Authoritarian Governance and Its Human Cost in Emeka Ukwuaba’s Hypnotising Minefield: A Postcolonial Analysis

The literary representation of military dictatorship and authoritarian governance in Nigeria has a distinguished tradition, from Wole Soyinka to Ben Okri, yet contemporary writers continue to find new aesthetic and ideological approaches to this enduring subject. This study examines how Emeka Ukwuaba's Hypnotising Minefield (2025) fictionalises the trauma of authoritarian rule through its setting in the allegorical nation of Nagiva, engaging with the residual psychological and social costs of military governance in postcolonial Nigeria. The study is anchored on postcolonial theory, particularly Frantz Fanon's analysis of colonial violence and its internationalisation in postcolonial state structures, as well as Achille Mbembe's concept of necropolitics. A qualitative textual analysis methodology is employed, supplemented by recent postcolonial literary scholarship published within the last five years. Findings reveal that Ukwuaba's fictional Nagiva functions as a critical mirror to Nigeria, enabling the novelist to stage a pointed critique of authoritarian excess without direct political exposure. The novel further demonstrates how state power in an authoritarian context operates through fear, unpredictability, and the casual instrumentalisation of law. The study concludes that Hypnotising Minefield enriches the tradition of politically engaged Nigerian fiction by combining satirical critique with deep humanistic concern. It recommends the novel as essential reading for postcolonial literary studies programmes that address the legacies of military rule in Africa.

Keywords: Authoritarianism, Postcolonial theory, Emeka Ukwuaba, Necropolitics, Nigerian fiction