Amusa Sango

One of Amusa Sango's defining qualities is that he is the most coveted bachelor on Molomo Street. Apart from his prestigious post as a crime reporter for the West African Sensation, he also plays in a popular dance band. His charm and slick "fairy-tales" also endear him to women. Most of the female characters in the novel eventually fall in love with Sango: Aina, Beatrice, and Beatrice the Second. 

Women are a source of both comfort and torment for Sango. Although he tries to heed his mother's warnings of licentious city women, he develops a sexual relationship with Aina. He also ends up obsessing over Beatrice the Second, whom he sees as complementing his high ambitions. While Sango eventually marries and lets go of his bachelorhood, he holds on to the city's dazzling promises of wealth and renown. 

Lajide

Lajide is Sango's landlord, a wealthy, heavyset man with eight wives. He has a hostile relationship with Sango, whom he regards as a vandal and troublemaker despite the latter's punctual rent payments. Although Sango had no idea that Bayo had been operating an illegal clinic in his room, Lajide sees it as ample reason to evict him. 

Lajide drops his friendly mask when doing business and assumes a shrewd, snakelike countenance. He is not above stealing, faking records, and even bribing police authorities. Towards the end of the novel, he receives karmic justice when one of his favorite wives dies from a stroke. The grief and heartbreak eventually kill him. 

Aina 

Aina is a young, beautiful girl who becomes Sango's lover after meeting him at a drum party on Molomo Street. Although he has no plans to marry her, Aina is deeply in love with Sango—believing that only her kleptomania keeps him from taking her seriously. Her feelings for Sango persist even after he beats her until she miscarries his baby. 

Bayo

Bayo Dupeh is one of Sango's closest friends. Like him, he is a heavy drinker and ladies' man. He is also involved in illegal activities, administering penicillin shots in Sango's room without the proper certification. Although it seems like he eventually turns a new leaf, promising his lover Suad a good life, the two end up dead at the hands of Zamil.  

Beatrice

Because of her exceptional beauty, Beatrice attracts Sango's attention the moment she enters the All Language Club. While initially attracted to her, Sango grows to think of Beatrice as his sister, advising her to stay with her husband despite their unhappy marriage. Beatrice's seductive power over men eventually leads to her tragic demise, as Zamil's jealous wives beat her to death. 

Beatrice the Second

Beatrice the Second is Sango's private nickname for the girl he meets at De Pereira's burial, as she shares the same name as Beatrice. He helps her up after she slips, saving her from being trampled by the large crowd. Unlike Sango, Beatrice the Second has righteous aspirations, planning to open a hospital in a remote province. It is this altruism and air of respectability that draws Sango to her. 

Zamil

Muhammed Zamil is a Lebanese cloth merchant who leases one of Lajide's properties. Although he has multiple wives, he refuses to let his sister Suad marry Bayo. He kills both in a drunken rage and remorsefully tries to shoot himself afterward. 

Elina

Elina is the girl Sango's mother originally arranged for him to marry. Upon visiting her at the convent in the Eastern Greens, however, Sango realizes he has no desire for her.