Rape as a Metaphor for Socio-Political Violence in Soji Cole's Embers

Abstract

This paper examines the menace of sexual violence in Nigeria in relation to the socio-political violence that has plagued the nation. Engaging Fanon's postulations on violence in his postcolonial theory as a framework, the paper examines the multidimensional phases of ‘rape’, especially rape of human body and socio-political rape in Nigeria as exemplified in Soji Cole's Embers (2018). It identifies various socio-cultural and psychological myths surrounding the growing cases of sexual abuse in Nigeria and draws the connection between rape of human body and rape of human rights and its attendant consequences on Nigerian society. Hence, the paper contends that sexual violence as an offshoot of socio-political violence is associated with the contravention of democratic confidence reposed in the people at the helm of affairs by their subjects. While the paper finds infraction of trust in multifarious rape cases, it concludes that radical measures, including breaking of fear and silence, as well as appropriate prosecution of the offenders, should be taken in checkmating the menace and its attendant impact on Nigeria's value system.