Sociologist and researcher, Leena Koni Hoffmann, thinks informal rules and institutions are the ‘glue that hold society together’: ‘Organized civil society is an important aspect of life in Africa but they are most impactful when they are legitimate in the eyes of the people they advocate for and serve.’
First Draft is our interview column, featuring authors and other prominent figures on books, reading, and writing.
Our questions are italicized.
What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?
I read the staple books that circulated amongst school children in Anglophone Africa whose education was heavily influenced by British colonization. I remember ingesting a lot of Enid Blyton, but I didn’t fall in love with reading until I was in secondary school where I discovered Pacesetter novels. They were the best thing about Nigeria in the 80s! I vividly remember Too Cold for Comfort by Jide Oguntoye, The Undesirable Element by Mohammed Sule, Evbu My Love by Helen Ovbiagele and the epically titled Bloodbath at Lobster Close by Dickson Ighavini.
My mother, who worked in hospital administration, read a lot of Mills and Boon novels but kept them under lock and key. My dad was an accountant, and only read a trinity of numbers, newspapers and the Bible.
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