Tokunbo Syndrome In “Everything Counts”: A Short story In No Sweetness Here by Ama Ata Aidoo

Reviewed by Omowunmi Segun


Ama Ata Aidoo’s short story, “Everything Counts” In No Sweetness Here, explores the influence of international business ethics on local economies and cultural values.

Sissie, a student of economics overseas, finds herself in a moral bind over the cultural and economic implications of homogenisation of markets symbolised by the wig, she and many other African women wear. Initially, she refuses to see the connection between wearing the wig and the stagnation of economic development in her country as a result of this, although she raises questions about the ethical behaviour of marketers (businesses) who impose “second-rate” expert advice and “tokunbo” second-hand goods sold at exorbitant prices on less developed countries.

Sissie is, however, forced to change her opinion on her return home to take up a job as a lecturer of economics in the university. She is shocked at the extent to which the wig has almost completely eroded the cultural identity of the women.

“From the air-stewardesses to the grade-three typists in the offices, every girl simply wore a wig. Not cut discreetly short and disguised to look like her own hair as she tried to do with hers.”

Over the next few weeks, Sissie’s visit to her relatives, who make a point of telling her their expectations in terms of the sort of material goods she would be bringing home, makes her realize the harm international commerce is causing by promoting and developing a materialistic and consumer-aware society, which really does not have the wherewithal to sustain high levels of consumption. But: “How could she tell them that cars and fridges are ropes with which we are hanging ourselves?”

Sissie’s worst fears about the insidiousness of international commerce on cultural values are confirmed by the beauty contest which marks the climax of the story. She has a rude shock when she discovers that the winner of the beauty pageant is “mulatto”, an affirmation by Africans that being light-skinned and having silky hair, like the wig, is symbolic of African beauty.

Ama Ata Aidoo’s short story shows how global markets grow, sometimes to the detriment of the local economy and cultural values. The key issue here, however, is that generally the moral responsibilities of marketers (businesses) are discussed within the contexts of such issues as bribery, corruption, and international human rights but very rarely are the responsibilities of marketers (businesses) to the cultures of the societies in which they operate highlighted.

Nice Work by David Lodge. Reviewed by Tolase Olatinwo

Nice work is an amusing work of fiction that revolves around two main characters: Vic Wilcox – a 46-year-old family man and Managing Director of a casting and engineering company and Robyn Penrose – a 33-year old trendy feminist university lecturer in English Literature.

The two characters live and work only a few miles apart but are unaware of each other’s existence in Rummidge, a small fictional city, until fate brings them together in 1986. They have different ideologies, interests, and lifestyle but seem to share the same worries about their work and personal relationship. Vic finds that “worries streak towards him like enemy spaceships”. His main worry, however, is maintaining profit margins in a competitive industry while keeping overhead and other costs to a minimum. Vic also has to content with family issues: his deteriorating relationship with his wife and increasingly delinquent children. Robyn, on the other hand, is increasingly concerned about her temporary her temporary teaching job even though she is satisfied that she is highly valued by her colleagues. “…[T]he of her career was a constant background worry as the days and weeks of her appointment at [University of] Rummidge ticked away like a taxi meter. Another was her relationship with Charles”.

Robyn and Vic meet through a Shadow Scheme between the university and Vic’s company. Initially, there is tension and a certain dislike between the two. Vic had never been inside the university and saw it “…as a small city-state, an academic Vatican, from which he keeps his distance, both intimidated by and disapproving of its air of privileged detachment”. He even regards Robyn shadowing him as irrelevant – “a ludicrous mistake, or else a calculated insult”. Robyn , on the other hand, had never been inside a factory before and saw “the factory as the most terrible place she had ever been in her life”

Robyn’s inexperience and naïve understanding of the industry becomes evident when her attempts to forestall the dismissal of Danny Ram, an Asian employee, sparks off an industrial dispute between the Asian factory workers and the management. Fortunately, the dispute is resolved through skilful negotiations which not only guarantee Danny Ram his job but also give the workers some additional benefits. Even though Robyn’s actions could have jeorpardised the entire operations of the factory, her intervention leads to an improvement in communications between the shop floor and the management.

Vic, in turn, shadows Robyn at work and is able to develop a better understanding and appreciation of the challenges she faces at work. In the end, they both make an ideological shift and develop a broader perspective that takes them beyond the protective university system and the cut throat competition of the industrial world.