The Mechanics of Yenagoa - Review

I have not felt this way in a long time about a book. You know when a lot seems to happen in one title and then the end lives you reeling. You saw it coming and at the same time, you did not. That is what Michael Afenfia did with his book.

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The Mechanics of Yenagoa centers on Ebinimi and his chaotic life, especially his superpower to attract trouble. Ebinimi is a man who happens to have a thing for cars and settles in the role of being a mechanic despite being a graduate with a boastful degree. With Ebinimi, I am taken on a rollercoaster ride with his many women, questionable ethics and stormy foundations.

Ebinimi himself is turbulent and always manages to find himself in one problem or the other. If it is not women, it is money, politics or just the hand of the devil upon his life. Still, this character wasn’t a bad person - if you look at it with Nigerian eyes. Ebinimi just happened to find himself at the root of the very disease that is eating into society - corruption. Through Ebinimi’s journey, I was reminded all over again what it was like being Nigerian despite the fact that I lived in Nigeria all day everyday. I guess it just hits differently when you read it than when you experience it.

Even with Ebinimi, I found myself scandalized by the actions of the women in the story namely Agnes, Blessing, and Ebiakpo. These women brought to life some of the many things wrong with society and the reason for the “Fear Women” mantra. Ebiakpo threw me off the curve with her actions in the end. In the beginning, I felt sorry for her, so sure that she was being taken advantage of but no, this woman proved me wrong at every turn as secrets came to light. She was the perfect definition of “Green snake in green grass”.

With Blessing and Agnes, they were pretty much the same. Women who weaponized sex for gain. Blessing especially ticked me off, maybe just because deep down, I hoped Ebinimi would end up with someone better even if he himself was of questionable character. In the end, Blessing did what bitter women are known for and caused the downfall of someone who she was no better than.

Then we have Ebizimor, the fraudulent pastor. From the beginning, he rubbed me off the wrong way, however, Afenfia decided not to do the half-baked storytelling and instead took me on a ride with each character. This one especially. Ebizimor had it all planned out, or so he thought, and thanks to the amazing details from Michael Afenfia, I was able to follow the plot to the T.

Then we have Oputi. The one good thing that Ebinimi might have had in his life if he hadn’t made so many bad decisions in the beginning. Apart from that, Oputi went ahead to prove one of Chimamanda’s many declarations in her book We Should All Be Feminists (Interests/abilities over gender). Oputi was a beautiful and well educated lady who also had a thing for cars and ended up a mechanic. It is not something you see everyday. I liked her a lot.

One thing I can’t get over about this book is how you never see it coming. One moment I was reading with ease and the next my heart was bursting at the seams with anxiety. One moment I am laughing and the next I just can’t get over my anger at their ability to self sabotage. I spent a whole day with this book and by the time I was done, I was beyond myself.

Ebinimi had great potential to become something more but he was too distracted, led by his love for sex and inability to structure his moral compass. Ebinimi was like every directionless youth in this country who ended up playing the dirty games to survive. This book did not fail to capture the deficiencies in the government, exposing how much of a failure it was even if it was supposed to be fiction. I really enjoyed myself with this book. Now that I have found myself embracing more of Nigerian/African Literature, I can say with all my heart, that apart from Purple Hibiscus, this could very well be the best Nigerian Literature I have read.