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His Excellency
Elewa, girlfriend to Ikem Osodi, is a poor but confident and magnetic young woman who works in retail and lives in a cramped apartment with her mother in Bassa. Though she and Ikem often have petty fights, they love and respect each other a great deal. When Ikem is murdered, Elewa is pregnant with his child. Ikem’s friend Beatrice Okoh invites Elewa to stay at her apartment while Elewa grieves, and they become close friends. After Elewa gives birth, Beatrice hosts a “naming-ceremony” for the baby. Whereas traditionally the father would name the baby, Elewa insists that Beatrice name her daughter.
Elewa Quotes in Anthills of the Savannah
The Anthills of the Savannah quotes below are all either spoken by Elewa or refer to Elewa . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5 Quotes
“But woman done suffer for dis world-o,” says Elewa.
“A modern Desdemona, I see. Did she cheer him up?” asks Beatrice totally ignoring Elewa’s more basic solidarity call.
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Chapter 13 Quotes
He was convinced that the drafters of the government statement had deliberately chosen a phrase which was popularly misunderstood in order to diffuse the shock of the news by revealing its full extent only in stages.
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Chapter 14 Quotes
Perhaps it might even be said that by being so clearly, so unpleasantly, so pig-headedly unhappy in her lot Agatha by her adamant refusal to be placated may be rendering a service to the cause more valuable than Elewa’s acceptance; valuable for keeping the memory of oppression intact, constantly burnished and ready.
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Elewa Character Timeline in Anthills of the Savannah
The timeline below shows where the character Elewa appears in Anthills of the Savannah. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
Around midnight, Ikem is fighting with his girlfriend Elewa because he has called her a taxi rather than letting her stay the night. To...
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Chapter 5
Dick tells the group (which also includes Elewa and Chris’s girlfriend Beatrice) about himself: he runs a magazine, Reject, that publishes poems other...
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Elewa, overhearing, asks about the girl. Mad Medico explains that he arranged for His Excellency to...
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Chapter 10
As Ikem and Elewa prepare to leave his apartment for Mad Medico’s, two taxi drivers, including the one who...
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The other driver tells Elewa how an editorial of Ikem’s got the City Council to clean up the Central Taxi...
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...conspicuous consumption of the upper class, ought to be destroyed. Ikem shares his conclusions with Elewa, only to have her agree with the driver and scold him for driving such a...
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Chapter 11
After taking Elewa home that night, Ikem goes back to his apartment and thinks. He decides that the...
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...refuses, saying that if they are silent, they are handing His Excellency the victory. Then Elewa arrives and demands to know whether Ikem was truly fired. Ikem asks how she heard....
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Chapter 13
...Beatrice contemptuously suggests that they’d never print it anyway. They agree they need to tell Elewa what happened but realize they don’t know her home address, her workplace, or her last...
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...worded his statement to encourage confusion. Beatrice returns to her apartment and finds a frantic Elewa, who proves Chris’s theory correct: she thinks Ikem is only wounded. Beatrice steels herself and...
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...spread copies throughout the university. That night, Chris meets with the two taxi-drivers, located by Elewa, who once visited Ikem’s apartment to apologize.
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Beatrice has invited Elewa to stay with her while Elewa grieves. One night, hearing noises from the guest room,...
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Approaching jeeps wake the women. Someone knocks, identifying himself as “State Security.” When Elewa opens the door, a soldier shoves inside so violently that he knocks her over. More...
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Chapter 14
The next morning, Beatrice finds Elewa eating “dry bread” for breakfast because Agatha, who looks down on Elewa, hasn’t prepared anything....
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...a crime that carries the death penalty. Unexpectedly, after the 6 p.m. broadcast, Agatha and Elewa together reassure Beatrice that God won’t let the police find Chris.
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Chapter 18
Beatrice hosts an impromptu “naming-ceremony” for Elewa’s baby daughter; it turns out Ikem had impregnated her before his death. After Chris’s death,...
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Back in the present, at the naming-ceremony, Elewa’s parents are late. And so, Beatrice tells Elewa to name the baby. When Elewa asks...
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...dancing and singing a religious song. When Braimoh’s wife Aina joins the dance, Beatrice asks Elewa whether Aina isn’t a Muslim. Elewa replies that Aina is—but why can’t a Muslim dance...
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Elewa’s mother and uncle arrive. When Beatrice explains that they already named the baby, the uncle...
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Holding up a kolanut, Elewa’s uncle prays to God on behalf of the baby, the young people, Elewa’s mother and...
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