Jagua Nana-or Jagwa after the sleek British car-is a high-class "kept" woman, at times working the streets just for enough money to keep herself in the kind of luxury she desires. Ultimately, though, her lifestyle leads her into the company of political men, and she becomes irrevocably intertwined in their intrigues, to the detriment of her identity as a woman and her ability to negotiate the complexities of modern city life in Nigeria.
At 45, Jagua lives with a man twenty years younger than her, a lover who wants to study in England and manages to do so with her financial help, money she earns by streetwalking. In the meantime, however, Freddie falls in love with a younger woman and Jagua is unable to hold onto him, despite her sex appeal or the wealth she lavishes on him.
When he leaves for England, she begins to keep company with an older man, "Uncle Taiwo," who pays for her house, her clothing, her lifestyle, and her visits to the Tropicana, her favorite bar. Uncle Taiwo is a politician. And that is bad news for Jagua and for Freddie, though she doesn't know it yet.
When Freddie returns from England, married to the younger woman who was Jagua's competition, he decides to become a politician because he wants money and he wants it fast. At this point, though the story remains focused on Jagua, we are reminded of how corrupt the political system is in Nigeria. Uncle Taiwo's campaign platform is simple (and typical): spread a lot of money around (bribes); make a lot of promises you don't intend to keep; and ultimately, have your opponent beaten up until he dies.
Uncle Taiwo follows his political plan, but despite Freddie's death, he still loses the election and he must flee for his life. Before he departs, he gives Jagua a sack of "papers" that he says she must keep hidden even if the President himself shows up at her doorstep asking for it. When Jagua is also forced to leave her house behind because "thugs" seeking revenge come looking for her, she takes the "papers" with her. It is only much, much later-back in her home village-that she discovers that the "paper" inside the sack is a great deal of money bundled together.
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