Loving yourself, they say, is the greatest love of all. But in Cheta’s case pleasing his family and the society at large at the expense of his happiness is his only option. Cheta who has always had the tendency of being gay denies himself the right to accept who he is due to the irresistable fear of being chestised by his family and the entire society. But all effort to live a pretentious life did not help much as his effeminate character exposes him to suspicion and discrimination.

An attempt to expose a Catholic priest for victimizing him while he was twelve wins him a life time enemy in his parents and leads to his being excommunicated from the church, a town parish in which he spent most of his childhood serving as an alter boy. Little or not did he know that the tribulation he was going through was preparing him for greater storms to come.

Meanwhile Cheta’s continued determination to suppress his effeminism and sexuality lands him into the military. But his plan of serving in the force his entire life becomes aborted as he gets fed up with denying himself the freedom of expressing his sexuality and keeping a relationship full of crisis.

The desperate quest for an alternative job unites him with youngmen of his kind who are experiencing similar problems, and grants him an opportunity of discovering himself the more.

He is inspired to delve into gay rights activism by the demise of Musa his dearest friend who was stoned to death as a consequence for same sex activity under the sharia law. He is arrested in the process and held custody by the police for what they term an accomplice of same sex crime.

Cheta flees the country as he discovers that it is no longer a safe place for him. He ends up in Sweden where he meets and falls in love with Mikko. His marriage to Mikko brings an entire end to the dwindling relationship between him and his family.

Did life get any better for Cheta even after settling in a country he considered most suitable for him?

Who I Am is a detailed story that explains the crystal interpretation of being gay in the African context. It is centred on discrimination, contempt, humiliation and prosecution suffered by gays around the continent, especifically in Nigeria.

This novel is captivating, sentimental, thrilling, provocative and full of suspense.

The novel was set in Nigeria and partly in Europe.