Title, Subtitle

Chains Beneath the Cocoa Trees
A Story of Coerced Labor, Lost Voices, and Unyielding Hope

Blurb / Description

Chains Beneath the Cocoa Trees is a searing historical fiction novella that uncovers the hidden truths of colonial exploitation on the island of Fernando Po (present-day Bioko). Set in the 1950s, the story follows young men and women from Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone who are deceived by labor recruiters and forced into brutal servitude on cocoa plantations.

Through the eyes of Chike, a hopeful laborer; Safi, a cook-house survivor; and Sule, a quiet rebel, the narrative unfolds with lyrical urgency. It exposes the layers of violence, memory, and resistance beneath the silence of official records. The novella journeys from the crowded docks of Calabar to the suffocating fincas of Santa Isabel, where pain mingles with resilience—and where even silence has a voice.

Based on archival fragments and oral histories, Chains Beneath the Cocoa Trees is both a haunting tribute and a timeless call to remember. Some chains are forged by power. Others are broken by memory.

Author

Chiedu Ndubisi is a Nigerian author, economist, and policy analyst whose fiction bridges history, memory, and justice. His stories give voice to Africa’s forgotten pasts—those silenced by colonial archives and buried beneath global indifference. Chains Beneath the Cocoa Trees is his powerful literary excavation of a truth few dare to remember.

He is the Managing Director/CEO of Prohouse and Systems Limited and founder of GritRoot Media Concept. A recognized expert in infrastructure finance and PPP reform, he holds degrees in Economics (B.Sc.), Business Administration (MBA), and Public Policy Analysis (Ph.D.). With over 40 years of post-graduation experience, including his tenure as Director at Nigeria’s Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Chiedu brings deep insight into governance, reform, and storytelling. 

Formats Available

• eBook (EPUB, PDF)

• Paperback

• Hardcover (Coming Soon)

Purchase Links

• Amazon (Paperback / Kindle): https://www.amazon.in/That-Ghost-Flight-Abuja-Journey/dp/B0F8D3LZC6

• Lulu (Paperback / eBook): [Coming Soon]

• Kobo (eBook): [Coming Soon]

• StreetLib Store: [Coming Soon]

• Apple Books: [Coming Soon]

• Google Play Books: [Coming Soon]

ISBNs

• Paperback ISBN: 979-8283539294 

• eBook ISBN: 978-1-257-95271-7 

• Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-257-ZZZZZZ (To be assigned)

Reviews / Endorsements

“A haunting and necessary story—Ndubisi lifts the veil on one of Africa’s most suppressed chapters with lyrical grace and political force.”
— Ifeoma Chinwe, author of “The Rainmaker’s Daughter”

“Devastating, lyrical, and vital. This novella left me shaken and deeply moved.”
— Femi Oyekan, Historian and Research Fellow, Institute of African Studies

“Chains Beneath the Cocoa Trees reminds us that not all plantations were in the Americas—and not all stories have been told.”
— The African Historical Review