Nigerian author Chukwuemeka Ike, who died last month at the age of 88, helped define Nigerian culture, but never received the international acclaim he deserved, writes the BBC's Nduka Orjinmo in Lagos. Ike will be remembered for his novels but his legacy will also live on in an important word in Nigeria's lexicon. Say "expo" to anyone here and they immediately know what you are talking about - exam malpractice. Ike helped popularise the term when he penned Expo 77, a novel based on the true story of how top secret school-leaving exam papers were leaked twice in 1977. Ironically, he was in charge of the exam board when the leaks happened, and chose to vent his frustration about the way society encouraged malpractice - from parents to students to school administrators - through his literary work. His writing gave voice both to contemporary concerns and also to a defence of African - and more specifically his Igbo - culture. While the literary themes of the time were foc...
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