Praise for Surviving SAJOMACO
This is a book which I wish I had read before moving to Nigeria. The author’s account of life in a boarding school there gives a rare insight into Nigeria’s way of life. It describes the power of people in authority and the lack of respect they command, as the pupils adhere rigidly to the rules yet strive to subvert them. The hardship and insecurity Nigerians suffered in the 1990s as the military regime clung to power was widely documented. There are few accounts of the effects on an academic community during this turbulent time. The fate of the school is a microcosm of the simultaneous decline of Nigeria’s professional classes, leading to a brain drain to the developed world that has included the author.
Paul Adams, Former Financial Times Nigeria Correspondent
A genuine, scrupulously honest insight into day-to-day life in a Nigerian boarding school during a tumultuous period for the country. Bunmi manages to capture, in exquisite detail, the sometimes shocking, and occasionally unbelievable, reality many of us endured. A brave and necessary book.
Jide Olanrewaju, Vice Chairman, Royal African Society; Writer & Producer of Naij, A History of Nigeria
Surviving SAJOMACO isn’t a book; it’s a necessary journey, enjoyably retracing the identity of a generation. Bunmi Asaolu’s fountain pen dips deep into the rich ink of nostalgia. An adult bedtime story that will leave you dreaming far away from 2021. This grown man’s memory is authentically through a child’s eyes. If you are Nigerian, it is a must-read for reconnection; if you are not Nigerian, a must-read for context. Funny, I didn’t realise Asaolu and I went to the same boarding school. Apparently we all did, it’s called SAJOMACO.
Bodunrin Sasore, Award Winning Filmmaker
In order to chart a course forward to a desired location from an undesirable one, it is useful to know where we are presently and, better still, have some clarity about how we got there. Nations are born of and built by people. Bunmi’s book gives very important insights into the psyche of Nigeria’s young middle class and how this psyche was constructed. The book helps to explain how we got here and should help us to figure out how to leave. If this nation is to come into its own, leave we must!
Rele Adesina, Former Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Ogun State, Nigeria; granddaughter of Aya Mase
Surviving SAJOMACO is testament of harsh realities, and Bunmi Asaolu’s incredible command of the past dumps his readers into the emotions evoked by a vivid retelling of events. In a well nuanced use of language, Bunmi explores the tragicomedies of boarding school life in Nigeria with spirited grace. He knits several strands of narrative—education, politics and culture— together with the intricacy of finely woven tapestry. This work is a victory of memory and Bunmi exposes the larger truth of Nigeria and charts its incongruous growth as a nation through an account of the highs and lows of a schoolboy’s life. This is an honest but often alarming exposition into solidarity and brotherhood, into culture, faith and the use and abuse of power. This is an important and necessary book, and a thoroughly engrossing read.
Abimbola Alaba, Author of The Revolution Generation
​
A beautifully written memoir that gives the reader a glimpse into the weight and the limits of education and culture. However tough his experience might have been, Asaolu’s writing remains unjudgmental without lacking distance. The account he gives is much more factual than critical so as to present SAJOMACO as a place that builds character as much as a high academic level, and therefore creates the space for debate.
Ioana Danaila, The African Book Review
​