Stay With Me

Adébáyọ̀ uses the backdrop of political unrest during Ibrahim Babangida’s regime to explore and contextualize the power dynamics between deceiver and deceived in Yejide and Akin’s relationship. Appearing as a motif of political unrest throughout the novel (See: Symbols & Motifs), Babangida’s administration also reveals the turbulent history of post-independence Nigeria.

Nigeria experienced a pattern of coups and military uprisings following its 1960 independence from Great Britain. Since European powers had divided and created borders around previously unaffiliated ethnic and political groups, Nigeria lacked a centralized identity. Long-standing regional loyalties made fair political collaboration difficult. Military rule became a temporary solution to ethnic, religious, and political dissidence among groups afraid of losing sovereignty in the transition, while Nigeria’s vast regional wealth led to economically driven collusion between military agents and civilians. Patterns of coups became an accepted feature, with military rule tolerated to prevent worse forms of governance and civil war.

As a prominent Nigerian military leader, Babangida was involved in many power struggles before becoming Nigeria’s head of state in a 1985 coup. Although Babangida had played a pivotal role in the 1983 coup that instated Muhammad Buhari as head of state, his view of Buhari’s government as increasingly autocratic fed into Buhari’s growing unpopularity.