‘Shadows’ by Eniola Bello

‘Shadows’ by Eniola Bello

Shadows is a collection of protest essays by Eniola Bello, a columnist and managing director of THISDAY newspaper. In the two-volume publ

BOOK OF THE WEEK: ‘Facts versus fiction: The true story of the Jonathan years, Chibok, 2015 and the conspiracies’ by Reno Omokri
‘How to make money on Instagram: The Brand Influencer Guide’ by Laura Ikeji-Kanu
‘The Shadow of Loot & Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Fraud’ by Abdulrasheed Bawa

Shadows is a collection of protest essays by Eniola Bello, a columnist and managing director of THISDAY newspaper.

In the two-volume publication essays, Bello critiques the country’s search for purpose in the first 25 years of the Fourth Republic.

The book provides a rigorous, episodic narration of Nigeria’s democratic journey over the last quarter-century.

It chronicles our “democracy in action”—highlighting the critical institutional issues, policy triumphs, and systemic challenges that have shaped our contemporary history.

It deeply reflects on the complex socio-political dynamics, expectations, and milestones of that period. It covers governance issues such as corruption, human rights abuses, policy failure, insecurity, leadership incompetence, executive-legislature rift, the high cost of governance and the vanity of public officials, amongst others.

Shadows also addresses issues of godfatherism, political parties disdain for internal democracy, electoral fraud, the exploitation of religion, the hypocrisy and moral vacuity of the Nigerian elite, the ethnic manipulation of the people, and the pervasive love of money.