Helon Habila’s literary output has until now been characterised by a great focus on politics and history. Inheriting from a number of great Nigerian writers, he falls into the scope of these literary predecessors who have considered that literature is commitment, but he also tends to move away from this tradition. Politics and poetics flow together in his work to denounce military rule, but also the paradox of a country, extremely wealthy as regards oil, yet incapable of making its population benefit from it fully, thus pointing to the false promises that oil offers.