Mourning in the Evening

Mourning in the Evening is a satire of political corruption. It is about irresponsibility on the part of the political class represented by Joy, the protagonist. His journey into the terrain of politics (as an elected senator) is initially with a good intention but later allows his greedy and power drunk wife to wield negative influence over him. Joy is introduced into politics by a man named Destiny, a successful businessman. Joy and Destiny meet through their daughters; Patience and Blessing, who are classmates.Joy squanders the people's goodwill with his inertia, greed and personal aggrandizement; a development that irks his mentor and political godfather; Destiny, who confronts him in order to call him to order but surprisingly gets snubbed. Exasperatingly, Destiny makes up his mind to unseat him at re-election but Joy who becomes arrogant and proud, intensifies efforts for his re-election believing that his money will see him through. Meanwhile, Patience and Blessing are saddened by the brawl in which their parents are embroiled but that does not affect their friendship.A few months to the primary election, Destiny dies following an attack by bees on his farm and Senator Joy later loses out in the election. Destiny's widow, Happiness, is accused of a hand in his death. At the point that it becomes clear that the relatives want to claim the property of the deceased, a letter is received from the registrar of the court inviting the relevant parties for the deceased's will to be read out. The will favours Happiness.Senator Joy and his wife are pleasantly surprised and shocked that Patience, their daughter, is a beneficiary of the will. They are not only embarrassed but deeply touched by the warmth of Destiny whom they erroneously think is bad. Joy realizes that he cannot tell exactly how Destiny has wronged him. Reality dawns on him that Destiny remains his idol and mentor even in death. He laments and decries his clouded vision of such a hero. He looks back with remorse and cannot help but mourn Destiny, mourn the death of his (Joy's) conscience and morals while in political office, mourn the rot in the judiciary, etc. The novel also treats the following subthemes: police brutality, drug abuse, injustice, betrayal, regret, human rights' violation, friendship, importance of will making, etc.
About the Author: Eric Ganan Pam is from Foron, Plateau State, Nigeria. He attended Fatima Private School, Jos, St. Joseph's College, Vom and University of Jos, Nigeria and holds a B.A. and M.A. in English. He also has a P.G.D. in Education, P. G. D. in Advertising and Diploma in French from National Teachers' Institute (an affiliate of Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto), Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Jos and Alliance Francaise de Jos in that order. He started his working career as a Reporter with THE NIGERIA STANDARD newspapers in 1998 and rose to the position of Opinion Page Editor and subsequently Feature Editor after which he resigned and took up an appointment with the Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin Ladi where he teaches Use of English and Literature in English. He has also been working on voluntary basis as Deputy Editor of THE WORD OF LIFE, monthly newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos since 2001 and has served as Editorial Consultant to many newspapers, journals, newsletters, magazines, books, etc. His first published literary work is a collection of poems titled A MORAL LANDSCAPE. He is a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, Plateau State Chapter and is married to Elizabeth and blessed with two daughters: Yop (Eunice) and Veirat (Eucharia).