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identity; they have become faceless, as Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta, writers who are based in the west
voiceless and as mere commodities Ama Ata Aidoo, Bessie Head, Tess and are still preoccupying them-
to be traded in. While Sisi rejects Onwueme and Mariama Ba among selves with experiences of Africans
this stifling and demeaning existence several others. For instance, in ‘The in metropolitan centers of the west.
she has been reduced to, and ulti- Phoenix’, Oge’s husband, Gunter, is
mately pays the price for her quest portrayed as selfish and insensitive
for liberty with her life, as she fails to the feelings of his wife. When Bibliography
to heed Senghor’s earlier warning: Oge announces that they are ex- Chuma-Udeh, Ngozi. Trends and
“No try cross me o. Nobody dey pecting a child, he never shows any Issues in Nigerian Literature. Mus-
cross Senghor Dele!” Segun, who is enthusiasm; he crushingly states “I tard Printing and Co. Ltd, 2011.
presumed to be harmless and whose had not known we were trying for Donologhue, Steve. Book World:
usefulness is only in fixing things in a baby” thus dampening Oge’s en- Okey Ndibe’s Foreign Gods, Inc.:
the house and running errands for thusiasm. When their son Jordi dies, Offers Cultural Insight.
Madam will be the one to snuff life he is quick to have him cremated, an Ekunno, Mike. “Foreign Gods Inc.:
out of Sisi by hitting her skull with a uncommon burial practice in Africa Modern Story of Old Conflict.”
hammer. One can only imagine how that vexes Oge. Also, throughout Guest Blog Post.
many ladies he has taken down in Oge’s battle with cancer, he is not Ikheloa, Ikhide. R. “Of Moral Ab-
such a gruesome way. seen to be sympathetic and caring solutism and Fallen Gods”. Premi-
Efe decides to own her own girls towards his ill wife. Senghor Dele um Times. January 21, 2014.
once she pays off her debt. It is and Segun are both male characters “Unigwe’s Novels”. Journal of
gratifying that Joyce and Ama on re- who lend credence to male-hegemo- Studies in Literature and Language.
gaining their freedom make a clean ny and patriarchy in Unigwe’s novel, Vol. 14, No. 3, 2017.
break from this life. By and large, ‘On Black Sisters Street’. Finally, Mulinge, M. M. & Lesetedi, G. N.
the impact of the new environment quite inescapable is the reality of Corruption in Sub Sahara Africa:
on the female black migrant is such the complicity of the Belgian Police Towards a more Holistic
that she loses her vivaciousness establishment, almost entirely con- Approach. African Journal of Politi-
and sense of self, and becomes trolled by men and heavily compro- cal Science, Vol.7 (1). 2002.
lonesome. Oge puts it succinctly: mised due to monetary inducement Ndibe, Okey. Foreign Gods, Inc.
“You had become familiar with the by the pimps who run the sex trade. New York: SOHO, 2014.
smell of loneliness. It secretes a Ochor, Chibuike. Themes and Style
stench that clings to you... Before Conclusion in Okey Ndibe’s Foreign Gods, Inc.
you came here, you never thought it We have been able to explore the B.A. Essay, Department of English
possible that anybody could be this quest of identity and survival from and Literature, UNIBEN, 2016.
lonely. You used to have friends”. the novels ‘Foreign Gods, Inc.’ and Okoye, Chike . Ndibe’s. “Foreign
Lisa, the closest person to a friend ‘On Black Sisters Street’. Their Gods, Inc”. Journal of the Literary
that Oge has in Belgium makes her characters portray experiences of Society of Nigeria. 7, June 2015.
realize that “loneliness was one of dislocation, displacement, alienation Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dic-
the many reasons people committed and racism. Their locations do not tionary 8th ed. Oxford: Oxford
suicide. Especially in the winter”. portend much good for them as University Press, 2010.
Through the subliminal portray- they are in positions that are the Unigwe, Chika. On Black Sisters
al of male characters in the two most vulnerable in society. The writ- Street. Random House, 2011
novels, the author demonstrates ers belong to a new crop of African
that irrespective of the society in
which a black woman finds herself,
the tentacles of patriarchal struc-
tures including religious institutions
also impinge on her freedom. For
instance both pastors in these two
novels studied here prey on the
emotions of their female congre-
gants. This is seen to be a continu-
um of the counter- hegemonic poise
of many female African writers such

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