The Trial of Christopher Okigbo

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Written during the Nigerian-Biafran War of the late 1960s, The Trial of Christopher Okigbo boldly tackles questions of Pan-Africanism, the importance of art, and the struggle for independence. In the celestial courts of an imagined African afterlife, the answers may lead to blissful immortality or eternal damnation... After a fatal car accident, Hamisi wakes up in a strange land called After-Africa - an afterworld for all Africans who have died since history began. He soon finds out, however, that his place in the afterlife hangs in the balance. To be allowed to stay, Hamisi must participate in the absurd trial of the renowned poet and solider, Christopher Okigbo, who was recently killed on the front lines of the Nigerian-Biafran War. Okigbo's crime? The offence of putting the military needs of society before his poetry. With the trial taking place in a magical football stadium capable of seating millions of dead souls, and with celebrity testimonies from Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, and Kwame Nkrumah, the stage is set for this bizarre debate. Although thoroughly bewilidered, if Hamisi fails in his defence of Okigbo, Hell awaits them both. The Trial of Christopher Okigbo is a surrealist examination into the responsibilities of art and war and their often uncomfortable coexistence. '[The Trial of Christopher Okigbo is] its own best proof that important political questioning and art are not mutually exclusive.' New York Times 'Whether in speech or in writing, Mazrui dissected and unravelled Africa in a delightful manner.' Guardian