TEBOGO IN THE THICK OF THINGS. By Omoseye Bolaji

A review by Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga

Another fine literary book of the prolific African writer Omoseye Bolaji is currently out with some stunning popularity.  The book among many other things is exhilarating, it is a book that the literati may enjoy exceedingly and the general lovers of literature would like to own.  This year alone we have witnessed a plethora of books being churned out in the Free State. 

The book Tebogo in the thick of things comprises two famous two books written by Omoseye Bolaji.  They are popularly known as Tebogo and the Ephithalamion, and Tebogo and the Pantophagist.  Enthusiastically the combination of the known mystery series created by Omoseye Bolaji has a lot of excitement to provide.  Although most of Omoseye Bolaji work is known on the grassroots level and internationally but his mystery series have gained gigantic and interesting publicity.  Apparently among his books the Tebogo Mokoena mystery series has been the one which the protagonist used his prodigious zeal to create such awesome literary fiction.   In the new book Pule Lechesa (Literary Critic) has written a gripping introduction:

“How well I remember my unbridled glee when I discovered the "Tebogo Mystery Series many years ago in Ladybrand libraries! My exhilaration increased when I realised the series was based in the Free State!  I devoured the early adventures, and as subsequent episodes were churned out I read them - many times over.”

The Tebogo mystery series has been appreciated by many literary pundits.  And in particular it has been reviewed and studied by literary experts and critics.  In particular the compendium titled OMOSEYE BOLAJI, put together by Hector Kunene contains extraordinary reviews about Omoseye Bojali Mystery books.  On the very same book on pages 48, 50 and 52 Pule Lechesa, Peter Moroe and Paul Lothane wrote remarkable reviews on the book Tebogo and The Epithalamion.  Lothane gave special attention on ‘folksiness in the Tebogo and the epithalamion’. Pule Lechesa in his own review stated clearly that "for the average reader or even many critics like me the first thing that comes to mind is: what is the epithalamion.  We learn that an epithalamion is or was a sort of song or poem in celebration of a bride/wedding.”

Secondly Peter Moroe also wrote significantly in his review "Although probably the worst book in the series, this is another very readable edition of the adventures of Tebogo Mokoena the private investigator.  Regular readers of the series would be thrilled.”  Thirdly, Paul Lothane also wrote "The important thing is how a chord of folksiness on the part of the people runs through this work.  There is a strong, unforced feeling of camaraderie and bonhomie- in part also typified by the many jokes, smiles and grins-in Tebogo and the Epithalamion.  A feel good factor is reinforced despite the mystery involved; and it is almost as if we black Africans are reclaiming our heritage in the new Millennium…”

Excitingly enough in the same book by Hector, Peter Moroe on page 88; and Pule Lechesa on page 96 also provide thrilling review on the book Tebogo and Pantophagist.  Peter Moroe asserts that the book "Tebogo and the Pantophagist is the seventh book featuring the adventures of Tebogo Mokoena, the Free State based sleuth created by Omoseye Bolaji.  And this new edition is also readable.”  In the meantime Pule Lechesa concentrated on football, a favorite sport of author Omoseye Bolaji.  Lechesa emphasized that "This story is less complicated than the others and the elements of mystery are mainly concentrated in chapters one, and nine.  But here I want to emphasis the aspect of the football loving side of the author that emerges again in this new work.  Bolaji has published countless articles on soccer football over the years in newspapers and magazines all over the world.  In fact he was one of the first black African to contribute lengthy articles on football to the British based international magazine, World Soccer.  It is no surprise that sometimes his love for the sport emerges clearly in his work.”

Quite significant is the combination of this “two into one book” edition; ie Tebogo in the thick of things.  Obviously the mystery book created by Bolaji has been respected worldwide.  Patently it deserves special recognition.  Perhaps I might be misunderstood as one who just ‘worships and praise’ the great achievement of Omoseye Bolaji literary work.  Honestly, I mostly enjoy reading Omoseye Bolaji books and I have relished them in the most exhilarating way.  I am grateful for the publication of the book, its introduction by the critic Pule Lechesa is piquant.

Imperatively in the introduction he magnificently explains how Omoseye Bolajis literary mystery series is considered as rather unique especially produced by black African writer. The mystery books of Omoseye Bolaji are worth reading.  In the first paragraph in the introduction Pule Lechesa said "Mystery/Detective fiction is an integral part of western writing and literature.  We all know world famous names, protagonist like Sherlock Holmes (created by Conar Doyle), and Hercule Poirot (created by Agatha Christie).  Over the centuries, so many such writers and their sleuths have emerged in the western world.  Research into what we might call the Africa equivalent of Mystery/Detective genre or series will easily reveal that authentic black authors in this wise are very much thin on the ground.  Indeed the two (arguably) most famous African writers of this ilk are both white- Alexander McCall Smith, and Pepetela.

Conspicuously, Omoseye Bolaji is one of the few prolific African writers who have managed to create the most admired mystery series books based on Tebogo Mokoena, the fictional Free State townships sleuth.  At the launching of Tebogo and the Pantophagist the protagonist Omoseye Bolaji (in his book, Miscellaneous writings (page 53) says: "It rather excites me that the Tebogo Mystery series is almost ten years into since inception!  The first one I wrote and published was Tebogo Investigates(2000); this has now been followed by Tebogo's  Spot of brother (2001) Tebogo Fails (2003), Ask Tebogo (2024) Tebogo and the Haka (2008), Tebogo and the epithalamion (2009); and now Tebogo and the pantophagist. (Of course Tebogo and the bacchae was to come out in 2010)

I believe the Tebogo Mokoena Mystery is the most profound ever produced literary work by Omoseye Bolaji.  It has received many excellent reviews from prolific writers and critics and it can be found in many libraries and on the internet.  The outstanding Petro Schonfeld has set the record straight by producing a very fine enchanting study based on the Tebogo Mokoena Mystery series.  It can be more exciting to see many studies produced and made about Tebogo Mokoena Mystery series.

Lastly on Bolaji's literary legacy, the well known literary critic Raphael Mokoena posits: “What will Omoseye Bolaji's main legacy be as regards African literature?  Few would disagree that it is mainly his striking contributions to the Mystery/Detective fiction that many will continue to cherish him for…”

Pule Lechesa writes on literary snippets in Omoseye Bolaji's It couldn’t matter less

Book: It Couldn't Matter Less


Author: Omoseye Bolaji

Isbn: 978-0-620-55980-5

It is stating the obvious now to say that a thread of literary allusions always runs through virtually all Omoseye Bolaji’s published works – his new book, It Couldn’t matter less (2013) is no different. A number of literary commentators have over the years written about this aspect (1)

It couldn’t matter less contains almost 50 short essays – “shorter writings’ of the author penned in recent times. This of course reminds us of the earlier work Miscellaneous Writings (2011) which was very much the same. The topics treated are disparate in their range, breadth, approach and quality.

There are many references to the world of literature, African and international, in the book. There are also direct quotations from the works of writers, often weaved into individual essays. Some examples here:

“The unexpectedness of my daughter smoking gave me a shock . A woman’s mouth exhaling the acrid smell of tobacco, instead of being fragrant. A woman’s teeth blackened with tobacco instead of sparkling with whiteness” (Mariama Ba in so Long a letter)

“The moon watched us caress. It lit over the perfect world of perfect persons, a man and a beautiful woman under its unwinking stare and the stars who winked as if celebrating our glorious kiss. Table mountain could have peeked over the balcony to witness us under the conspiratorial luminescence of the moon”(Deon-Simphiwe Skade in A series of Undesirable events)

“Blessed be the man that spares these stones and cursed be he that moves my bones” (William Shakespeare’s will)

“The people who have the sweetest insides are the think-nothing people and we here try to be like them. Like logs in the river we float and go whither the current commands and nothing enters our insides to turn the sweetness into bitterness” Gabriel Okara in The Voice

“To the last I grapple with thee;

From hell’s heart I stab at thee;

For hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee!” Ahab in the classic, Moby Dick.

The essay, ‘Unsung literary catalysts’ pays tribute to a medley of great literary personnel in African history who are not as celebrated as they should be; figures like Uli Bieir, David Cook, Jacomien Schimper, Alrina Le Roux, Ben Mtobwa, Vonani Bila – although arguably the latter is quite celebrated enough in SA!

The ‘essay’, Interviews with effervescent Writers – the text shows the author’s excitement over the ‘project’ – highlights one of the classics of African Writing, Talking with African Writers, by Jane Wilkinson. Indeed it is an eminent work that focuses (via interviews) on many outstanding African writers from different countries. Maybe one day the book, Interviews with effervescent writers will assume a lot of significance too?

The ‘effervescence of the Nobel award’ once again reveals the author’s exceeding admiration and respect for the illustrious African writer Wole Soyinka. The piece is supposed to celebrate Nobel laureates, such as they are in Africa, but Bolaji’s ‘worship’ for Soyinka mars the piece and makes it rather unbalanced.

Even worse is the piece titled, ‘The lady Bards’. Hardly have I come across such an opening stringent powerful argument followed by a weak, timid conclusion or concession! Here Bolaji initially bravely explains why sometimes he finds himself undermining poetry or ‘poets’, and with good reason too, offering international examples to buttress his point. Then unexpectedly he starts singling out and praising a trio of female bards without even highlighting their work!

This reinforces what I have always suggested that the author has some sort of weakness for women. (2) It also reminds me of one of my essays titled “Pule Lechesa refuses to be carried away by the hype over Free State of Mind’ where I stated that many men find themselves somewhat “intimidated” when confronted by the work of female writers. Is this not the case again with “The lady bards”?

In ‘Profundities of Initiation’, as we read on we do not really expect anything laced with literature; then suddenly the author refers to the great African writer, Camara Laye, and comments: “My mind went briefly to Camara Laye’s classic, The African child which brilliantly re-creates the poignant ambience, fear, dread, pains and travails of such initiations in his old society (Guinea) I suppose there is a lot to be said for Africans still having pride in certain ancestral customs...’ (page 34)

‘An Interview’ contains concise, straightforward discourse on literature – with breathtaking brevity. Most of the literary works referred to here are now regarded as classics; including – Pamela, Clarissa (by Richardson), Gulliver’s Travels, Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde), Madame Bovary (Flaubert), Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Thomas Hardy, Samuel Beckett, Shakespeare, D.H Lawrence, Charles Dickens, T.S Elliot, Joseph Conrad, George Orwell...

In ‘Grappling with malignant hatred’ Bolaji brings in the celebrated work, Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. It is done in a creative manner, yet the details of “Moby Dick’ itself are presented with the usual brevity of the author: “I thought about Moby Dick where Ahab wanted revenge on the awesome whale, Moby dick; he hated it with all his heart to the gruesome end – with virtually everybody on the ship dead because of this”

‘It Couldn’t matter less’ (where the title of the book is taken from) shows how much Bolaji loved thrillers during his youth, in this case the works of Peter Cheyney. It is interesting that a contemporary critic, Achal Prabhala has confessed that he had never heard of Cheyney before in his life until Bolaji told him about him; then Achal found himself buying many copies of the work in India! Such are the disparate influences of literature

The piece, ‘The Behemoth’ illustrates the literary influence Bolaji is having on others himself. Here, in this charming narrative he meets a young South African reader in the townships so much enamoured with Bolaji’s detective series (books) based on the fictional Tebogo Mokoena. And by a coincidence, the young man’s name is Tebogo Mokoena too!

‘Parley with a critic’ features Bolaji having lunch with a critic, Ishmael Soqaga (who published a study on the author) at a wholesome ‘Waterfront’. They exchange ideas. Bolaji has always encouraged younger African critics and even mentored quite a number of them. Soqaga’s potential as a critic and intellectual is evident from in his debut work.

‘It’s festive season time again’ the last ‘essay’ in this collection, rounds off things in neat fashion; appropriately it was written at the end of 2012. Bolaji briefly ponders on his life as a writer, his credo; and reflecting on his latest Lifetime Achievement award writes: “...”The recent glittering Mbali Awards that took place in Clocolan was easily one of the highlights. It was an occasion when I was honoured with another Lifetime Achievement award and it was thrilling to see the phalanx of intelligent people, Black, White and “coloured” gracing the event. There were traditional Zulu and Sesotho praise-songs, or rather poems rendered in my honour. And Zulu regalia in particular can be picturesque!" (page 100)

This is a work in the mould of the earlier Miscellaneous writings, It couldn’t matter less is a very important book; often very informative and witty to boot.
- P Lechesa

REFERENCES

1. See for example R Mokoena’s essay titled “Literary allusions in People of the townships”; and “Literary references in Tebogo and the bacchae” by Paul Lothane. Both essays are published in Hector Kunene’s OMOSEYE BOLAJI (2010), and Ishmael Soqaga’s O. Bolaji: A Voyage around his literary work

2. The Evolution of FS Black Literature. By Pule Lechesa. 2006

Omoseye Bolaji's IT COULDN'T MATTER LESS (2013)

Book: It Couldn't Matter Less
Author: Omoseye Bolaji
Publisher: Eselby Jnr Publications
Year published: 2013

Isbn number:  978-0-620-55980-5

 

"This is a selection of recent shorter writings by the writer, Omoseye Bolaji, following in the wake of an earlier collection, Miscellaneous Writings (2011). Topics or/and individuals treated here include sports, world history, crime, circumcision, metamorphosis of television, Rasputin, Olympics, Peter Cheyney, Dvds, women abuse, Mary Slessor and Emily Hobhouse; Moby Dick, Gabriel Okara, John Brown, You Tube, among many others..."