The Songhai Chronicle When Vultures Die

WHEN VULTURES DIE BY CHIDI MARTIN OBI Pretty, well-mannered Jidenma Charlene Munonyedi, going on twenty-five, and a graduate of Urban and Regional Planning, has just lost her famous, doting philanthropist father during her national youth service. Months after, she is asked by the executive of a fledgling but mass-oriented political party to run for mayor for her backward Ide Division, an affair she finds pretty laughable given her apathy towards partisan politics. However, with her mother, her fiancé, and other well-wishers lending their hands, Jidenma reluctantly accepts a battle of a lifetime that pits her against the lecherous and yet ever-scheming POWER party kingpin, Sir Nkemena Paulson Egwim, and his cohort. Then their party, PASUMA, begins to sweep the ground in their spirited and concerted campaigning as the motivated Jidenma vows never to rig a vote in her quest to be her people’s dream mayor. Then, faced soon with hostile rivals bent on framing her in fraudulent registration, and even threatening her life, how far can this political neophyte go against a corrupt and ruthless POWER cabal bent on retaining power in an oil-rich constituency? How on earth can naive Jidenma make history for Africa? This riveting tale of steadfastness and conscientiousness at war with corruption, crass politicking, charades and all leads us through the political landscape of Africa. It is an orgy of travesties, at its best and worst, a bold, sensuous and penetrating account, and also a mordant exposé by a young female Nigerian politician.