Book Review: Only Big BumBum Matters Tomorrow by Damilare Kuku

The title of this book is always funny to me... and the story itself is just funny. Big bum bum wey Temi wan do jejely (read that in your Nigerian pidgin accent)..... It's the same way Damilare Kuku's other book about madmen in Lagos had me laughing.... I wonder how she comes up with these titles. I enjoyed reading this book. 

Book front cover

As a Nigerian, I could relate to the characters and their stories. Everyone had their baggage, but it seemed they were so deep into finding the faults in others that they were blind to their own. The story also had the very bits of the Nigerian society we experienced growing up...school life, neighborhood gossip, social media, peer pressure, predators, tribalism, pryings of extended family, etc.

People neck deep in your private business

Tito was the one person, the glue that was holding them all together, but his passing just let the floodgates open. And yes, those folks gossiping at his funeral about his relationship with Hassana, that's very "not news"...

Temi was also in the middle of everything. She was surrounded by people who had other things going on, and she became somewhat invisible until she wanted to do her bumbum.

Big Mummy and Aunty Jummai had internalized their own failures in life such that it beclouded their sense of judgment, and they always had to find a moral high ground before even admitting what was right under their noses.

Back cover

Ladun basically carried on with so much anger that it didn't allow her to be sympathetic with her mother's history, and didn't even wait to hear the full story of how Israel left his mum in her worst state. Her pain of not ending up with Mofe made her short-sighted. Even though her case with Edache was a frying-to-fire because she wasn't quite over Mofe, Edache, in my opinion, is a clear and present danger, plus the regret of never going home before Tito's passing is another pain.

Excerpts from the book

Hassana is lucky to have met Tito, a man who accepted her and the speed of another man after she was left in the cold by Isreal, who didn't want to hear what Atiku had done. Yes, she is the typical African parent (like her own mother) who hardly accepts they are wrong (it took her forever to apologize to Ladun). I admire how she stayed focused on the beautiful love she shared with Tito despite all the side talks, and she loved her children.

I hope they can all think about all the questions Temi asked them so they can allow her to do her bumbum in peace. Omolomo!