Living and working in the Middle East amid diverse crises may mean nothing to one born in the region but for a foreigner like the Professor Emeritus professor of dentistry, Enosakhare Samuel Akpata, it is no mean feat. The university don revisited his 23 years sojourn to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) during his 50th wedding anniversary when his memoir, Sand, Sun and Surprises, was unveiled in Lagos. EVELYN OSAGIE reports
With restiveness in the Middle East, living and working in the region may give some the shivers, but not Professor Emeritus Enosakhare Samuel Akpata. The retired professor of dentistry lived and worked there for 23 years.
As part of activities marking his 50th wedding anniversary dinner, the university don revisited his sojourn to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) with the unveiling his memoirs Sand, Sun and Surprises. The book was unveiled amid pomp and ceremony at the Metropolitan Club, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The event, which was chaired by Chief Arthur Mbanefo, had. Solomon Uwaifo, an engineer, as its chief launcher.
Akpata, who is married to Victoria, a retired microbiology professor of the University of Lagos, has taught at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for thirteen years and at Kuwait University for ten years. Before then, he was a professor of restorative dentistry at the University of Lagos for 21 years.
Published by Narrative Landscape Press, the memoir on his experiences in the Middle East for 23 years “serves as a guiding light to those intending to go and work in the Middle East, including people who want to visit the place on holidays; and also for people living there who wish to know what expatriates think of them,” according to the university don.
In his words: “After working in the Middle East for twenty-three years, I returned to my country, Nigeria in 2011. In conversation with friends at home and abroad, a topic that invariably came up was about my experiences in the Middle East. Some of them have found it astonishing that I was able to survive in Arab countries for that length of time, considering the quaint stories that they had heard about the region. Others have been curious and wanted tips on life in the Middle East, in case they emigrate, or needed to advise others who had similar plans. Hence, I decided to write this memoir,” he recounted.
While stating that the book’s first chapter describes his professional background, the second chapter deals with the social impact of the collapse of the Nigerian economy following the fall in the world price of crude oil in the 1980s. “How the bleak economic situation resulted in massive devaluation of the Naira and consequently, a steep decline in the purchasing power of Nigerians. Therefore, the middle class who had skills that were marketable outside Nigeria started to emigrate,” he observed.
In chapter three is an account of the author’s first trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He said: “It expresses the cultural shock I experienced during my first few weeks in Riyadh. The process endured by expatriates in finding suitable accommodation, obtaining the national identity card and driver’s license is also described there. The book also contains information on the fascinating dress code for men and women in the region, as well as the surprisingly impressive physical development of the region. A few of the landmark buildings such as Al-Faisaliyah centre and Kingdom Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as well as the Kuwait Tower are highlighted.”
Some challenges faced by academics teaching in the Middle East are also mentioned in the book. Akpata observed that: “Although the medium of instruction in the universities is Arabic, professional subjects such as Medicine, Engineering and Pharmacy were taught in English in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. As exposure to the English language by Arab school children was minimal, students in these professional disciplines had to grapple with lectures delivered in English, especially during the first few years of their university studies.
“Strategies adopted by English-speaking expatriates to contend with this problem are highlighted in the book. A chapter of the book is devoted to various leisure activities that could make life pleasurable for expatriates in the Middle East. The book also addresses the question of religious worship in the Middle East. Aspects of Islamic worship that impacted on the lives of non-Muslims are described. The ways to manage the restriction on non-Islamic religions in some other parts of the region are described. Brief reference is also made to the problem of the religious police in the region,” he added.
Akpata disclosed that the book took him three years to write amid some challenges. He said: “One of the challenges was getting illustrations because at the time I was there, I didn’t think I was going to write this book; otherwise, I would have taken a lot of photographs. Photography wasn’t really my hobby at that time. And if I wrote to the people who are still over there, they were suspicious of what one was going to do with the pictures. Even, my close friends were rather apprehensive and were not willing to send pictures. That was the greatest challenge.”
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