Bissau Boys

In Suleja, three boys, Nura, Amisu and Bakir, grow up in the harsh world of the Almajiri. Their bond is strong, but the choices they make will set them on very different paths. Nura escapes through a love for chess that carries him into a new life as an acclaimed photojournalist in America. When he returns home, he discovers that his childhood friends have been swept into the grip of violent extremism. Determined to find them, he embarks on a dangerous search that forces him to confront questions of loyalty, faith and the shadows of his own past. Tense, moving and unforgettable, Bissau Boys is a story of friendship and betrayal, of survival and redemption. With striking clarity, Sola Owonibi brings to life the fragile line between hope and despair in a region where the past is never truly buried.

Bissau Boys paints a haunting portrait of life in northern Nigeria, told with rare empathy and insight. Sola Owonibi’s storytelling exposes the roots of terrorism while never losing sight of the human lives caught in its path. This is a bold, moving novel that lingers long after the final page. – Utibe Hanson, author of Unnoticed Presence of Things (Winner of the ANA/KMVL Prize for Poetry 2023)

Bissau Boys is both timely and timeless. Through the story of three boys bound by friendship and divided by fate, Owonibi explores the cultural, educational and economic fractures that continue to shape nations across the world. The result is a gripping and unforgettable novel that deserves to be read widely.
– Servio Gbadamosi, award-winning poet and publisher