“Shine your Eyes”: A City’s Grim “Welcome” and Postcolonial Maladies in Chibundu Onuzo’s Welcome To Lagos

Nwiyi, Joy; Ochigbo, Owofuni

أطراس
Volume 7, Numéro 2, Pages 211-225
2026-07-15

“shine Your Eyes”: A City’s Grim “welcome” And Postcolonial Maladies In Chibundu Onuzo’s Welcome To Lagos

Authors : Nwiyi Joy . Ochigbo Owofuni .

Abstract

Abstract African literature is characterised by a continuous exploration of the persistent problems of the post-independence period. The aim of this paper is to examine the postcolonial city and the image of maladies in Chibundu Onuzo's Welcome to Lagos, within the broader context of postcolonial literature. The narrative presents Nigerian cities as symbolic representations of the dynamic complexities that define the postcolonial state of the Nigerian State’s social, economic and political essence as paradoxical in more contemporary times. The study employs a qualitative approach, using postcolonial literary theory to analyse the novel, Welcome to Lagos. Postcolonialism emphasises the assessment of life in postcolonial societies after independence from colonial rule, with colonialism as a significant variable. This study enhances postcolonial discourse by transcending conventional theoretical boundaries to provide interpretatios. The article reveals that the postcolonial novel not only assesses the relationship between the empire and the postcolony but also critiques the postcolony for its failure to govern itself that keeps its citizens alert and restless. It concludes that the novel highlights Lagos most significantly as a microcosm of a predominantly dystopian postcolonial African state, one plagued by interminable cycles of post-independence maladies, maladministration, corruption, environmental degradation, and disillusionment that erode the quality of human life and compound the country's global image of social inequality and decay. Keywords: Lagos, postcolonial, postcolonial city, malady, paradox, Welcome to Lagos