The Faults of the Superficial

In Terminal Maladies, Okwudili Nebeolisa’s poems of care, reminiscence, and longing are imbued with vulnerability and clarity. However, the expressive lucidity does not fully compensate for the lack of depth.

Written by Kamaldeen Arasi

Dec 18, 2024

Illustration by Charles Owen / THE REPUBLIC.

In the literary world, particularly in Nigeria, it is often said that the hardest task of the poetic imagination is the happy versification of our happy experiences. Yet, time and time again, the realities of life and imagination reveal a brooding truth: that this romantic notion, elevated to conviction, is just as valid—or perhaps even more so—for the opposite claim: that the gloomy versification of our even gloomier experiences is a greater challenge. In Okwudili Nebeolisa’s debut poetry collection, Terminal Maladies, the preceding premise resonates with an air of irrefutability. This is not due to the poet’s inability to express himself—across these 41 poems of care, reminiscence, and longing, he undoubtedly does. Though sad and melancholic throughout the book, Nebeolisa’s expressions often feels weighted toward empirical narrative, relegating poetry to a secondary role.

Terminal Maladies is Nebeolisa’s intimate recounting of time spent with and apart from his mother, who lived with cancer ‘in her thigh for twenty-seven years,’ as described in the poem ‘Nomenclature of My Mother’s Name’. She passed away on 23 July 2023. The book is divided into three sections—‘Home’, ‘Abroad’, and ‘After’—each as reflective of its theme as the clearing of the cloudy sky after rainfall. Having left Nigeria for the United States in 2021 for his graduate education, Nebeolisa uses the first section, ‘Home’, to reflect on the moments shared with his mother at home as her illness took a lethal turn. The ‘Abroad’ section is filled with longing, particularly in Nebeolisa’s imaginings of home, shaped by the necessary circumstance of his travel abroad. The final section, ‘After’, offers a poignant, universal meditation on the memories of his mother following her death.

You’ve Reached Your Limit of Free Reading.

The Republic is a Nigerian media-tech company dedicated to explaining our time—through deeply reported journalism on power, culture and society.

Ad-Free Reading Experience

Focused consumption without interruptions.

Unlimited Access to Exclusive Archives

Years of reporting at your fingertips.

In-Depth Deep-dive Reporting

Long-form journalism that matters.

Create a free account to continue reading this month and access more of our work.

About the Author

Kamaldeen Arasi

(b. Kamolideen Oluwapelumi Arasi) is an English Language and Literature undergraduate at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. A poetry editor at Hominum Journal, he was shortlisted for the Alpine Fellowship Academic Writing Prize in 2020. In 2023, he won the E. E. SULE/SEVHAGE Prize for African Literary Criticism.

Comments

SHOP THE REPUBLIC

The ‘Electronic Imam’ Who Rewrote Nigerian Islam

In the 1970s, a Nigerian radio cleric built a pipeline between northern Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, sending young men in search of a purified Islam. The returnees would go on to transform how millions practised their faith and unsettle the society around them.

—May 24, 2026

A Bird in Flight

The father held the form four ZIMSEC results several months later, reading and re-reading the neat set of A’s and B’s with great deliberateness…‘If only you were a boy,’ said the father. ‘Good job. Whoever marries you had better be rich. This is no small investment.’

—May 24, 2026

Good News

Emeka has no business dying now. He and Afuajuba still have unfinished business. She wants to know why. What was so broken in their relationship that he needed to have an affair?

—May 24, 2026

Reclamation Across the Atlantic

A trip to Brazil did not teach me that Yoruba indigenous religions are beautiful; it showed me that their beauty had been systematically obscured.

—March 22, 2026

Osaze Amadasun’s ‘Ladi Kwali’

Visual artist and graphic designer, Osaze Amadasun, reimagines Ladi Kwali, reclaiming the full legacy of a cultural icon beyond her portrait on the 20 naira note.

Subscribe to our free newsletter.

What’s your e-mail?

You’re in — welcome to The Republic

Complete your onboarding

Read

Connect

Apps

More

Read

Connect

Apps

More

The Faults of the Superficial