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One Man One Matchet
American Writers Series, editorial adviser Chinua Achebe
203 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
4 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
T.M. Aluko
12 books11 followersTimothy Mofolorunso Aluko was a Nigerian writer.
A Yoruba, Aluko was born in Ilesha in Nigeria and studied at Government College, Ibadan, and Higher College, Yaba, in Lagos. He then studied civil engineering and town planning at the University of London. He held a number of administrative posts in his home country, including Director of Public Works in Western Nigeria. He departed from civil service in 1966 and from then until his retirement in 1978 he pursued a career as an academic, earning a doctorate in municipal engineering in 1976. He received several awards and honours including Officer Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1963 and Officer Order of the Niger (OON) in 1964.
His novels, including One Man, One Wife (1959), One Man, One Matchet (1964), Chief the Honourable Minister (1970) and His Worshipful Majesty (1973), are satirical in tone, and deal with the clash of new and old values in a changing Africa.
In 1994, he published his autobiography, My Years of Service, an account of his activities as an engineer and university teacher.
His most current autobiography, The Story of My Life, expounds on the story of his childhood and his work as a civil servant. Published in 2007, this expanded autobiography provides a more in depth look at his life.
T.M. Aluko died on 1 May 2010 in Lagos, aged 91.
A Yoruba, Aluko was born in Ilesha in Nigeria and studied at Government College, Ibadan, and Higher College, Yaba, in Lagos. He then studied civil engineering and town planning at the University of London. He held a number of administrative posts in his home country, including Director of Public Works in Western Nigeria. He departed from civil service in 1966 and from then until his retirement in 1978 he pursued a career as an academic, earning a doctorate in municipal engineering in 1976. He received several awards and honours including Officer Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1963 and Officer Order of the Niger (OON) in 1964.
His novels, including One Man, One Wife (1959), One Man, One Matchet (1964), Chief the Honourable Minister (1970) and His Worshipful Majesty (1973), are satirical in tone, and deal with the clash of new and old values in a changing Africa.
In 1994, he published his autobiography, My Years of Service, an account of his activities as an engineer and university teacher.
His most current autobiography, The Story of My Life, expounds on the story of his childhood and his work as a civil servant. Published in 2007, this expanded autobiography provides a more in depth look at his life.
T.M. Aluko died on 1 May 2010 in Lagos, aged 91.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 27, 2018
A bit of a character could sure of the 1950s but addressesSo many key social and political and historical issues in preneed independence. The role of the British rule of the educated African civil servant the ruler of the slightly educated thanks Siri and British colonial administrative and legal system wonderful stuff
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November 23, 2025The first African head officer of a district in rural Nigeria finds himself continually off-footed by the machinations of an unscrupulous demagogue. Aluko was one of the aforementioned returnees who seems to have drawn on some life experience for this book, and the result is a caustic and funny depiction of a dysfunctional democracy.
February 1, 2025
I always enjoy volumes in the Heinemann African Writers Series, which unfortunately ended in 2003, and this fine 1964 novel by Timothy Aluko (1918-2010) is no exception. The Wikipedia article and other online information about Aluko are unfortunately sketchy. I believe he published a total of eight novels and two volumes of memoirs, but I didn’t locate a definitive list. One Man, One Matchet (matchet = machete) takes on the then timely-theme of the late period of colonial administration in Africa.
Aluko purposefully only reveals the year, 1949, well into the book. So there were 11 years yet to go before independence, which I am sure felt like a LONG time in the living of it. The characters in the novel who are most anxious to throw off the British yoke will not be satisfied anytime soon, and that knowledge really affects one’s reading of the second half of the book.
Aluko purposefully only reveals the year, 1949, well into the book. So there were 11 years yet to go before independence, which I am sure felt like a LONG time in the living of it. The characters in the novel who are most anxious to throw off the British yoke will not be satisfied anytime soon, and that knowledge really affects one’s reading of the second half of the book.
August 3, 2013
Satirically true. Great piece of writing. A must read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews