Author: Glory E. Nyasulu

Abstract: Home and belonging have mostly been slippery in urban spaces especially for the poor. This is because it is difficult for the urban poor who due to unemployment and dwarfed wages fail to afford a habitable home. This issue has escalated in many African cities due to the rural-urban migrations in search for a better life. This essay explores these thematic issues of home and belonging in Chibundu Onuzo’s Welcome to Lagos. The essay argues that that urban life and experience renders home-making slippery and problematic in some of its inhabitants, especially the urban poor, hence instilling a feeling of alienation in them.

Keywords: alienation, belonging, home, rootlessness, poverty.

Article Info: Received: 23 Jul 2022; Received in revised form: 23 Aug 2022; Accepted: 26 Aug 2022; Available online: 31 Aug 2022

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.74.52