'In our Place', brings to reality some of the evils plaguing the Nigerian society.

With 'In Our Place', one gets the impression that it is one of those works, begging for attention from the ubiquitous but emergency story-book publishers. Of course, the title, 'In our Place' and the book cover, a drawing of a youth corper, clutching her luggage at a bus station puts one in a tight corner about connecting with the theme. But the book is one of those that require a 'little digging deeper'.

Because the moment one does, he or she would discover a world of fantasy woven with plots and intrigues that connect with everyone's day-to-day experiences, especially for those Nigerian citizens, who have had to venture outside their home states in search of the proverbial greener pasture.

'In our Place', tells the story of a youth corper, Anjola Adeniyi, who hails from Kwara State, completes her university education in Kwara, but gets posted to Anambra State for the compulsory National Youth Service Corps. Young Anjola, like every girl her age is filled with fantasies of exploring the realities of life in other parts of the country, finding love and employment. She sets out discovering the similarities and differences between the various cultures in Nigeria, typical of the national service experience, and reasons that the diversity also makes the entire country unique.

Her first brush in Anambra State incidentally exposes her to the culture shock that a woman could ride a bicycle! She expresses her surprise by screaming in a bus, which gets the attention of Ifeanyi, an Igbo man, who has lived all his life in the northern part of the country but was home in Anambra State on an errand for his father. Ifeanyi, who trained abroad as an engineer helps her untie this cultural riddle and gradually warms his way into her heart as her lover.

The romance proceeds beyond the confines of her service year until she goes to join him in the north, where she hopes she would get a job and finally marry her man. She however ignores Ifeanyi's fool-proof way of getting a job in the north; and pays dearly for it when she presents herself for an interview. The response of her potential employers utterly stuns her.

Worse however, is the unfolding drama surrounding her plans to marry Ifeanyi. Of course, tribal sentiments would come up to deny her joy, but the great thing is that Anjola still holds on to her passion and dreams. 'In our Place', as a novel obviously makes an interesting read, and positively casts Lola Akande, the author as a frank story-teller.

The beauty of her style of writing is that she draws a lot of inspiration from happenings around her and tries to infuse humour when the tension builds up. That is one thing someone who takes time to read this book will notice. For Lola, every encounter spontaneously yields a plot that offers intrigues and pleasurable reading. Readers will be particularly excited about the potions where she attends a job interview, claiming to be a northerner because she is from Kwara State as much as the portion where she meets Ifeanyi's mother.

Although this work prides itself as a book of fiction, it also touched on some pertinent issues about the Nigerian nation. It has left some questions: why should someone who is qualified for employment be denied same in another part of the country? Why can't two people, who find each other compatible not marry without tribal prejudices? It also, perhaps unconscious to the writer, unveiled some aspects of Igbo mythology.

Using her story, Lola has explored how powerful mother figures can be to their sons in Igbo land especially when it comes to marriage. Of course, the reality of this is reflective of such names as Nneka (Mother is supreme) or Nnebisi (Mother is first). While commending the effort of the writer, it is important to point out that there are some cultural misrepresentations in the book. For instance, attributing the use of the word 'Deh' by Ifeanyi, who hails from Anambra is wrong, because Anambra people do not have terms to describe their seniors.

It happens however in other parts of Igbo land. Aside that, she also referred to Enugu as the capital of Anambra State, which points to the fact that the book although published in 2012, may have been written a long time ago. However, Lola Akande,'s novel is worth spending quality time with.