The novel “Crossfire” as written by OmoobaJesu Adetunji, is a fictional story centred around the life of a set of twin brothers, named Kiitan and Enitan. Their mother died while giving birth to them, and so, they were left to the care of their father, who was distraught over his wife’s death.
They had a grandmother who they visited once in a year, and a lady who they call Aunty Rose, who lived with them. She would later come to play a vital role later on, in their lives.
The story revolved around some struggles, which are typical to Teenagers; such as pornography, masturbation, sex, being distracted, bad influence, etc.
As the novel begins, Kiitan is caught masturbating and watching pornography by their father, who reprimanded him. This led to disliking his brother, as he seemed he was always seen as the bad child, while his brother was the good one.
Soon, this dislike turned into resentment, when they visited their grandmother during the Christmas holiday, and a conversation surrounding their personalities surfaced. This got Kiitan angry at his brother, Enitan, and he started treating him indifferently.
Fast forward to school resumption, Enitan as the head boy and some of the other school prefects, including Mary and Tayo, started meeting to study together for their WAEC. That was where Enitan met Jumoke, and this relationship marred his life, as he got influenced into doing so many wrong things. They got into a “relationship”, and started exploring each other’s body sexually, although they didn’t have sex.
This got him distracted along the way, and he eventually failed his JAMB exam, and got low grades in WAEC. However, Kiitan had good results in both examinations.
After these events, Jumoke broke up with Enitan, and revealed that she has always been in a relationship with his brother, Kiitan. This infuriated Enitan, who fought his brother, and increased the hatred which already existed between them.
Afterwards, their father who was very disappointed in Enitan, asked him to go stay with their grandmother, and there, another phase of his life started. Living with his grandmother can be likened to moving from frying pan to fire, as he got into a lot of mess while living with her.
At his grandmother’s, Enitan enrolled at a tutorial centre, so that he could prepare well for JAMB again. There, he met some people who preached Christ to him. However, he ignored them, and continued in his lifestyle of hopelessness.
At home with his grandmother, one of his older cousins, named Lanre was living with her, and he had a bad influence on Enitan. He introduced him to clubbing, drinking, and all sort of immoral acts. He even explored him sexually, without his knowledge. This led to a big fight which resulted into the death of the grandmother, and neardeath of Enitan, himself. Luckily, he was saved on time.
After this incident, he went back home to his dad, but the anger he had towards everyone in his family was already deep-seated within him. As events unfold, Jumoke got pregnant for Kiitan, as they were in the same university and were still involved with each other. This led to the latter being arrested by the former’s father. He stayed in prison for a long time, and it was when Jumoke was delivered of a child, that he was released, while Jumoke was sent to live abroad.
By this time, Enitan already gained admission into the same university as Kiitan. However, their relationship was still very much strained.
Life was a living hell for Enitan, with struggles everyday, to satisfy himself, but never getting any joy whatsoever. He resorted to taking drugs, weed, alcohol, etc, but was never content. After a while, Kiitan resumed back to school, but they never made any attempt to reach each other.
Soon, Enitan started thinking of Kiitan, he was so on his mind, and Enitan could not push the thoughts about his brother away. On a fateful day, he finally decided to send Kiitan a friend request on Facebook, and the latter accepted, in addition with a message which read “Where are you?”
This was the beginning of a cordial relationship between the brothers, as Enitan told his brother, where he stays on campus. Kiitan visited Enitan, and after much discussions, Kiitan led him to Christ.
Kiitan had been led to Christ by their dad, when he went home. And their father who initially did not believe in God accepted Christ through Aunty Rose- the lady staying in their house. That is to say, through Aunty Rose, the entire family got to know Jesus Christ, and got reunited forever.
Thematic Preoccupation
1. Typical Teenagers’ Struggles:
Typical struggles that teenagers go through was evidenced in this novel. Kiitan at the beginning of the novel was caught masturbating and watching pornography. Enitan got into sexual practices,c alcoholism, and was wrongly influenced.
2. Resentment:
This was evident in the relationship that existed between the two brothers. This resentment was there from when they were teenagers, up until they grew up and went to the university. And we see how much damage that caused them.
3. Influence:
The theme of Influence was also very prominent in the novel. Good and bad Influence! Jumoke And Lanre had a bad influence on Enitan. Mary and the other classmates had a good influence on each other, as they studied for their WAEC together. Aunty Rose had a good influence on Enitan’s family, etc.
4. Salvation; The Love of God:
Oh, the overwhelming love of God!
The love of God is so deep, it chased Enitan, Kiitan And their father down, till it caught up with them, and changed their lives forever. God’s love as displayed in this novel showed that there is no one that cannot be saved. No one is too far gone.
{Read: Is the Salvation of God in Christ Jesus Eternal?}
In all, Crossfire is a must read for every teenager, Teenagers’ coach, parent or caregivers. It would make you aware of the sort of things your Teenagers go through, and how to come in, to help them make better decisions.
Purchase Crossfire by OmoobaJesu Adetunji
You can get a copy of this book for NGN1000 only via any of these mediums. Click on your preferred medium to make a purchase
You can also pay via bank transfer into this NGN account:
Bank: Union
Account Number: 0056808110
Account Name: OmoobaJesu Adetunji
Once you have made payment, you can reach out to the author via WhatsApp (+2347016654751) to get your copy.
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Teens Meet Outreach 
Thank you Ibukun, for writing this review, as, upon it, all necessary enthusiasm to desire an uninterrupted perusal cum absorption, of the very messages contained in the lines of the book, is founded.
To the writer,
Cluing from the review, l opine honestly that, beyond a book, you have given to this generation and further, a gift of a lifetime from The Throne of Grace… If the review could have been written in such simple, easy-to-comprehend language, then it makes all the sense to salivate. Thus, our book passes for “food is ready!”
Thank you, again.
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Thank you so much for reading, Olaoluwa. 🤗🤗
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