Books by Rotimi Ogunjobi

King Chameleon and more West African Folktales is a selection of folklore believed to have originated from West Africa and the people who live in the region. West Africa is home to several scores of tribes, languages and dialects. Even though, tribal cords are quite strong and languages may differ markedly even between two communities a few hundred miles apart, it is usual to find similarities between the local folktales , and in some cases only the names of the central characters would make one version of a tale to be different from another . Most of the stories in this volume were gleaned from areas within the countries now known as Ghana and Togo. However, the stories are commonly retold in several forms all over the West Africa region.

The Foo-Foo Tree and more Efik Folktales is a selection of folklore thought to have originated from the Efik people . The Efik are native to South East Nigeria even though they were said to have migrated from the Cameroons. Originally the economy of the region which they occupy was based on fishing and trading . This aspect of their daily lives as well as the mortal dread of the Ekpe secret society which regularly made and enforced laws, will be seen to have formed the bedrock of their local anecdotes.

The Kini-Kini Bird and more Yoruba Folktales is a selection of folklore thought to have originated from the Yoruba people. The Yoruba are native to the western part of Nigeria. A few centuries ago, the cultural influence of this ethnic group stretched much further out into the West Africa region.Folk tales of the Yoruba are often severely fantastic, the themes generally underscoring the largely agrarian occupation and also the great reverence accorded the gods and the traditional rulers of the communities.

A bad country, a bad people, a bad king.Èdìdàré is an epic poem which tells the story of a group of adventurers journeying to a far country, from which they expect to return with the Wisdom Fruit. Led by a warrior called Irinkerindo , they discover a city hidden deep inside the forest. Èdìdàré as this city is known,is a place of indescribable filth. The suffering dwellers have been given to inhuman habits and mindless existence under the rule of a dynasty of idiot kings and gluttonous lawmakers. Bursting with a spirit of chivalry, the travellers seek to restore civilization to the city - to stop the epidemic vices and other vile practises; but laws are soon made to permanently expel the sojourners from Èdìdàré.