The Bubble Burst

A review by Bayo Ogunmupe The Bubble Burst is the latest fictional genre to burst forth from the laptop of Femi Ibirogba of The Guardian newspapers. It is his first novel after many short stories. First published in September 2020, in paperback by Kraftgriots, a literary imprint of Kraft Books Limited, Ibadan, Nigeria. The short novel is written in intellectual language of the academic community and woven together with beautiful images. Janet Kuti and Sandra Omar became friends on being admitted as undergraduates studying law at Open Air University. Both girls have to make lifetime decisions in the course of their future careers in the practice of law. Ibirogba the author uses conversational language to espouse profound ideologies and imagery. With developed characters, perhaps too matured for their ages, the author describes the academic realities in our institutions of higher learning. The Bubble Burst has 18 chapters, 130 pages showcasing the hurdles, deceptions and pitfalls students go through in our universities.It is an eye opening reading for would be university students. The protagonist of the novel, Janet, wants to take after her politician father. Through campus politics, she learns the ropes to political power. Unlike real life Nigerian political parties bereft of ideologies, the Open Air University political parties are torn between conservatism and socialism. "The socialists had the better manifesto. They were well versed in political philosophy and resolute against all forms of maladministration and exploitation. The members were highly indoctrinated with socialist principles of equal rights and justice; and equitable distribution of the commonwealth. Capitalism was seen and taught as an aberration and a class weapon." Janet would want to share the ideas of the socialists who she admired generally. The socialist leader, Afroman is the one Janet admired the most. The polymath is a law undergraduate, intrepid and versed in the socialist doctrines of dialectic materialism. Afroman was popularly referred to as the Aluta Bulldozer of the struggle and indeed, the most salient Aluta commander in the university. Another activist admired by Janet on the campus was a clever young man, a medical student noted for his wisdom and erudition. Which was why he was nicknamed Aristotle, was so named because he was wise in the manner of Aristotle 384-322 B.C. the Greek philosopher and logician, the pupil of Plato and who was tutor to Alexander the Great. Those who loved and respected him gave him the nickname for being so well equipped with political philosophy and the art of politics. He was one of the greatest orators their students' union ever produced. "He was the Squealer in George Orwell's Animal Farm." Janet was free to do whatever she liked with her life on the campus. But she rejected ignoble behaviour. "Her itinerary on campus was from her room to the lecture theatre and from lecture theatre to the library. It was a deliberate regimental lifestyle. And in the room, when she was not cooking or reading, for she was a voracious reader, she would be listening to music. It was her way of relaxation. Music relieved her of academic tension and rejuvenated her for greater performance." On campus, every student was free to do whatever she liked as long as it did not infringe on the rights and privileges of others. Though there were dress codes, they were usually disobeyed by students who wanted attention. Attention seeking is a common sign of adolescence. "As there were many intellectually sound and virtuous students, so were student commercial sex workers. There were regular night clubbers. They would dress flamboyantly. Ladies were heavily cosmetic. These undergraduates did not believe in industry or endurance. To them, life was supposed to be a bed of roses. Study was secondary on their list of priorities." After all they can buy marks with their bodies. Success in life isn't what you know it is who you know. There were rumours of undergraduates who had their photographs at various hotels with their names, room numbers, and ages written on the opposite sides of the photographs. There were boys who worked with them. They never cared for the consequences of the racket to their education. An epicurean lifestyle these group settled for. Many wondered what university education was becoming. Any wonder, Nigeria has one Nobel laureate to 200 million people while Israel has 14 to nine million people. Our lackadaisical attitude to life will get us no where. The most notorious among student pimps was called Pallad. He had the photographs of all campus racketeers at his disposal. The racketeers believe in using what they had to get what they did not have. Pallad had spent six years studying a four year course before janet entered the university. Academics and politicians did deals with him. He thrived from these deals throughout his stay on the campus. At a point he was arrested, accused of being a cultist. After police investigation, he was freed but warned to stay off crime by the police. "Perhaps misery, vices and social maladies are nor divine. They are the results of how a society is organized. They are concomitants of a system that intentionally destroys everything that is rational and just for self gratification and avarice. When a government cannot alleviate poverty and those in power cannot see beyond themselves, a country becomes the breeding ground for the morally depraved.....Unemployment is the mother of poverty and grandmother of prostitution, drug trafficking and kidnapping. An increasing crime rate is the aftermath of how a society organizes itself." The examinations came and went, but Janet found it difficult to readjust to her old routine. Her sleep became erratic when she went back home for the short after exam break. After a few weeks Janet readjusted. Her total grade in the first semester exam placed her solidly in the first class rating and that became her hallmark throughout college. However, Janet didn't have things smooth sailing. A flirtatious lecturer, intoxicated by her beauty, approached Janet for love. Janet turned him down. However, the tutor found opportunity for vengeance when Janet registered for a course in his department. "Feeling rejected the tutor retaliated and Janet failed the course. But certain of her preparedness, Janet lodged a complaint with the university authorities. The university called for her exam script, reassigned it to another lecturer; surprisingly, she emerged the best. An investigation exposed the agenda of the tutor and he was suspended for one year without pay. The episode perplexed Janet." "She didn't mean to jeopardise anybody's career or income; she just wanted justice. If she had foreseen the momentous aftermath, she would not have lodged any complaint against the lecturer, she thought. "I did not know it would be as grave as that," she said ruefully to her friend." Eventually Janet became a celebrity on campus. Her contributions to the Union of Campus Journalists were commendable leading to her being appointed assistant president of the union. She also won the union's best reporter of the year award. As precursor to her political plans, Janet became active in the Women Liberation Movement. She would think that political and economic superiority complexes of men were artificial and calculated to keep women miserable and perpetuate injustice. Thereafter, Janet contested and won the post of her Hall of residence, Moris Hall. "Politics is a means to an end. And the participation of right-thinking people becomes inevitable because allowing rouges and mediocre individuals to manage the affairs of people will always breed system failures. More importantly, my ambition arises from my intention to better the lots of Moris Queens of whom you are one," janet said. Midway through her studies at Open Air University, Janet Kuti also contested and won at Afri-Theatre, the beauty pageant named: The Most beautiful Girl on the Nigerian Campus from where she won $10,000. But along the way she contracted HIV disease which was diagnosed while trying to help her bosom friend Sandra Omar who had an accident. She even gave her car to Sandra while contemplating suicide over her plight. But she was miraculously relieved on hearing from television that a cure for HIV had been found. This book is good for the adolescent who has just found the sexual freedom bestowed to the young adult away from parents acquiring higher education. I recommend it for adoption as textbook for tertiary institutions by the Federal Ministry of Education. It is a guide for social behaviour. The author, Femi Ibirogba is an award winning journalist. He is currently working with The Guardian Group of Newspapers, Lagos Nigeria. He heads the Agriculture desk with decades of experience in journalism. He holds degrees in Education from Obafemi Awolowo University and the post graduate certificate in Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills of the Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria. I commend The Bubble Burst to your kind attention and perusal.