A lot of Nigerians appear to have a problem with this book because of how they think it represents Nigeria. Just go through the reviews for the book on Amazon and you will find posts by Nigerians complaining of its depiction of their belovead country.

Looking for Transwonderland was written by Noo Saro-Wiwa the daughter of the late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. It was published in 2012. It covers her five months travel within Nigeria. This was after she had not visited Nigeria for more than ten years after her father was murdered.

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in traveling within Nigeria. Now I’m not saying I don’t have problems with the book because I do. She does state a lot of her opinions as facts or that might just be me being academic. Frankly though, some of the information she presents just makes me wonder what kind of Nigerian she gave the book to read and give her feedback before it was published. For instance I’ve never met a Nigerian who calls fuel/petrol scarcity an oil shortage. It is petrol scarcity we have here, not oil shortages.

I also believe a lot of Nigerians live in denial about what Nigeria really is. Nigeria can be and is a terrible place and she doesn’t sugarcoat it. This probably flies against the belief system of the “e go better” crowd. We have to be able to tell ourselves the truth though.

The best part of the book for me of course are the different places of interest within Nigeria that she visits. Some I dream of visiting and some I know I probably will never visit. You have to know a place exists somewhere before you can plan to visit and this books really helps with that.

If you are Nigerian and you love traveling then buy it. You won’t regret it. If you are not Nigerian but would love to explore Nigeria, I’m not sure what is wrong with you. Buy it all the same though.