The Fall of Silence is the story of an exceptionally patriotic man resolute on helping his community. Upon retiring from a meritorious career in public service, Udonne relocated home, but the wrongs he saw troubled him.

Everything around him faced extinction unless something was done. He became a protagonist for an environment damaged by oil exploration. He also wanted restitution for the ravaged lives and devastated ecosystem. Unknown to him, Udonne was stepping on the toes of profiteers of the status quo.

The profiteers turned out to be brazen and ruthless detractors. The stark reality that Udonne faced was that he endangered not just his own life, but others as well. It was a difficult challenge to survive and finish what he started. The messy battle left him with only one of two choices. And if he continued on his course, death was waiting.

Beyond the cloud of fiction and the genre of this intricately woven story, there are patriotic, moral, sentimental, environmental, ethical, diplomatic, and cultural lessons. There is also the unravelling of the indeterminable issue of resource curse, where a country remains poor, despite having rich natural resources. At the same time, there is the issue of resource endowment fidelity.

(About the Author)

Inyang E. Ekwo is an award-winning poet and the author of the award-winning novels Storm in the Will, Just a Mile More, Beyond the Yard, and Mission of the Dusk. He is also a judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria. This is his fifth novel.