A soldier in search of himself

Title: Perceptions (Unabridged)
Author: Dele Arogundade
Genre: Poem
Pagination: 82 pages
Publisher: Aqua Publishers
Book Reviewer: Seun Akioye

IT is not every day that a soldier takes up the pen, puts down the gun to illustrate life as it is, in simple language and imagery using everyday events and fantasies to illustrate life and living. That was the story of Dele Arogundade, a serving colonel in the Nigeria army who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Electronics from the Nigerian Defence Academy. It gets more intriguing as he also holds three Master Degrees in Defence Studies, Computer Science and Strategic Studies.

After 23 years of being a closet writer and unable to fulfil his dreams of being a published author, Arogundade finally published “ Perceptions (Unabridged)” which is a collection of poems published in three parts in an 82 page compendium. In simple language, Arogundade romances everyday objects, ideas and themes bringing out seemingly unimportant

Publishing his first compendium of poems is a dream come true for him. Even though he had always loved writing from a young age, he did not discover his talent can be explored on a larger scale through books.  “My aim is to lend a voice and to tell the world my story. To inspire people about the need to discover, develop and ultimately deploy your talent for posterity. It took me 23 years to get my first book launched officially. Dreams do come true,” he said.

Published by Aqua Media and Publishing Studios, Perceptions has the central theme of interconnectedness of things no matter how vague or apart they seem. “My poems are basically my perceptions. They are my views about life and everything around life generally. Moods, people, places, interests etc. “

This is obvious in the first part of the book where he explored both animate and non-animate objects. ‘Mystery Bird’ which marveled at the airplane and its mysterious ways quickly followed by the marveling at how grown men would chase a round leather across the field. But the ultimate aim is Goals.

“Football, a money spinning venture, a unifying factor cutting across races and religions, an idol of sort, worshipped by irate fans, desperate for victory.”

Part one also explored the idea of God, capital cities of the world like Nairobi where “everything is sawasawa,” and “one can’t help but holler Asante Sana.” There are other cities too, like Malaysia which he referred to as the Soul of Asia without mentioning its name. Calabar, West Coast, Quetta, Khartoum, Liberia and Sierra Leone also got generous mentions.

The second part is titled “Deep Thoughts” was meant to be the authors philosophical outlook on life and it boasts of many motivational themes along the way. Themes such as True Love, Hang On, Why Me, Accept My Sympathy are meant to convey the poet’s thoughts and attitudes to the vicissitudes of life.  Though Arogundade might have only published his first poem, Paragon of Beauty, a poem he dedicated to an unrevealed personage showed him as a hopeless romantic. “When you talk, it is like the sound of harmonious orchestra, when you sing, birds go green with envy.”

The final part titled:” My Musings” is a collection of 13 of the authors quotes and philosophy about life.  In all his poems which “are like stories told in poetry form. My travels, my family, some experiences, my job etc.,” the military showed up significantly. From “The Army is it, Drill Square, Looking Good, Mobile House,” all dealt with military life and exercises.  “Of Course,” Arogundade said in response to a question if military themes were deliberate in his poems. “Having spent 29 years of my life in the military, you can’t divorce it from my life.”

Arogundade believes Nigeria’s educational system should be overhauled to create a deliberate effort to revive the reading culture. “Forming reading clubs in schools and communities, organizing reading sessions. Parents should buy books for their children apart from normal school books to revive a reading culture. That is what I do for my children and my mentees.

“As Francis Bacon said, reading maketh a man. Readers are leaders, they ultimately go ahead. The bible says my people perish for lack of knowledge not because the devil is too powerful.  The social media has negatively affected the young ones. There is an information overload, unfortunately, the negative information thrive more than the positives.”

His work has received generous appraisal from the Masters.  Award winning Poet Toni Kan describes him as “a poet whose poetry flows straight from the heart” and anchored on a very strong conviction and, taken as a whole, they paint a well realized picture of an officer and a gentleman in the service of his country.”

Professor Ahmed P. Yerima, a playwright and cultural administrator said: “The poems can be described as a margin from a natural-realistic point of view because they talk about nature; they reflect nature and are written through the creative eyes of a poet who appreciates nature.”