THROWBACK THURSDAY!! Top 10 Nigerian Secondary School Story Books – Which Did You Read Back Then?

Posted by E.L.E.X on July 16 2020 under Motivational

In the spirit of Throwback Thursday, we decided to take you back to the good old story book days in Secondary school.

Students of Literature back then would know that, reading story books is part of the task back then.

Even though many of those stories were very interesting to read back then, I am not sure the exam is easy to pass.

Here Are Our Top 10 Nigerian Secondary School Story Books Back Then:-

1. Romeo And Juliet – William Shakespeare

This is a tragic love story about two young lovers whose love journey was made difficult because their families were strong enemies.

While trying to plan escape after their secret wedding, Juliet took a drug that will put her in coma as she sends message to Romeo of the plan.

However, the news Romeo heard was that of Juliet’s death, he bought poison while on the road to where Juliet was laid, he cried and drank the poison out of love.

After drinking poison, Juliet woke up to see Romeo dead body by her side, she wasted no time than to stab her self to die by her lover.

The death of Romeo and Juliet led to ending of enemity between the two families.

2. Joy Of Motherhood – Buchi Emecheta

This nover tells the tragic story of Nnu-Ego, daughter of Nwokocha Agbadi and Ona, who had to struggle a lot with childbearing.

Nnu Ego in the novel is an average Nigerian woman who went through pains, family problem to take care of her 9 kids after the death of her husband.

Nnu Ego returns to the village, where she is regarded as a great woman because with two married daughters, and two sons abroad (the second son emigrates to Canada).

It is suggested that her children’s success should be enough for her but she dies a lonely death in the village and is regarded as a mad woman.

It was after her death that her children arrive to throw a lavish funeral for her; they spend time and money on her funeral which they did not spend in her life.

3. Hamlet – William Shakespeare

The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to revenge his death by killing the new king who is Hamlet’s uncle.

Hamlet fakes madness, contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge.

His uncle who scared of loosing his life, also devises plans to kill Hamlet.

The play ends with a fight, during which the King, Queen, Hamlet’s opponent and Hamlet himself are all killed.

4. The Lion And The Jewel – Wole Soyinka

The story is one of the best works of Prof. Wole Soyinka.

The story is about an event in a village of Ilujinle where the Bale named Baroka (The Lion), fights with a more civilized man named Lakunle over right to marry Sidi (The Jewel).

It’s all about how the Lion (Baroka) hunts the Jewel (beautiful Sidi) to win her over Lakunle, a man who wants to make the village adopt Western Culture by all means.

5. Sizwe Bansi Is Dead – Athol Fugard

“Sizwe Bansi is Dead” tells the story of Styles, an intelligent, capable, and talented man who leaves his job as a factory worker to follow his dream of owning a photography studio.

Styles pursues his talent with a camera in order to preserve the faces and identities of his people during the apartheid era where the White Minority of South Africa were oppressing the black Majority.

6. The Last Duty – Isidore Okpewho

The novel revolves round the enmity between two successful rubber merchants Toje Onovwakpo and Mukoro Oshevire.

The Last Duty is a recast of the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970. It was a war between the secessionist Biafran Republic of the Eastern Nigeria and Nigeria itself.

The Last Duty gives fictitious historical records of the experiences of the people of the Delta region during the Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970

7. Black Boy – Richard Wright

Black Boy, an autobiography of Richard Wright‘s early life and what most Black boys with big dreams face in Western World.

The story begins when four-year-old Richard sets fire to his grandmother’s house in Jackson, Mississippi, and, as punishment, is nearly beaten to death by his mother before moving with oppressive grandmother.

By age 16, Richard is determined to be a writer, yet he is cognizant of the dangers of a black youth having that aspiration while living in the South, so he dreams of getting away and going North.

After graduation and another failed stint at a job, Richard steals money to go North. He is horrified by his crime because it fulfills the expectations his extended family holds for him.

He also recognizes that crime produces additional suffering in the world, and Richard wants to be a part of social good, not social ills.

After an especially degrading incident at a new job, Richard throws himself into reading novels and other works by American and European writers.

He realizes that he is destined to become a writer and soon flees to Chicago to have a flourishing new life.

8. Women Of Owu – Femi Osofisan

Women of Owu focuses on the aftermath of a 19th-century war-torn Owu Kingdom.

It reflects on the pains, depression and agony of the survivors who were only women after the killing of all males in the kingdom by the combined forces of Ife, Oyo and Ijebu.

9. The Government Inspector – Nikolai Gogol

The Government Inspector is a story of deception and self-deception.

The towns people deceive themselves into believing that Hlestakov is the government inspector, which makes Hlestakov takes advantage of the case of mistaken identity, further extending the deception to his own advantage.

Basically, this story book is a reflection of corruption in so many government systems.

10. A Man For All Seasons – Robert Bolt

A Man for All Seasons is a play by Robert Bolt based on the life of Sir Thomas More.

The story is based on the historical events leading up to the execution of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Chancellor of England, who refused to endorse Henry VIII’s wish to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, who did not bear him a son, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, the sister of his former mistress.

The play portrays More as a man of principle, envied by rivals such as Thomas Cromwell and loved by the common people and by his family.