Nwapa wrote Efuru shortly after Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960. One of the tasks that writers faced at that time was how to frame their colonial past. Nwapa’s novel confronts many of the social, cultural, economic, and political consequences of British influence and domination, which lasted over 100 years. One particularly problematic and poignant aspect of British colonialism is the reality that some Nigerians participated in and profited from the Atlantic slave trade.

Representing the Atlantic slave trade from the African point of view is fraught with contradictions. The devastating cruelty and economic depletion that Europeans wrought on both the African continent and the diasporic African populations of slaves and their descendants are well documented. The transatlantic slave trade also spanned three centuries, from the mid-16th to the late-19th centuries. Over 10 million Africans (and possibly many more) were transported abroad as slaves during that time. The trade would not have been successful without the participation of powerful African slavers, who profited through the system and acted as middlemen for the Europeans.

In Efuru, Nwashike stands in for these middlemen. Nwapa does not explain Nwashike’s exact role—only that he “took part actively in slave dealing” and that the cannons that mark his death were given in exchange for slaves (Chapter 15, Location 3738).