Uneasy Double Attachment: Homeland and Exile in Olu Oguibe’s A Gathering Fear*

Abstract

SummaryThis article reads Olu Oguibe's A Gathering Fear (1992) as an exemplification of the dilemma exiles are confronted with in their relationship with countries of destination and homeland. The article mainstreams the outsider discourse and the contradictions of exiting homeland because of its dystopian conditions only to be faced by situations for which exile becomes less libratory than baleful. To do this, the article highlights the military repression of the mid 1980s and early 1990s under General Babangida in Nigeria, and associated manifestations of dictatorship not only in the despot but also in his wife whose first-ladyship aggravates state oppression in femininity. Considering that a feeling of alienation in the exile ironically underscores homeland nationalism, the article concludes that nostalgia sustains in migrants thoughts of homeland and desire for return.