Beyond the borders of counter-discourse: A neo-colonial interrogation of Tanure Ojaide’s <i>The Activist</i> and Othuke Ominiabohs' <i>A Conspiracy of Ravens</i>

Abstract

Postcolonial studies, in African literature, have grown beyond ‗counter-discourse(s) or writing-back‘, to dismantle Western hegemony, the myth of African inferiority, and correcting erroneous impressions and other Eurocentric miscreations of Africa at colonialism, to an introspective examination of new forms of western infiltration and exploitation of the postcolony. This study, therefore, investigates new forms of colonial traits in post-independence Nigerian societies with attention to Tanure Ojaide‘s The Activist and Othuke Ominiabohs' A Conspiracy of Raven. In doing this, the study applies postcolonial theory, which is useful in examining colonial topicalities beyond the classic colonizing activities of the British Empire and at present, the crises of neocolonialism. This study therefore is an attempt to show that postcolonial discourse transcends the borders of counter-discourse as it engages literatures of former colonies after the official end of colonialism to denounce and satirise emerging ills and foibles inimical to progress in the post colony.