Isidore Okpewho’s 1976 novel The Last Duty takes place in a country called Zonda, in the town of Urukpe, a border zone between the Igabo peoples and the Simba peoples. The two ethnic groups formerly lived at peace, to the point of cohabiting the town and even intermarrying. However, civil war has now driven out the Simbians, and the town is occupied by federal troops. Military commander for the past two years, Brigade Major Ali S. Idris takes his duties seriously and seeks not only to safeguard the town from external attack but also to establish, as much as possible, a just and harmonious community within his jurisdiction. He feels ‘equally concerned about the safety of civilian lives and the protection of the civil rights of everybody here, no matter what tribe he belongs to’ (4). This noble sentiment echoes the ethical stance of the author and contributes to our understanding of the book’s title. However, few of the other characters in the story share or even understand Ali’s goals. Ali himself fails through short-sightedness. But in understanding his failure, he ultimately succeeds.

I agree on most counts with those who label this a ‘tragic’ novel. The two characters who most desire justice and a non-tribalistic society seemed fated to fail even before the first page. Their ineffectiveness does not forecast a promising future for Nigeria, as the problems of the present-day nation bear out. That Zonda represents Nigeria and Urukpe a mid-Western town (probably Asaba) during the Nigerian Civil War or Biafran War of Succession, no one disputes. However, too many readers treat the book as merely a sad commentary on the vicissitudes of one particular war and the disappointing internal corruption on both sides. Few question why Okpewho – or any author – bothers to revisit the war or feels moved to point the finger so long after the apparent end of the conflict. The author’s own comments on the novel, however, continue to ring as true today as they did decades ago. Okpewho describes the book as ‘essentially … the tragedy of any civil war: lofty political speeches, declarations, etc., take little notice of the lives of the small people involved in the war, yet have far-reaching effects on their fortunes’ (14).