TITLE OF BOOK: On Becoming

AUTHOR: Toke Makinwa

COUNTRY PUBLISHED: Nigeria

PUBLISHER: Kachifo Limited, Nigeria

ISBN: 978-978-54604-0-7

YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2016

NUMBER OF PAGES: 111

BOOK REVIEWER: MofOluwawo O MojolaOluwa

Photo Credit: Bella Naija


On Becoming is an autobiographical account of the life and times of Toke Makinwa especially as it relates to her love life. Toke Makinwa, the second child of four children was born to Caleb Ifemayowa Makinwa and Modupe Monica Makinwa in the eighties. Born in Lagos to a civil servant and a teacher cum business woman, she moves with her family to Abuja, where her father has been transferred for work and lives there until eight, when a domestic fire accident which claims both her parents lives forces them to relocate, herself and her siblings plus a younger cousin, five children in all, to Lagos, to live with her mothers older sister, simply referred to as big mummy.

Orphaned and suddenly uprooted at eight, with a heavy cloak of loss hanging over her and tons of unanswered questions, her life makes a sudden u-turn; turning her into a socially withdrawn and academically backward child. Perhaps the loss of her parents would influence the kind of adult she turns out to be? Perhaps not?

In the book, more focus is placed on Tokes relationships. From her very first crush, it appears shes always been into the wrong men. But wrong is a relative term. Her first crush, the church choir leader, is caught kissing another girl at the back of the church, breaking her little heart. In her own words, she fell in love too quickly, even scaring away a few guys with her intensity…

Her relationship with her first boyfriend fizzles out after she gains admission into the University. Her academic life sees no improvement as she even almost drops out but for the gracious big mummy, who comes to her rescue last minute.

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