a literary giant in the making, I can confidently assert.

Furthermore, I must not forget to mention that the simplicity, clarity, and economy of words exhibited in writing the masterpiece left me awe-stricken. His sentences are lip-smackingly phrased. In contemporary times simplicity and clarity are fast becoming hard to come by in peoples’ writings, however, the author took the path less taken by touching on an all-important theme that applies to all and sundry, secrets, with transcendental simplicity, and did so excellently and seamlessly. Nevertheless, the simplicity of his work in no way dwindles the depth of his articulations. Indeed, Yishau demonstrates successfully that less is more and that the simple sayings often carry more information. In an age where many writers wrongly hold the opinion that to have power with words, the use of discombobulating grammars is inevitable, Olukorede Yishau joins a list of prestigious African writers who with simplicity achieve their aims for writing.

Nevertheless, concerning the book in review, I still have problems with the author though. While Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Yishau’s new book have easy comprehensibility as a common trait, Yishau makes Vaults of Secrets make his book unsuitable for children owing to its explicit contents, and, in a rather conservative and religious nation like Nigeria where sex and related subjects are hardly openly discussed, I wager many religious parents will be reluctant to allow their children peruse ‘Vaults of Secrets’ – a wonderful companion to all categories of readers. The book has a thing or two for everyone irrespective of the motive behind which it was picked to be read.

Olukorede Yishau’s stories are unsurprisingly imbued with qualities that make them evergreen – I had encountered one of his stories, ‘This Thing Called Love’ online before I did again in the book and I was still captivated by its poetry while reading it all over again. If I was asked to summarize the book in five words, I would confidently say: ingenious, spellbinding, dynamic, intimidating, and unconventional. These five traits will stand any book out, and they did Vaults of Secrets. Indeed, the book will remain relevant for generations, and repeated perusals will come with no loss of interest and pleasure. Olukorede Yishau has written books worth reading, the immortality of his name is assured, as Mr. Lincoln has rightly opined. And yes, if a writer does his job well, he will not only grow his audience in number but he will also keep them thirsty for more. Yishau, I am thirsty for more of your works.