The Nigerian Mafia: Mumbai by Onyeka Nwelue

I would like to thank Abibiman Publishing and Random Things Tours for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Abibiman Publishing

Published – Out Now

Price – £9.99 paperback

Nollywood actor, Uche Mbadiegwu leaves his Surulere neighborhood in Lagos, to Bandra in Mumbai to join Bollywood, so he could make it big, hoping to play exceptional roles. Like a flash, Periwinkle appears in his life and changes everything. Tired of living in a pigsty, Efemena wants to live a life in independence, but there is more to being a Nigerian in Mumbai – a constant escape from Indian police and narcotics agents. The Nigerian Mafia is a tale of violence, drugs, human trafficking, murder and sex.

What makes someone choose a life of crime? Do they want to be notorious? Feared or just make a living the only way they can. Crime is less someone’s career path and more things that happen that lead you down an often-dangerous path with few escapes. In Onyeka Nwelue’s interesting novel The Nigerian Mafia: Mumbai we meet a man who wishes for fame and ends up doing all the things he never dreamed of but not necessarily the ones he wanted.

Uche Mbadiegwu has been in Nollywood (Nigerian cinema) for some time but now seeks a bigger role and more fame in Bollywood. So he makes the move from Lagos to Mumbai, but soon finds the man he got to organise his visa and next steps is unavailable due to being in a Goan prison. Uche is now in a strange land and short of cash. He starts to do small jobs for people and ends up working in the drugs trade but a desire for more leads him to approaching a bigger fish in the area and soon more trouble comes his way.

An usual tale as Uche walks through a meandering tale of how he got into his current situation (which he keeps us guessing). What works for me is how Nwelue brings Uche’s voice and personality to life. He is not a classic unreliable narrator but perhaps rather too quick to disclaim responsibility but what the story does do is highlight the issues many immigrants get when moving to other countries seeking a better life. But at the same time discussion is held of drugs and their complicated role in society. The poor treatment by official bodies, the lack of opportunity and trying to find and bond with fellow people from the old country. It is a vibrant tale but gradually things get darker and we move back and forth in Uche’s life as things get steadily worse and worse for him. Just when we feel perhaps sorry for Uche’s fate we find he is a man for whom doing the wrong thing for wrong reasons has been a hallmark of his life for a long time.

An unusual noir thriller and worth a look for those interested in seeking crime tales based in other countries.