WeREAD: Kaine Agary's Yellow-Yellow' Highly Recommended for Film Adaptation

Holding the novel "Yellow-Yellow" by Kaine Agary on Monday, September 1, 2025 while visiting my younger sister in her residence in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

WeREAD:  Kaine Agary's Yellow-Yellow' Highly Recommended for Film Adaptation 

https://amzn.to/4nvC5H5

Our book club, WeREAD prefers  reading more books by Nigerian authors than foreign authors. 

My younger sister, Mrs. Stella Unah is the Numero Uno of reading with over 100 books read so far. She reads novels like she is watching movies, relating with the characters in the stories. She is the Chief Librarian of WeREAD Book Club.

Unlike many of the women in Nigeria, she prefers reading to gossiping.
She can read four books within 30 days.

If everyone in Nigeria can read like her, majority of Nigerian authors will be giving thanks to Almighty God for our books will be selling like books in America, Britain, Japan and other countries with highly literate people who love 💕 to read.

I started WeREAD in 2022 as an affiliate of Bookshop.org to support local bookstores in America and I am happy to say that over US$40 million have been raised so far.

Forwarded message ----------

From: "Bookshop.org" <newsletters@bookshop.org>

To: "WeREAD" <ekenyerengozimichaelchima@gmail.com>

$40,751,866.50

Raised For Local Bookstores

Last month of August, the novels we chose to read included "Influence of A King" by Titi Horsfall; multiple award winning novel, "Purple Hibiscus" by the famous Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie and "Yellow-Yellow" by Kaine Agary that won the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2008. The first debut novel to do so in the history of the biggest prize for literature in Africa.

https://www.thenigeriaprizes.org/profile/kaine-agary

The exciting romantic novel about the impressionable and vulnerable biracial teenage girl,  Zilayefa, aka "Yellow-Yellow", daughter of a young Ijaw woman Ina Binaebi and a Greek sailor, Plato Papadopoulos in the Niger Delta of Nigeria during the dictatorship of a sadistic military Head of State is highly entertaining. It is one the best coming-of-age novels I have read so far. 

It is a romantic drama in prose waiting for a good film adaptation that will be a box office success and it is the kind of movie Netflix should commission.

Wale Ojo

I see the accomplished multiple award winning actor Wale Ojo playing the romantic role of the retired Naval Admiral Kenneth Alaowei Amalayefa, the sugar daddy of Zilayefa; excellent beautiful Nollywood diva, Iretiola Doyle as Sisi and the fast rising young pretty Uche Montana as Lolo.

Iretiola Doyle

Uche Montana

I don't know any biracial Nigerian actress under 20 that can play the leading role of Yellow-Yellow. We have to do international casting call for her. 

WeREAD powered by Bookshop, https://bookshop.org/shop/Weread. 

WeREAD is for the revival of the reading culture in Nigeria and the rest of Africa for the appreciation of literature with special focus on books by African authors.

The next level is to produce the WeREAD app for all users of GSM phones to access the platform. The app will include an interactive social networking feature for users to talk about books, booklists, book awards, rate books and trade books in book auctions where collector's editions of rare books can be sold to the highest bidders. We will also produce various branded products for WeREAD, such as WeREAD school, shopping and travel bags; facecaps; T-shirts and WeREAD Cafés strategically located on campuses of selected tertiary institutions and shopping malls. 

Yellow-Yellow, Kaine Agary, novel, books,Nigerian writers,Nigeria Prize for Literature,Niger Delta, romance, love, sex, politics, adventure, relationship, career, education

The shortcomings of the Nigeria Prize for Literature

The shortcomings of the Nigeria Prize for Literature

The Nigeria Prize for Literature, endowed by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited is a great thing. It is an unprecedented initiative of immense benefit to Nigerian writers and the society for the appreciation of our literary culture.
I have been following the progress of the Nigeria Prize for Literature without any objection to the administration, but not impressed by the impact on the sustainable development of Nigerian literature. There is too much emphasis on the cash prize of $50,000 when the focus should be on promoting the revival of our reading culture for the intellectual development of the Nigerian society that is presently breeding philistines.

The Nigerian Prize for Literature has made the lucky winners richer, but it has failed to make us wiser, because many of the prizes winning books have not reached the majority of the Nigerian society, except the intelligentsia.
The Man Booker Prize, Orange Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Commonwealth Prize and other highly coveted literary awards increase the public appreciation of the winners and their books, but the Nigeria Prize for Literature has failed to make the winners bestsellers and becoming a bestselling author is the dream of every writer.
It looks like there is no budget for a comprehensive media plan for the Nigeria Prize for Literature, because there is no tangible publicity plan for the public appreciation of the winning books beyond the public announcements of the shortlisted authors, the winners and prize giving gala ceremonies. Everybody returns to business as usual after the events and the lucky winner of the $50, 000 prize smiles to the bank. But none of the prize winning books has become a bestseller and the author hardly goes on any book signing tour like in America, the UK or other countries where prize winning books become sought after collector’s items and sell like hot cakes.
What is the use of winning a book prize, but your book is not in demand?
The fact that is; the reading culture in Nigeria is still poor after the efforts of some individuals and groups to promote reading and President Goodluck Jonathan launched a widely publicized “Bring Back the Book” campaign.
The revival of our reading culture is a challenge to the administrators of the Nigeria Prize for Literature.
How can we use the prize to revive the general appreciation of reading in Nigeria?

May I advise the administrators of the Nigeria Prize for Literature to review the budget and the media plan and consider spending more on the promotion of the prize winning books to attract the attention and appreciation of the public.
The promotion of the winning book will attract more readers and boost our reading culture.
Invite the public to vote for the shortlisted books, because such an open invitation will be a good motivation for the public appreciation of the books and will definitely boost their interest to read them.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature needs more cooperation and support of the Nigerian news media to achieve more for the overall benefit of the Nigerian society. The Guardian and other Nigerian newspapers should learn from The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, the Guardian of the UK and others in America and Europe by dedicating more pages to literary appreciation such as initiating and promoting a Nigerian Bestsellers List for both fiction and non-fiction like New York Times: Best-Seller Lists, Book of the Month and other promotions that will go a long way to increase the public appreciation of the goals and objectives of the Nigeria Prize for Literature beyond the competition for the cash prize and the glitz of the ceremony.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima