The main character of Second Class Citizen, Adah Obi, is a little child who was born in Lagos, Nigeria. She knows from an early age that guys are valued more in society than girls. She nonetheless has lofty goals of obtaining an education and improving her own life. Adah is keen to go to school even if her parents don’t initially support her goals. Adah’s family sends her to live with her uncle when her father dies. Her brother’s schooling takes precedence over hers since her family views her as a burden. Adah, nevertheless, isn’t going to give up. She enters schools covertly and finally receives a scholarship that enables her to finish her education.

Adah develops into a talented and driven young lady. She sees the UK as a location of possibility and a means of escaping the limitations of her life in Nigeria, therefore she aspires to visit. She appears to be one step closer to realizing her aspirations when she marries Francis, a guy pursuing a legal education. Adah marries Francis because she thinks he would help her reach her ambitions, even if he doesn’t share her ambition.

Adah puts a lot of effort into supporting her husband’s schooling and their expanding family after they were married. She finds work as a librarian and makes a decent living at it. She stands out due to her success and tenacity, but her marriage suffers as a result. Francis feels that a woman should serve her husband and remain in the background, thus he is resentful of Adah’s independence and ambition.

In the end, Adah is able to send Francis to study in the UK. She puts in a lot of effort to save up enough cash to move in with him when he settles there. Adah’s aspirations start to fall apart as soon as she arrives in the UK. London life is not at all like the utopia she had dreamed about. She encounters bigotry and discrimination. She and Francis are forced to live in subpar housing because landlords won’t rent homes to Black families. Adah understands that she is viewed as a second-class citizen since she is an African immigrant.

Adah has difficulties at home as well. Her sacrifices and efforts are not valued by Francis. He anticipates that she will continue to be obedient and limited to stereotypical gender norms. Adah, on the other hand, is determined to maintain her independence and keeps working to provide for their family. Francis starts verbally and physically abusing her because he feels frightened by her success. Adah is often reminded by him that she must submit to him as his wife.

Adah is steadfast in her resolve to improve her and her kids’ lives in spite of these obstacles. She accepts a job at a library, where she encounters racial prejudice but is able to keep her job because of her abilities and diligence. In an effort to inspire others and share her tale, she starts to dream of becoming a writer.

Francis becomes increasingly domineering and violent as her marriage continues to fail. He attempts to shatter Adah’s soul and her dreams by setting fire to the manuscript of a novel she wrote. Adah’s determination to leave Francis is strengthened by this tragic event. She understands that in order to provide a secure and caring home for her kids, she needs to leave her violent marriage.

Adah makes the tough choice to leave Francis at the book’s conclusion. She chooses independence over a life of servitude by moving into a hostel for single moms. Adah’s choice is a major turning point in her journey, but it is by no means the end. She has taken back control of her life and started the process of creating a new life for herself and her kids.

Adah’s tale in Second Class Citizen demonstrates her tenacity and will in the face of personal adversity, gender inequity, and institutional prejudice. Her development as a woman who rejects a life of tyranny and opposes social norms is depicted throughout the book.

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