SOURCE: "Powerlessness Corrupts," in New Statesman & Society, Vol. 1, No. 7, July 22, 1988, pp. 43-4.

In the following positive review, Cronje examines Okri's focus on Nigeria in Stars of the New Curfew.

In the title story of Ben Okri's book, Stars of the New Curfew, two local politicians, both millionaires, hold a crude contest for power. This consists of distributing money to the crowd. One of them produces an air-conditioned Rolls Royce with a large refrigerator which stores and cools his banknotes: "The fridge was brought on stage and the stacks of notes were unloosened from their bindings and thrown at the crowd." This goes on for a while, until the rival chief makes his counter-bid: "The helicopter hovered over us. Then a door opened and coins were emptied over us. No one moved for a while … The silvery sparkles floated down through the air like tangible stars … The coins rained...