Rejected
by Johnson Babalola

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One fateful night in 1998 changes the lives of the Ajala family forever. After their farm is set on fire, they find themselves threatened from many sides. Feeling that their lives are in danger, the family decides they must leave their home of Ikorodu, Nigeria. Hoping to find refuge, the three eldest sons secure a way to leave Nigeria and seek asylum in Canada, where they plan to begin laying roots for the family in an entirely new country. Thus begins the Ajala family’s journey spanning more than two decades across both Canada and Nigeria. In 2019, when Dende Ajala’s file is put into the hands of immigration lawyer Leke Momoh, he feels a pull to learn Dende’s story. Originally from Nigeria himself, and with his own dark past, Leke cannot say no to helping Dende in any way that he can. Over the course of many visits to the mental health hospital housing Dende, the immigration lawyer hears the heart wrenching story of the man’s struggles with identity, mental health, freedom, family, and culture shock. Rejected explores the many challenging ups and downs faced by immigrants and refugees when they relocate from the familiar to the unfamiliar, as well as the trauma one decision can cause.

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“Johnson Babalola’s Rejected starts off as the struggle a refugee Nigerian family undergoes to start a new life in Canada. By the end, it’s about how family dynamics can be warped by the immigration process, about mental health issues, about being institutionalized, and about overcoming brutal rejection. Written through the eyes of a committed immigration lawyer, this is a story of hope arising out of the ashes of despair.” —Michael Mirolla, author, editor, publisher.

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Johnson Babalola is the Group Managing partner of Topmarké Attorneys LLP; a law firm based in Toronto, Canada. Johnson holds a degree in law, and certificates in mining law, immigration law, counseling and workplace investigations from universities in Nigeria, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He has over 30 years of legal, business, and corporate training experience. Called to both the Nigerian and Ontario, Canada bars, Johnson’s primary areas of focus encompass all aspects of Canadian immigration and refugee law, workplace issues consulting, and story-based management training. He is recognized by the Law Society of Ontario as a specialist in Immigration and Refugee law and has handled many mental health, immigration, and refugee matters before tribunals and Courts. Johnson was a sole practitioner and partner in previous law firms before coming together with two other lawyers to start Topmarké Attorneys LLP in 2016. A storyteller and an advocate for diversity rights and inclusion, Johnson has served on the boards of many for profit and not for profit organizations and has received community and professional awards for his contributions to the legal profession and his community, including the mentorship of young lawyers in Canada and Nigeria. Johnson once started and edited a newspaper for new immigrants called CanadaNews. Currently, he trains and writes on social issues and hosts a podcast called JB & Things. www.johnsonbabalola.com

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Author

Johnson Babalola

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