ṢẸ̀GÍLỌLÁ ARÓMIRẸ́ ÒGÌDÁN – A RICHLY IMAGINED FICTIONAL WORLD OF MORAL COMPLEXITIES

ṢẸ̀GÍLỌLÁ ARÓMIRẸ́ ÒGÌDÁN – A RICHLY IMAGINED FICTIONAL WORLD OF MORAL COMPLEXITIES.

Written by – Tóyọ̀sí Kafilat Fáshọlá

As an avid book reader, once in a while, you come across a book you know you will not be forgetting in a while; Ṣẹ̀gílọlá Arómirẹ́ Ògìdán is such a book. Every page is filled with a promise of something else to come and when you are done with it, you keep thinking about it. It lingers in your mind long after you have closed the final page. 

The author narrates a story of love, trust, betrayal and disbelief, leaving you with a heart full of anger. The book shows the extent humans will go for greed, love and revenge. A great book, to me, is a book that is able to provoke emotions in us and Ṣẹ̀gílọlá Arómirẹ́ Ògìdán easily falls into that category. 

Ṣẹ̀gílọlá Arómirẹ́ Ògìdán by Àrẹ̀mọ Yusuf Àlàbí Balógun tells the story of Ṣẹ̀gílọlá, the eponymous character as she navigates the consequences of her decisions and what her heart wants. It tells the story of each character and how their action affects others deliberately or otherwise, ranging from Ṣẹ̀gílọlá herself to Gbénga to Chief Kànràn to Ṣẹ̀gílọlá’s mother to Alfa Ayégbajẹ́jẹ́ and his mom to Bẹ́wàjí to Ẹnitàn to Afọlákẹ́ and Lateef and how their journey interweave with Gbérìn and Bàbá Toheeb amongst others. SAO is a testament to how riveting one’s action or inaction can affect another one.

The central theme in this book is love but love with a twist. Ṣẹ̀gílọlá loved her man while Gbénga loved his ambition. How then can love make one this angry? It shows the chaotic nature of love and the unpredictable actions this love is capable of inspiring. Ṣẹ̀gílọlá, at the heart of the story expresses the full spectrum of human emotions from love to trust, to joy, to anguish, to betrayal, to sadness, to bitterness and in a turn of event, right back at love again. It leaves one with many questions such as why? Why would she make such choices? How can she do that after everything she went through? Would it have been different if she made different choices or there is no escaping fate as written unto her? It makes one think about how a single decision can affect the trajectory of not only one’s life but also the life of others intertwined with theirs.

Gbénga, on the other hand, has far greater sins than the betrayal of trust, and just when you are excited that he has faced the consequences of his actions, a twist that shows you that the characters are complex yet simple comes up to shove that off the shelf. Is the tale of Gbénga serving as a cautionary tale to check human’s ambitions, greed and cruelty? There is no background to his story and therefore, no excuse for his actions but what could have made him make such decisions? Why did he make those choices? Gbénga’s life choices and beliefs are also seen in the life of Ẹnitàn and it makes one wonder if the vicious cycle can ever get broken.

Bẹ́wàjí is the perfect example of the proverbial person that “keeps blood within and spits out saliva”. She has a dark secret that is hidden, deep down. Is she justified? Did she do the right thing or she just had to survive? What are the consequences of guilt and silence?

In Afọlákẹ́’s character, we are able to see the need to heal from past trauma, so as to move forward. While she loves her husband in her own ways, she is still trapped in a vicious cycle of hurt and anger. She is a character weighed down by her past pain and trauma, hence feeling the need to destroy any good relationship and she is also constantly in a state of inner turmoil. When I needed her to talk sense into her friend, she suddenly decides to become a good person. Her journey is one of survival, literally.

Lateef’s tale leaves one wondering whose fault was all that happened to him. His parents? Himself? The women around him? Could he also have made other choices? Plus who does he think he is; Superman?

In Ṣẹ̀gílọlá Arómirẹ́ Ògìdán, love and hatred coexist as the two sides of a coin, same as anger and even more anger coexist in the same manner. It serves as a poignant reminder of moral complexities of human emotions such as love, trust, betrayal, greed and the results of choices made by individuals. 

Personally, I am always looking forward to a Yorùbá book and this gives me immense joy as the book was written by a youth in pure, undiluted Yorùbá language. This makes my heart giddy with joy. It has been a while that I had been thirsting for fresh Yorùbá texts that denotes the new world in a compelling narrative and reading Ṣẹ̀gílọlá Arómirẹ́ Ògìdán from Àrẹ̀mọ Yusuf Àlàbí Balógun was like a gulp of fresh water. It has been a while that I wanted to read a “new-generation” Yorùbá author as I feel the need for younger authors in the Yorùbá literary world, so this book is a welcome development, as it serves as a door to usher in new Yorùbá books. The author’s writing style is simple yet evocative. The story develops at a good pace and it is written in such a way that you keep opening the next page until you are done. Throughout the story, the plot advances in an unpredictable manner, leaving you wanting to anticipate what comes next. It is simply one of the best books I have read. 

The book is a rollercoaster of emotions as it takes one through the mushy feelings of love to pain and hurt and sadness and anger. From the first page to the final page, it transports you into the world of the characters and takes you on an emotional journey in the life of the characters. The unexpected twist towards the end of the book is thought-provoking and infuriating. What makes it more exciting is how the plot unfolds with such unpredictability. The titular character, Ṣẹ̀gílọlá, makes such decisions that will make you ask the question, “why?”. In hindsight, I have been able to see that her decisions may not be entirely bad, if she was dealing with someone that reciprocated the feelings and actions, so it makes one wonder how she kept making those decisions when she could see the actions or inactions she got back. Maybe, we are all a little like that? 

A scene that lingers in my mind is when Segilola was in Rayiys’s house and out of all the requests she could make, she made the one that leaves one in disbelief. Is this truly love or what can one call it?

I have never read a book that left me with so many emotions before. The author really used his pen to evoke different emotions and it was beautifully done. Being a first-time author of a Yorùbá novel, the author did an amazing work in bringing the characters to life and needless to say, I will be thrilled to read more books from this author. If you are in search of a character-driven Yorùbá story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, page after page (while not feeling rushed) with unexpected twists, deep meanings and richly-imagined fictional world, then Ṣẹ̀gílọlá Arómirẹ́ Ògìdán is a must-read for you. It is a masterful work of art and I surely recommend it. If the search is for a genre-bending book with complex (yet relatable) characters and many unexpected twists and happenings that will keep you opening the next page at a fast speed, then Ṣẹ̀gílọlá Arómirẹ́ Ògìdán by Àrẹ̀mọ Yusuf Àlàbí Balógun is a must read for you.