Tales from Nibana Series

"Tribal Gathering" is a collection of 8 short stories set in an imaginary West African state shortly after gaining its independence from the British in 1962. Struggling to come to terms with the tribalism, nepotism, corruption and greed that flourishes at all levels of society is part of everyday-life and relatively simple compared to the problems of surviving three military coups and a civil war. It is against this backdrop and that of a rapidly failing infrastructure that the stories evolve. From the dry heat of the Northern Desert to the suffocating humidity of the Delta, the stories tell of the daily ordeal as the characters try to live out their lives against all the odds. Betrayal, revenge, ignorance, pride and stupidity intermingled with witchcraft, African Deities and Freemasonry, these stories have it all and Ken Ryeland deals with them in his usual consummate way to provide interesting and compelling reading.

"The Last Bature" is a policeman’s story set in an imaginary West African state, shortly after gaining its independence from the British in 1962. What begins as a straightforward investigation, by the last British policeman in the Northern Region and an African police inspector, quickly turns to intrigue when the intelligence services of the superpowers vie with each other to secure a breakthrough in weapons technology. Combine this with the machinations of an irrational regional military governor hell-bent on overthrowing his brother, the head of state, and the basis for an exciting story emerges. With the cold war as a backdrop and a second coup imminent, the action moves quickly from the heat of the Omdu Hills, through the stench of the Laguna slums to the waters of the Bight of Laguna, giving the reader an insight into the grubby world of espionage and life in West Africa during the turbulent sixties. Winner of the “Book Awards” for September 2009.

The Mine is a political thriller set in Nibana, an imaginary West African state, several years after gaining independence from the British in 1962. With the Eastern Region about to secede and Nibana heading for civil war, the head of state invites an archaeology professor and his team to investigate some ruins in the Northern Region. The professor’s astonishing finds initiate a chain of extraordinary events that lead to abduction. A police investigation ensues, but becomes complicated when an Eastern Bloc country is commissioned to print currency for the secessionists, and an MI6 agent, working with the police, must hinder the secession by sabotaging the currency. An abandoned mine becomes the focal point when the agent, police and archaeologists are incarcerated there and discover its secret. Murder, breathtaking corruption, river pirates and rogue army officers; Ken Ryeland manipulates these ingredients in his usual consummate way to provide an exciting political thriller.

Boom Town Legacy is a story about the corrosive effects of corruption on a young man new to the ways of 1960s post-colonial Africa. In 1967 Charlie Robinson is tasked to open a new branch for the company in the swampy delta region of Nibana in West Africa, where oil has recently been discovered. New to the ways of Africa, Charlie struggles to come to terms with the tribalism, nepotism and, above all, the corruption that confronts him on all sides. Despite all the difficulties and setbacks, he eventually succeeds and the business thrives, but civil war looms and soon all Charlie’s efforts are undone by a single incident. He survives the devastation and ponders on his future when an opportunity to make himself comfortably rich suddenly presents itself. Having put together a plan, Charlie embarks on a long journey through Africa to cover his tracks. He eventually ends up in Europe where he uses the secrecy imbedded in the banking system to his advantage. After some months he returns to a different part of Africa and eventually makes his way to Ian Smith’s rebel Rhodesia, where he hopes to settle down to a quiet, anonymous and newly married life as a tobacco farmer. However, an incident at his farm initiates a period of extreme pressure on Charlie and as tragedy strikes his life disintegrates and his past begins to catch up with him.

"Hot Metal" is a single story from the "Tribal Gathering" compendium. Peter Stafford and John Hughes decide to spend the weekend visiting the ancient town of Ifun where the early Nibanans first learned the art of bronze casting. The town has a reputation for powerful juju because of its association with Ogun, one of the great gods of the Yuba tribe. They encounter a mysterious Nibanan boy who offers to show them a bronze smelter in operation. Knowing that bronze casting had ceased during the eighteenth-century, the two men scoff at the idea. However, their derision soon turns to wonder when one of them finds himself in the presence of Orisha, the earthly representative of Ogun. Peter Stafford is subjected to a combination of tribal ritual; drug induced hypnosis and powerful juju magic; so powerful that it reaches out and touches his family far away in the UK.

"Juju-Men" is a single story from the "Tribal Gathering" compendium. Ade Soyoyi and Bande Abaleko meet a young houseboy and he persuades them to deliver a parcel to the local Freemason’s Lodge. The houseboy misleads the men into believing that the parcel contains some kind of white man’s juju and that the whole of the Yuba tribe is in danger from its malignant evil. The two friends immediately set off on a crusade to save their tribe and their country from what they believe is a sinister plot by the members of the Lodge to re-colonise Nibana. The expedition ends with the taking of a hostage and finally, murder. This initiates a chain of events that eventually plunges the whole of the Western Region into bloodshed and chaos, but one of the men survives and benefits from the chaos to an unimaginable extent.