Wale Okediran releases 11th books

Veteran fiction writer, medical doctor and politician, Dr Wale Okediran has published his 11th book, a collection of 15 short stories titled ‘Keepers of the Tribe’.

Okediran, author of the award winning ‘Tenants of the House’, which is being adapted into a film, announced the release of his latest work through the Jos ANA listserve this week, a news that was greeted warmly by members of the forum.

When contacted by the Daily Trust, Dr. Okediran said, ‘Keepers of the Tribe’ wasn’t the book he had initially planned to publish now.

“My original plan was to do a sequel to ‘Tenants of the House’. However, I thought that I should allow the film adaptation of the novel which has been commissioned to be released before I do the sequel. This was what prompted me to publish a collection of short stories for a change.”

On the 15 short stories that feature in the collection, Okediran said, “Actually the stories have varied subject matters ranging from exploitation of religious charlatans in ‘Holy Michael’ drug trafficking in ‘Just One Trip’, military government atrocities in ‘Keepers of the Tribe’ and marital crisis in ‘The Christmas Gift’ among other stories.

“The target audience is broad and diverse. The scholarly and didactic quality of the collection makes it indispensable for school students just as the entertaining nature of the stories and the gravity of the various life challenges explored therein will greatly appeal to general readers.”

The long period it took for the book to be published has not dampened the excitement of the veteran writer.

“Even though I had to wait for about two years for the book to be released, I am fulfilled in having been able to put into a book, some of my short stories that have been previously published in different journals and magazines,” he said.