The Cover Pages

Synopsis

Boston gave her everything, but Nigeria holds the answer to the day she shattered.

Twenty-seven years ago, Moria was a young girl with a future. Then came the Agbekoya Uprising, a peasant revolt against brutal taxation. A chance encounter with the demonstrators left her with a fractured leg and a broken spirit, forcing her into exile. In America, she reinvented herself, trading trauma for triumph as a successful realtor, burying her past deep beneath the weight of the American Dream.

But the past is never truly buried.

A chance meeting with a terminally ill Swiss Chocolate Mogul—a man whose wealth hints at global complicity—cracks Moria’s perfectly polished facade. Spurred by an urgent need to understand the Uprising, she abandons her million-dollar deals and returns to Nigeria, a country she has spent half her life hating, to uncover the truth behind the chaos that had traumatised her.

Reuniting with her childhood friend, Mulika, Moria journeys across the lands of the old Western State, navigating whispers of corruption and revolutionary fire. As they interview the aging survivors, the truth emerges: the Agbekoya Uprising was not just a local revolt. It was also a casualty of international manipulation, a wound inflicted by unseen, powerful hands.

Moria thought she was only chasing history, but she is fighting for her soul. To finally heal, she must confront not only the ghosts of her nation, but the powerful men who decided that African lives were the acceptable price of profit.

Some wounds can only be healed when the truth is finally told.

Oluwaseun Bakare, popularly known as Bimbo Bakare, is a passionate storyteller, world traveler, and keen observer of the human experience. Born and raised in Nigeria, his innate curiosity and “wanderlust spirit” were sharpened by extensive international experience with one of the world’s topmost global companies, leading him to consider himself a citizen of the world.

Bimbo’s writing is driven by a deep appreciation for diversity and the goal of illuminating our shared humanity, showing that while we are all different, at our core, we are still the same. His perspective has been shaped by the legacy of 14th-century Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta, whose journeys inspire Bimbo to document his own travels and provide valuable cultural insights.

A 2025 recipient of the Caruso Writers-in-Residence Award, Bimbo spent two weeks at the Katherine Susan Pritchard Writers’ Centre finalising the manuscript of Moría’s Scar, the Agbekoya Uprising story.

Bimbo is the author of the yet to be published two-part travelogue series, Crossing Borders: Australia from an African’s Eyes I and Adventure Beckons: Australia from an African’s Eyes II. This captivating series chronicles his personal journey through the Australian outback and the North-West region, offering a unique and insightful perspective for Africans eager to understand the Land Down Under.

When he’s not writing, Bimbo can be found charting his next adventure. He is currently working on a play that takes a satirical look at how corruption ultimately endangers society and leads to the irreparable loss of what the corrupt value most.

Merchandise

Quiz

Test your knowledge about the book – Moria’s Scar: Agbekoya Uprising. In the coming days, there may be prizes to be won for whomever could answer some of these questions correctly.

• A. Who was hidden behind an overturned table?
• B. What is the name of the man with the “luxurious white beard,”
• C. Who attended At Community Grammar School, Akanran?
• D. Who was wailing and crying, “E gbe mi sile, Ki ni mo se?”
• E. What perfume does Moria wears?
• F. Which church is the Cathedral on the Hill?
• G. Where was Moria brought to, immediately after the incident she had on Mapo Hill?
• H. When was the last time Moria ever saw her parents?
• I. Exactly how many years after she left Nigeria did Moria come back?
• J. Agbekoya: An Uprising Like No Other is the title to what?
• K. To Whom did Adisa come, early in the morning, to complain about the Chief?
• L. What is the name given to Afeez’ Taxi by Moria?
• M. Who was asked to lie on a worn, vinyl mattress?
• N. Who is the cocoa farmers with a small plot of land?
• O. What health challenge is Mulika struggling with?
• P. Whose room has a wooden window, cracked in the middle with age?
• Q. What is described as “a cruel and unpredictable force that so often derails lives”
• R. The buka where they first ate Amala is located in which area of Ibadan?
• S. Who was given birth to at Adeoyo Maternity Hospital?
• T. What did the near-toothless Agbero do?
• U. In which hotel in Ibadan did Moria and Mulika stay?
• V. In which suite did they spend their time staying in the hotel in Ibadan?
• W. Who said, “Moria, don’t look at me like that” 
• X. What did Moria see that reminded her of J.P Clark’s poem?
• Y. Who advised as follows, “Moria, in this story you’re writing, you need to sieve the truth from the lies, the embellishments and half-truths.”
• Z. What is Moria’s view about forced marriages?
• AA. What happened to Moria’s pre-arranged Ibadan transport that brought her to ride in Afeez’s taxi?
• AB. Who advised Moria to leave the Boston persona behind, to blend, adapt, and survive?
• AC. Which two rivers does the Beere-Orita-Aperin Road cross?
• AD. What is the name the Baale’s house at Oke-Labo is called?
• AE. What did Moria say time has erased on the Baale’s House walls?
• AF. Where was music from Lady Essien Igbokwe playing?
• AG.  Who said, “Don’t let anyone deceive you. The cocoa business is lucrative, but not for farmers like you.” 
• AH. Who is described by the Baale as boisterous?
• AI. Where did Sam Okafor run to?
• AJ. Whom was Gowon talking to when he said, “Oh, yes, I will be there. Thank you for your service to the country”
• AK. Why did the picture in Fajemirokun’s home look suspicious?
• AL. Who arrived in a boat to meet Gowon?
• AM. Who said, “You know you can discuss anything with me. What is it? Is Madam pregnant again?”
• AN. Where did Mulika buy the food she brought to Moria when she came back from the hospital?
• AO. Who asked, “are you married? Do you have kids?”

Bonus Materials – Author’s Reading