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Tag: books

  • ANAN presents books to EKSU, College

    ANAN presents books to EKSU, College

    The study of Accountancy has received a boost at the Ekiti State University, (EKSU), Ado Ekiti and the College of Education, Ikere Ekiti with book donations by the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN).

    The donations to the two state-owned institutions was a fulfillment of the promise made by the immediate past ANAN President, Dr. Shakirudeen Labode, when he paid courtesy visits to their managements two years ago.

    Although Labode had finished his tenure, his successor, Mr. Anthony Nzom, ensured that the promise was fulfilled to expand the scope of learning and studying of Accountancy.

    Nzom was represented at the event by Dr. Michael Ayeni, who was also accompanied by other top officials of the body, including the ANAN Chairman in Ekiti State, Mr. Femi Olatilu.

    Their first port of call was the College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, where the ANAN team was received by the Provost, Prof. Francesca Aladejana who was represented by her Deputy Dr. Olu Atunramu.

    Nzom who said the books were donated to advance the science of Accountancy as a branch of knowledge, explained that the items are very current and would enrich the college library.

    He explained that the books would not only help students acquire knowledge but assist them to develop the skills needed to practise Accountancy as a profession by the time they leave school.

    Responding, Aladejana described the books as the ‘best gifts’ that could be given to the college at a time which coincides with the institution’s preparation for another round of accreditation. Aladejana hopes the books would not only be useful to students but also lecturers.

    At EKSU, the ANAN team was received by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oladipo Aina, who was represented by his Deputy (Development), Prof. Olufemi Adeoluwa.

    Nzom told Aina that ANAN operates a collegiate system through which its members are trained and examined to ensure that they blend their knowledge with skills.

    He revealed that ANAN admits students after they might have adapted with either a Bachelor of Science or a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accounting before they undergo training for nine months.

    He added: “We do not believe in half-baked accountants because we have our members working in your university here and you can attest to their efficiency and competence.

    “Students should not turn the books to mirror; we want them to find treasures in these books for them to acquire knowledge.”

    He promised that the books would further enhance knowledge of students studying Accountancy in the university. He said the university library is undergoing renovation to make it more conducive to learning and convenient for students.

    By ANAN’s gesture, Aina said the body is giving good legacies to be enjoyed by the future generation, especially in Accounting.

  • Delta’s libraries without books

    Delta’s libraries without books

    The Delta State Library, in its yore days, was a resource place for those in search of knowledge hidden in printed matters. Thousands of students, teachers, researchers and people who just wanted to get information on any topic could visit the nearest of the facilities located in Asaba, Sapele, Warri, Ughelli and other towns in today’s Delta state.

    The shelves usually brimmed with books that are old and new; classics, history and every other kind from travel to geometry; from philosophy to sociology and others. It was hard to search for a book and not see it or a related one.

    One of the most popular and oldest of the Delta libraries is the one embedded in a nondescript bungalow, opposite the Warri residence of Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark on Swamp Road in the Oil City. Old Warri boys and girls who are making waves in the legal, medical and other profession as well as the business worlds today had at one time or the other spent several hours immerse in that world of knowledge away from the bustling and bubbling city.

    The floors were usually clean and sterile no matter how full the library was; the aged and young eagle-eyed attendants saw to that.  The librarians of old were also disciplinarians who ensured that the ‘NO NOISE’ signs on the walls of the sacred rooms are religiously adhered to. Those who spoke or asked question utter their inquisition in sotto voce and they got replies in similar tone; nobody was too big or important to defile the sacredness of the hollow chambers of knowledge without being made to face the dire consequence in the form of reprimands or expulsion, depending on the severity of the offence.

    •Students in one of the not-well-stocked libraries
    •Students in one of the not-well-stocked libraries

    When students of the College of Education Warri and other higher institution got lists of books that are rare to get from the bookshops in the city, they usually go to the Warri Library to borrow, photocopy or just to do their assignments, because the shelves were always filled with the latest books.

    But those days are gone; the book shelves are now mostly empty from long years of neglect and pilfering by readers and staff alike. Unlike in the bygone days when members of the library are able to borrow books for reading at their convenient times at home, those who want to use the Warri library must now sit down and do it there.

    “We have stopped lending books to members, because it was our members that depleted our shelves. Look at the shelves you can see that there are no more books left.  People borrow books and do not return them when due; some confiscate them. When we try to locate such borrowers with the addresses on their cards, we find out that they have either moved out or they gave us wrong address,” one of the staff told our reporter.

    Indeed, the shelves are naked. The few books standing (or lying) on the wobbly, creaky and dusty shelves are as old as Nigeria’s independence. The books are mostly ragged and jagged; without back or label, making it difficult to know their authors or titles without opening them. The task is made even more tedious because a good number of the books are on the wrong ledges.

    A staff at the Effurun Library told our reporter that books meant for the library are usually routed through the Warri Library, from which it said there have been no supply in recent times.

    Our checks revealed that the state government has not supplied books to the library for several years. A good number of the books on the sills were donated by philanthropic and book organizations such as Book Aid International. Some of the books date back to the colonial, Midwest and Bendel states eras.

    Not even the daily newspapers, journals and periodicals can be found on the shelves again. In the past job applicants go to the libraries to read newspapers and search for ‘Vacancies’ advertorials. But at the Warri, Sapele, Effurun Libraries visited by our reporter, the only available newspapers were on the tables are the state-government controlled The Pointer and the earliest edition were two weeks outdated.

    Although there was no competent source to comment on the deplorable state of affairs, a staff at the Ministry of Education attributed it to lack of funding. Our source said the aggressive development of the education sector by the last administration did not get to the libraries.

    “Ordinarily, our libraries should by now be digital with computer and all that, but you we have not reached that stage yet,” the source added.

    As a result of the deployable state at the libraries, users to be found there these days are usually students who are looking for quiet place to read for their examinations and they usually go to the library with their own books and other materials they need.

    But even for such users, there are snags. The basic amenities like water, toiler and light are not reliable. Our findings revealed that most of the libraries do not have independent power generators but rely on the unreliable public power supply from the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC). In the rare places where they have power generators, there is no fund allocated for fueling them.

    At the children section of the same library, our reporter couldn’t find children books. A group of four kids who were going through the motion of reading said they came with their books. The youngest of them, who is about five years old, was flipping through a geography book with pictures.

    They told our reporter they came from the Western Clinic area of the estate to ‘read’ at the library.  handful of the staff who watched proceedings with unhidden lack of interest told Niger Delta Report said they had not been paid for several months.

    Meanwhile, it was gathered that newer, valuable books donated by some Nigerian socio-cultural organisations in the diaspora, like the Urhobo and other groups in USA and UK, were also stolen, not by borrowers, but by staff.

    “There was an incident at the Sapele Library when a staff was caught stealing some very expensive medical books donated by an Urhobo group based outside the country. The staff know those books that are expensive and in high demand. So they take them away, make copies and distribute to students in higher institutions of learning. One of such thieving staff was caught and he was sacked,” a source told Niger Delta Report.

  • VC donates books to library

    Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Akii Ibhadode has donated books and  journals worth over N500,000 to the school library.

    The donation was made after the 30th meeting of the school’s  Governing Council.

    Ibhadode donated 50 copies of his book titled: Introduction to Manufacturing Technology, published by Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) for 200-Level and 300-Level engineering students.

    He also donated 32 copies of Volumes one to six of International Journal on Engineering Research in Africa (JERA), which he published in Switzerland for research.

    Presenting the books, Prof Ibhadode said the gesture was to show appreciation for the opportunity given to him to serve, noting that he has a vision to lift the school to the top 500 universities in the world.

    The Chairman of Council and Pro-chancellor, Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange, praised the VC for the donation, saying that the council was justified by its choice of Ibhadode as the school’s helmsman. He described the VC as a dynamic and focused leader.

    Other books donated included 18 copies of Advanced Materials Research (AMR) on Advances in Materials and Systems Technologies.

     

  • Don to present two books

    Two books, written by Prof Samuel Babatunde Agaja of the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, will be presented on Saturday, March 21, 2015 to commemorate the 65th birthday of his wife, Dr A. M. Agaja.

    The books, “More than Conquerors” – an autobiography – and “Twenty Years of Service to Humanity”, will be presented at the Spot Rendezvous Events Centre, Tanke, Ilorin.

  • Group donates books to schools

    Members of the National Association of Yoruba Descendants in North America, United States of America and Canada, has donated note books worth thousands of naira to some schools in the Southwest of the country as part of their self-help project at lifting the burden of parents and guardians.

    The beneficiary schools include: St. Charles Grammar School Osogbo, Osun State; Playfair Memorial College, Omu Aran, Kwara State; Methodist Primary School, Idale-Idanre, Ondo State; Remo Secondary School, Sagamu and Immanuel School Isonyin both in Ogun State; Saint Luke’s Demonstration Primary School, Molete, Ibadan, Oyo State and Iropora High School, Iropora, Ekiti, Ekiti State.

    Others are: St John’s Primary School, Oluyoro, Ibadan, Oyo State; Baptist Primary School, Ipapo Oyo State; St Mary Convent School, Lagos; and St Stephen’s Primary School, Igbotako, Ondo State.

    Presenting the books to Saint Luke’s Demonstration Primary Schoo, Molete, Ibadan, the past President of the group in Washington DC, Chief Lekan Awojooju, said beneficiary schools were nominated by the alumni, and natives,  who paid for onward distribution of the notebooks to their schools.

    He said basic education is the most fundamental of all stages of education, adding that a child with solid foundation at the basic level will excel in other stages.

    Awojooju said the objective  was to help in the association’s little way of alleviating the plight of the people, and complimenting government’s effort in the education sub-sector.

    “We are all aware that there are more students than notebooks given to each nominated schools; it will be appreciated if the administrators of each school take it upon themselves to distribute the notebooks according to the needs of their students,” Awojooju said.

    He implored pupils to make their books their closest companion if they must be great in future.

    The headteacher of the school, Mrs Eunice Olagbenro, thanked the association for the gesture, promising that the pupils would use the books judiciously.

  • Omatseye donates books to LASU

    The Nation Editorial Board Chairman, Sam Omatseye, has donated some books to the students of the Lagos State University (LASU).

    The donation was made to students of the Adebola Adegunwa School of Communication at the school campus.

    Adedeji Badejo, who represented the columnist, said the books were Omatseye’s contribution to enhance the reading culture of students.

    Badejo said: “Out of the benevolence of Sam Omateseye, he is donating 150 copies of his book, In Touch, to LASU students.

    “The book comprises articles of his column on the back page of The Nation.”

    The Dean of the faculty, Dr Rotimi Olatunji, thanked the donor and promised to use the books to enhance learning and performance.

     

  • ‘We did not compel govt to impose tariff on imported books’

    The Managing Director, Academy Press Plc, Mr Gbenga Ladipo, has said the firm has not compelled the Federal Government to impose tariff on imported books as being erroneously peddled around  by some publishing industry.

    Speaking at the Customer’s Forum, held at  the company’s premises, Ilupeju Lagos, Ladipo said, both the printers and the publishers are discussing with the government on way forwards.

    “I want to use this opportunity to assure our publishers that Academy Press as a printer did not compel the government to impose tariff on imported books as being erroneously believed by some sections of the publishing industry. What the publishers have asked for is the elimination of tariffs on imported materials so we can be at par with the zero duty status of imported books to allow for level playing and competitive field for the local printers as enjoyed by their foreign counterparts. The two sectors have come together and we are discussing with the government on this premises,” he said.

    He said the major problem facing the industry is getting the raw materials, adding that the firm is seriously concerned about challenges and difficulties that are facing the industry.

    His  words: “For us at Academy Press, we are concerned about the challenges and difficulties that are being experienced by partners and print buyers alike in the industry which are creating economic, financial and social instability for us and tend to threaten the survival of the business of members of this country.

    “The most problematic of our inputs are raw materials. All the material ingredients that we require to operate has for ever been faced with one challenge or the other.

    ‘’Key material such as paper completely depends  on importation. So is ink, plates, chemicals, spare and so on. In the era of huge naira devaluation, this has become big challenge on our cost of production and invariably the cost of our customers”.

    Ladipo said the problem of equipment and maintenance is also similar to this since it is equally import dependent, adding that skilled labour , especially technical, managerial are also challenging to the industry.

  • Me and my Books: I’m fascinated by intrigues of creativity

    Me and my Books: I’m fascinated by intrigues of creativity

    Tade Ipadeola, lawyer, artist, poet, and prolific writer, won the 2013 NLNG Nigeria Prize for literature with his book, The Sahara Testaments. A versatile author and renowned poet, in this interview with Edozie Udeze, explores the world of writing and states all the numerous authors who have in one way or the other influenced his person and style of writing.   

    What sort of books do you like most?

    Collections of poetry, novels, the occasional biography and autobiography, short story collections and books of essays all interest me. Presently I am reading J.P Clark’s Still Full Tide, his collected works. A phenomenal collection for range and an example of what a committed poet should aim at accomplishing within a lifetime. I find myself wondering how he found the time to also write the plays. I read drama too but I’d rather go to the theatre for that than read the book. If the playwright is long dead and the play isn’t part of the repertoire of any theatre company around, then I’d read the play in a book. Say Aeschylus for example, or Sophocles. I wrestle with scholarly books from time to time, I’ve been reading Akin Adesokan’s Post Colonial Artists and Global Aesthetics recently, it is a rare accomplishment and I think every serious writer should engage the ideas in the book.

    When you read a book, what are the salient things you look out for most?

    Ideas, basically. I want to see how the author’s mind engages with the ideas he is trying to express. They say a good book should be slightly more intelligent than the author though, so I am also listening for the pauses. I believe a good book should not only address the ‘problema’ in the proper Latin sense of the word, it should also address a ‘lacuna’ which the reader may not even be aware existed. I look for a book that solves a problem and I look for a book that fills a void. Sometimes I’m lucky and I find a book that does both. Perhaps that is why I am predisposed toward poetry. When, for example, I first read the poems of Niyi Osundare at the University, it was a novel experience. The Eye of the Earth was unlike any collection of poetry I had ever read up till that point. It was fluid, mellifluous, African. I loved the way he made the English language obey his will.

    Who are your favourite authors in the world and why?

    Ah, e go hard to list all of them o. Let us start from home. I like J.P Clark, Soyinka, Okigbo, Amos Tutuola, Franz Fanon, Oswald Mtshali, Jared Angira, OusmaneSembene, AyiKweiArmah, Femi Osofisan, OdiaOfeimun, Tony Marinho, Afam Akeh, Harry Garuba, Akin Adesokan, Daniel Fagunwa, AkinwumiIsola, EbenezarObadare, Kgositsile, Marquez, Kunene, Lisa Combrinck, Andre Brink, NgugiwaThiongo, Sefi Atta, Wale Adebanwi, OgagaIfowodo, Niran Okewole, Emmanuel Iduma, OlubunmiFamiloni, ChumaNwokolo, Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, Benson Eluma, RotimiBabatunde, Molara Wood, Ike Okonta, Amatoritsero Ede, Jumoke Verissimo, ToyinAdewale-Gabriel, Chika Unigwe, ChieduEzeanah, UcheNduka, RethabileMasilo and the yet to be properly published Yomi Ogunsanya and Sam Ogabidu. Yes, Leopold Sedar Senghor especially. From around the world: Derek Walcott, Seamus Heaney, Czeslaw Milosz, Jose Saramago, Pablo Neruda, W.H Auden, Paul Muldoon, Le Clezio, C.L.R James, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Primo Levi, Michael Ondaatje, Rohinton Mistry, George Elliot Clarke, Alice Munro, George Lamming, Kamau Brathwaite, Kenzaburo Oe, Tomas Transtromer, AravindAdiga, Ibsen, Joel Toledo, Gen Asenjo, AnkurBetageri and a really exciting young writer called Joel Dicker. I don’t think it is possible to make a list of every author who has ever moved me profoundly. Several essayists I really like are not on this list but it doesn’t mean their works are not deep. I live works that challenge the intellect and the imagination.

    When and where do you like to read and what time and why?

    I like to read in the morning and late at night. Those are the times I’m freshest. Depending on the gravity of the material, I also like to read when travelling.

    What is your preferred literary genre?

    Poetry, without doubt.

    What book or books have had the greatest impact on you and why?

    Books which provide the reader with a handle on the world are precious. The books that have had the most impact on me are books that have the capacity to transport me into the dimension of reality they try to relate. The novels of Garcia Marquez, especially Love in the Time of Cholera and the poetry of Derek Walcott, especially Omeros, do that for me.

    As a child what books tickled you most?

    Daniel Fagunwa’s Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale was the book I couldn’t stop reading. After my first Fagunwa, I kept reading all the others I could lay hands on, and I couldn’t stop until I had read every one.

    At what point in your life did you begin to nurse the idea of becoming a writer?

    In secondary school I did write essays and some of them won prizes. But I was in my mid-twenties when I knew for sure I would be a writer. I was lucky to have mentors and friends who pointed me in that direction. I was already working at the Ministry of Justice in Ibadan. There was a ferment in Ibadan of the early nineties. One day, the poet Lola Shoneyin delivered a message to me from Chief Bola Ige who had read some of my poems. He wanted to see me in person. It was at an ANA reading at his home that he began to really challenge me to write seriously. I haven’t looked back since.

    How has writing shaped or reordered  your life?

    Completely. I set out initially to practice as a lawyer and I do have a competitive streak in me. I knew I would not be content to just be one of the fellows in wig and gown. But since I immersed myself in serious writing, that has changed a little. Readings, competitions and residencies abroad on account of writing means I cannot but scale down my ambitions at the bar a notch or two. I haven’t regretted it. I still enjoy being a lawyer but a completed book gives the kind of satisfaction that one cannot get elsewhere. Nothing compares, really. It is now, for me, the life of one dancing to a distant drum. Those close by you may begin to doubt your sanity and a few bold ones will even suggest to you a change of course but a real writer cannot decline the enchantment of writing.

    If you meet your favourite author face to face what would you like to ask him/her?

    How do you do it? I want to know how the great authors do what they do best. In fact I want the how-of-the-how as well. Good writing isn’t an accident. From the little I have read, it is a life of committed work.

    Of the plays you’ve read which character struck you most?

    I think that the character of Brother Jeroboam in Wole Soyinka’s Trials of Brother Jero strikes me as a very accurate rendition of the personality of the scoundrel. The Nigerian scoundrel particularly, and how that scoundrel manages to be of such influence. Look at Nigeria today. A building owned by a charlatan collapses and kills over a hundred human beings, both Nigerians and foreigners. And politicians who should enforce standards say they are paying the villain condolence visits. It is totally bizarre.

    What book do you plan to read next?

    I am currently reading the manuscript of a book by Mr Nigel Henry titled Do Something Before You Die, a truly fascinating document that every Nigerian ought to read in print. And I am also reading King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild

    How do you arrange your private library?

    There is a shelf hanging from my study walls. It has books that only my closest friends can read or take away. People like Niran Okewole and Wale Dada. These guys give me access to their own private libraries. Then there are the shelves in my living room which have books which everyone can read.

    Are you a reader and how often?

    Actually, I can’t remember a time I didn’t read. I can’t imagine stopping my readings.

  • ‘Writing made me who I am’

    ‘Writing made me who I am’

    In this encounter with Edozie Udeze, Dr Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, former Managing Director of the defunct Daily Times Nigeria Plc, author, playwright, novelist, artist and politician, talks about how early exposure to books, has made him who he is today

    what sort of books do you like reading most?

    I like reading biographies and the histories of important institutions and momentous events. I read and thoroughly enjoyed American writer Gay Talese’s 1969 book on The New York Times newspaper titled The Kingdom and the Power. I have also enjoyed reading Taylor Branch’s 1983 award-winning book on the Civil Rights movement in the USA titled Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954 – 1963”.  I have also read and enjoyed Wole Soyinka’s Ake, The Open Sore of a Continent and You Must Set Forth At Dawn as well as Chinua Achebe’s The Trouble With Nigeria, There was a Country, The Education of a British Protected Child, etc.

    When you read a book, what are the salient things you look out for most?

    When I read a book, I pay close attention to the use of language. The use of language is very important to me. Because everyone can tell a story but not everyone can tell a story in a creatively entertaining, beautiful and captivating way. Humour is also important to me. Look at the way Achebe describes traditional rulers in Iboland in The Trouble with Nigeria. I like to be entertained by a book. I want a book to make me laugh. I don’t want a book to depress me. There is so much sadness and gloom around us these days and I go into books for relief. w

    Who are your favourite authors in the world and why?

    My favourite authors are Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Graham Greene, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Oriana Fallaci, etc. I read Fallaci’s book titled “A Man” and I was fascinated. It is a fictional biography of Greek rebel Alexandros Panagoulis. As for drama, my favorite playwrights are William Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Femi Osofisan, Ola Rotimi, etc. I like plays that are deep, well plotted and funny. My favorite Nigerian poet is Niyi Osundare.

    When and when do you like to read and what time and why?

    I don’t have a fixed time. I read when I find the time for it. Very often I find the time to read when I travel out of Abuja or out of Nigeria.

    What is your preferred literary genre?

    I don’t have any preferred literary genre. But like I said I tend to go after biographies, histories, plays, novels and poems. I am attracted to a good book. Period! It does not matter what genre.

    What book or books have had the greatest impact on you and why?

    It is difficult for me to pick any particular book as having had a profound impact on me. Fallaci’s A Man, Taylor’s Parting the Waters, Galese’s The Kingdom and the Power, Soyinka and Achebe’s memoirs, Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine, etc have all had an impact on me, especially on my own writing. Osofisan’s play, Midnight Hotel and Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, Efua Sutherland’s The Marriage of Anansewa, Ama Taidoo’s The Dilemma of a Ghost and  Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle have had a big impact on my playwriting. I write plays that are funny and philosophical.

    As a child what books tickled you most?

    As a child, I read children’s stories that were assigned to us in schools. I also read books written by local writers in Ebiraland where I come from. One of the most important writers of that era is a man called Agidi Ovurevu. I read his books which were based on Ebira fairy tales often about tortoise, rabbit, hare and other animals. The books were written to teach some moral lessons and to socialise us to become responsible members of our society. Of course I also read the so called Onitsha Market literature. Ogali Ogali’s Veronica My Daughter was my template for writing bombastic love letters meant to impress teenage girls. As a young adult, I also read the Mills and Boons series as well as books by Hardley Chase, Barbara Cartland, Agatha Christie, etc.

    At what point in your life did you begin to nurse the idea of becoming a writer?

    Teachers started commenting positively about what was then known as “Composition” assignments since primary school. But it was not until the University of Ibadan that I began to take myself seriously as a writer. I contributed scripts to television and radio dramas and they were used. But when I graduated and joined The Guardian in 1983, journalism took hold of my imagination. I began writing plays again in 1990 when I got to the United States to study for a master in Journalism and for a doctorate in Performance Studies at New York University. Some of those plays were later performed by the BBC radio and by off Broadway theatre groups in New York.

    Has writing reshaped your life?

    Yes, it has heightened my sensibility. It has brought honour and attention to me. It has also brought me some recognition.

    If you meet your favourite author face to face what would you ask him/her?

    The secret of their success.

    Of the plays you’ve read, which character struck you most?

    I cannot single out one.

    What book do you plan to read next?

    I am reading Tony Blair’s memoirs right now.

    How do you arrange your private library?

    I have bookshelves but are not enough for all my books. So there are some of my books in the shelves while others are in cartons.

    Are you a committed reader?

    I read voraciously. I read everyday newspapers, magazines, books, etc.

  • A great day for an author

    A great day for an author

    It was a great day for Ebikeme Gandhi Orubebe, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) as his two novels, Missing Daughters and Deserts were presented to the public.  The venue was Asaba, the Delta State capital and many important dignitaries had gathered to pour encomiums on the author for his painstaking efforts in writing the two books.  It was indeed an occasion for people like Diepriye Alamieyeseigha, Governor-General of the Ijaw nation and a former governor of Bayelsa State to remind Orubebe that writing is the best form of creating a legacy that would survive all the vicissitude and troubles of the world.

    “All the wealth you acquire in this world, all your buildings and assets and investments may soon fade away but your creative endeavor would be for all seasons and for generations yet unborn to make use of.  That is the whole essence and beauty of what you have done.  And we hope you’ll do more, you’ll write more books for the sake of prosperity so that forever, your name will be etched in gold,” he said.

    Amid pomp, jokes and entertainment, the author was praised for using the occasion of his service to the nation to prove that humility is a virtue that should not be alien to his kind of career.  A thorough-bred police officer, Orubebe utilised the slightest opportunity he had while in service to put pen to paper, thereby producing two classical books that mirror the Nigerian society and providing ways to not only forestall societal decays but encouraging parents to be of better cheer while indoctrinating their kids on the way forward.

    Professor Isidore Diala of the Imo State University, Owerri, who reviewed the two books pointedly made reference to history and how the process of literary creation in both of ancient and venerable origin…  “Therefore the myth confers on the writer the status of at least a demigod, hallows his pronouncements not only with a sense of inscrutable mystery but indeed with the aura of oracular injunctions…”

    He described the works of the author as someone who burnt the exalting midnight oil by highlight perspiration as the cost of inspiration.  And moreover as the critical filter for giving to airy nothing a local habitation and a name.”  Indeed Orubebe excelled when others feared to make efforts.

    For Professor B.E.B. Nwoke, a former Vice-Chancellor of the Imo State University who delivered an inspirational speech, Orubebe was an inspiration to many when he served in Imo State.  He said “He believes in the fundamental principles of life.  Orubebe works to encourage humanity and to ensure that human dignity is not only improved upon but made better for all and sundry.  He believes that man is made to learn from his past, from his mistakes so as to gear up for better things in the future.”

    To Nwoke, it is time for people, for the whole society to learn a sense of duty from the likes of Orubebe, who in spite of their exalted offices chose to be humble so as to impact positively on the society.  As a professional, Orubebe discountenanced greed, avarice and ingratitude, using the fear of God to serve mankind.”

    As he spoke he drew the attention of the guests to the many essential elements that make a man of reputation quite relevant and ever useful to the society.  These rare qualities of the author were not only re-echoed by Chijioke Uwasomba of the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU), Ife, Osun State, who handled proceedings, but he also gave vent to the event as the best way to honour a literary guru whose works tackle serious societal issues.

    Uwasomba promised to encourage the author to go on a nationwide reading tour of his works.  To him, the beauty of such an exercise is to promote the writer and his works.  Beyond that, it is an opportunity for him to be face-to-face with the public who would assess his works on the spot.  “Literature thrives when the author becomes widely known, when he is closer to the people.  For our undergraduates, this will be a golden opportunity to meet an officer who has so imparted on them via his works; via his insightful novels.”

    In his own speech, the Chief launcher of the books, Dr. Andrew Warri lauded the author for his sense of charity.  “He helped me to go to school to read medicine,” he said.  “Therefore, this is a man who uses his wealth to touch lives and he is worthy of emulation.”

    The event which was witnessed by many dignitaries saw people in high spirits.  Orubebe who attended with his lovely wife said that his love for writing is irrepressible.  Writing has already become a part of him as he promises to release eight more books in the next few months.