I Do Not Come to You by Chance: A Review.

I Do Not Come to You by Chance, published in 2009, is Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s debut novel. The novel tells the story of the fascinating world of Nigerian email scams, aka 419, through the eyes of Kingsley, the opara of the Ibe family. Kingsley, a fresh graduate of Chemical Engineering, is a dewy eyed, entitled, yet somehow charming young man, as at the start of the novel. Kingsley, raised on the solid belief that “education is gold" held by both of his parents, worked hard to graduate top of his class, and diligently sends out job applications, yet gets nothing but rejections in return. Kingsley knows that this is Nigeria, and the system is broken (but we dey manage am like that), yet he believes that his good grades and superior intellect should get him the job he deserves.

Cute, right?

Two important events occur that completely disillusion Kingsley. First, the illness of his father, then the loss of his girlfriend, Ola (who was a flaky louse and I was glad to see her go anyway). When the Ibe family runs out of money to pay their father’s hospital bills, Kingsley has no other option than to turn to his millionaire uncle who his parents hate: Chief Boniface Mbamalu aka it’s just a matter of cash, aka Cash Daddy! Cash Daddy takes care of all their monetary needs, and slowly but surely initiates Kings into the world of 419. And the boy takes to it! He makes hits almost immediately, and uses the money to take care of his mother and his three siblings: Eugene, Godfrey and Charity. But his family does not give him the reaction that he expects. The rest of the novel follows Kingsley as he tries to navigate his new life as a 419 scam artist, opara, Aba Big Boy and Cash Daddy’s successor.

I was not eager to read this book, given that I started it some time last year and it did not take. But I gave it a try, pushing through the drudge of the first few chapters, and I’m glad I did.

This novel had a very Nollywood-esque quality to it; at certain points, I could see it clearly in my mind’s eye, as if I was watching a 419 movie rather than reading a book. This was a funny read, though I felt like it tried too hard to be funny sometimes.

This story was told fantastically, even if it was a little hard to get into at the beginning. It was interesting for me to see Kingsley’s very organic transition from aspiring Chemical Engineer to Aba Big Boy; from a dreamy, head-in-the-clouds kid to a stone cold scammer. But though this story is told through Kingsley’s eyes, the most complex and most important character, in my opinion, is Cash Daddy. Cash Daddy takes on different shapes and forms, scamming one gullible European after another. He’s disgusting and crass (man legit has meetings while shitting), but he’s also kind and surprisingly tender at times. When Kingsley gives Cash Daddy the books he bought for him, C.D. reveals that no one has bought him a gift, just for buying sake, in nearly 15 years. That damn near broke my heart. Cash Daddy is smart and ruthless and loud, and he uses it all to his advantage. He was my most memorable character.

This wonderful book also grants a great insight into the texture of greed, how far people are willing to go to get things they haven’t worked for. For people like Cash Daddy and Kingsley, it works, for others like Azuka, as well as the oyibo mugus, it really, really doesn’t.

This book took me only 2 days to read, and I enjoyed it a lot. I really hope one Neo-Nollywood Director turns this book into a movie and does the very best not to ruin it.

4 stars.