INTRODUCTION
My take is that this engagement is not a BOOK Review, but
the Review of a STORY. A STORY well told by a seasoned STORY TELLER.
I have reviewed a couple of books in the past and my
objective at all times is to make a short presentation of what, in my
opinion, is the summary of a document that I have read, in a manner that
simplifies the content, explains the complex portions, and decodes any
technical issues in the book. I also take a critical look at the core message
of the book, so the author and/or the publishers may have a takeaway while the
audience gets an attraction to read the book.
But here we are, we have a book with a sweet storyline,
beautifully written in the best tradition of the English language, that holds
the attention and interest of the reader that makes it hard for the reader to
put it down. I bet that many of us will read this STORY at a sitting
or two, have a laugh, have fun, and probably start all over again. The STORY is
not complex, requires no explanation of any complex theories, and is simply a
good read!! There is nothing to decode. It is written in short chapters of 4,
5, 6 pages and the one relatively long chapter is just 23 pages long. So what
will a reviewer do? Make it more complex?
When Dr. Newton Jibunoh called to inform me that I was his
choice to review a book that was at the time still in the works but should be
ready for public presentation on the occasion of his 80th birthday on
January 1, 2018, I was suitably humbled. I wondered what qualified me for the honour
of reviewing a book that would chronicle three journeys through the Sahara
Desert, amongst other life experiences, crammed into his 80 years here on
earth. This is an adventurous man who has packed enough experiences in his
lifetime that wuld require three lifetimes for most regular folks to achieve.
When you hear that Newton Jibunoh writes a book, most
folks will expect that such book will detail his experience as a Sahara Desert
traveler, an environmentalist, an art connoisseur. While the book HUNGER FOR
POWER talks about those subjects, the story goes beyond those topics. I have
read at least two books, in which Dr. Jibunoh discusses his Sahara Desert
and Environment odysseys, and my opinion is that although his massive
material and intellectual investment in the Sahara Desert, the environment, the
arts and artifacts etc. were featured in this book, it appears the telling of
those stories for which the author was well-known was really in aid of
challenging the reader - TO TRIGGER VARIOUS CONVERSATIONS.
I believe that this STORY TELLER is telling the story so
that we can start some CONVERSATIONS, a number of which have already been
suggested but perhaps not taken seriously; some rather well known but by a
general conspiracy of silence are regarded as no-go areas, while some have not
even been mentioned.
It is those CONVERSATIONS that I want to use my privilege of
being a Reviewer of the STORY to mention and draw attention to.
This story teller, I am sure, means different things to many
people, and is known by varied and various appellations, but applying the
content of this STORY, I can safely refer to him as: Newton Chukwukadibia
Jibunoh, Desert Warrior, Environmentalist, Jibrin Makoda, “Baba Costain”, a
Determined Good Houseboy, and the IsagbaOdua of Akwukwu-Igbo land and Obasoge
of Oligboland which are not in the story.
These conversations are routed in subjects such as HUMAN
BEINGS AND HUMANITY, CULTURE AND ITS AUDACITY, CORRUPTION AND ITS VENOM,
POWER AND ITS ENORMITY, and the hypocrisy of Godliness vis-a-vis religiosity.
POWER AND ITS ENORMITY
There are more than one hundred and ten persons named in
this STORY, and we can correctly say that these are friends and associates of
the author. Friendship can be positive or negative, a point brought to the fore
by Dr. Jibunoh with his POWER THEORIES, to the effect that we all possess the
same amount of innate powers which do get shaped and affected by a number of
factors including: our circumstances of birth, education, the peer group we
relate to, and even the accidents of life that we run into. Positive uses of
those powers deliver accomplishments, while negative applications lead to
various troubling situations and turpitude. The differences in the use of our
innate powers that we see as good or bad are applied by the author to
demonstrate that few of us utilise these innate and God-given powers to
positive ends. Hear him
"When I think of Power, the only other thing I think of
is Fire. Power is like fire; it can keep you warm and it can burn you. It can
cook you a meal or raze your house. It can purify gold or calcify a human
being. Ensconced deep within its core are elements of good and evil. It all
depends on the choices you make when you handle it."
A list of his friends (See LIST), especially those who are
here at this time, will signify that yes, he is a big man of means and that is
why all his friends are equally men and women of means. But that
will be wrong going by the story that he tells! All the people on this long
list of friends can be compartmentalised into groups defined by the application
of their individual innate powers. And that is where the differences lie;
accidents of meeting, be it family, school, business, are not really the
differentiating factors when the chips are down. It is the manner individuals
use their powers that put them into these imaginary compartments.
THE LIST
Everybody comes into play in this story according to how he
or she had used the power which the Almighty gave him/her.
BABA COSTAIN
The most revealing segment of this STORY is the record of
the author’s time with Costain West Africa Plc. (CWA), especially
how Dr. Newton Jibunoh took the firm from the valley to a comfortable mountain
of success within Nigeria's corporate landscape. I will commend a good read of
Chapter 14, "BABA COSTAIN" to upcoming and young business managers
who desire to build a formidable skills set in management for confronting the
vicissitudes of industry upheaval, which has now and again terrorised Nigerian
corporate conglomerates and multinationals many of which had dismantled their
structures once the weather became turbulent.
The author’s time in Costain is also a good account a
genuine effort at LOCAL CONTENT DEVELOPMENT AND PRESERVATION
that I am privileged to take away from this account. It is instructive to find
the author revealing, in particular, that he lost a good number of the battles
to powerful opponents of the subject matter, a greater number of which were
Federal Government projects. Hear him directly as he discusses an
experience with a Shell Trustees building Project:
"My decision to bring up this fight over LOCAL CONTENT
is a deliberate one on my part, designed to draw attention to the continuing
struggles Nigerians face daily, to prove themselves. It was a fight I
constantly took on as the CEO of Costain (West Africa) Plc., with the full
support of my Board.
Unfortunately, I lost more of them than I won. And majority
of the ones I lost were actually Federal Government projects, where the
permanent secretaries and directors would have been feted lavishly abroad, or
fed lies about us, which they would not bother to investigate. I had some of
our competitors, expatriate controlled competition, claim at various times that
we were going bankrupt, or in the process of being bought over by them.
Ridiculous, unsubstantiated claims, all of them. Thankfully, Shell Trustees did
not buy those lies. We went on to execute the contract, and delivered on the
project in good time and with very high quality...."
Let's wrap up the STORY.
Here is a person who was orphaned in early life, and
consequently suffered a bit of deprivation, as might be expected in his
situation. However, He refused to be held back by the circumstances of his
birth, and very early in life displayed the tenacity and single-mindedness that
would take him to the heights of his professional life as well as fuel his
adventurous spirit. He overcame fear easily and consistently focused on things
that he considered important. Unknown to him, people noticed his drive and
focus, and he became remarkably successful because he attracted opportunities
and challenges in life, which he diligently accepted and successfully
prosecuted. He learned more from the “book of life” than he did from just
books, and he became perpetually hungry for POWER to change things, especially
those relating to poverty, squalor and a degrading environment, without any
desire to seek political office.
THE BOOK
Let us talk a bit about the BOOK, now that we are done with
the STORY.
We have been presented with an interesting book, published
in today's tradition and classic production of Paradigm House.
Its 328 pages are divided into four parts, within each part
lies, at least one interesting CONVERSATION.
In discussing the author's EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY, we get a
sense of Newton Jibunoh’ s deep root in tradition and culture, which will
eventually manifest in his love and support for the arts. We must note his
concern about a number of contentious traditions, for example, one that makes
children born for men whose names the children do not adopt but rather names of
their separated mothers’ former husbands simply because a dowry paid on their
mothers are yet to be repaid. The matter is worsened by the fact that such
children not only find themselves in an awkward situation of suspect identity,
they also are denied some rights, even as the same cultural norm offers no form
of protection. Worse still when some of the rather educated and affluent ones
among them challenged the matter in court, the court ruled that 'This is a
traditional thing, go back and settle it amongst your people". I believe
that calls for some serious CONVERSATION!
The part that discusses the author's CAREER, MARRIAGE,
FRIENDSHIP and ASSOCIATIONS is unarguably the most remarkable of the four
parts. Here Newton Jibunoh presents a story that should be read by all young
persons who are transiting from adolescence to maturity, and desirous of
climbing the ladder of professional and corporate life in an economy that is,
at best, emerging.
The matter of CORRUPTION in all its importunate attachment
to our lives as Nigerians, is brought to the fore and treated in a
manner that I feel will start A CONVERSATION but leaves for the reader to think
about. Kolanut, a traditional symbol of appreciation becomes a metaphor for
corruption. And the author uses his personal experience to answer the question
"when and how did we get into this corruption mess in Nigeria?" I ask
that all Nigerians read the "KOLANUT" as the “GIVE” example and the
"GOLD PEN" scenarios as the “RECEIVE” example. While the country
continues, with varying amount of success, to wage a war on corruption, the CONVERSATION
that I feel should have preceded it, is yet to commence.
The POWER SERIES is the part that asserts the author's
authority on the subject of "POWER". This part exists to distinguish
the actual power of his interest from the ephemeral ones that are brought about
by uniforms, the siren, position, addiction and all those man-made ephemeral
manifestations as distinct from what the Almighty has created in all of us.
The fourth and final part of the book, THE ENVIRONMENTAL
ADVOCACY, is where the author gives short but gripping details of the planning
and execution of his third travel from Lagos to London through the Sahara
Desert. This, unlike the first and second journeys, was in company of other
adventurous folks, including Joshua Adegbaju, Afam Ugha, Ebun Olatoye, Titi
Laoye, Kelechi Amadi-Obi, and Adure Achumba. This chapter also highlights the
author’s environmental advocacy, which covers projects into which he personally
invested his own personal funds, as well as some that were eventually endorsed
and supported by Governments at various levels. Of particular note is
his FADE (Fight Against Desert Encroachment) project, an instant
success and a project which brought tremendous endorsement of governments and
citizens. The Makoda project, as an example, provided trees to check
desertification, while also providing water for the villagers. This provision
of water also led to a secondary positive effect of increasing secondary school
enrolment in Makoda community, Kano State. The Jibrin Makoda title, which I
mentioned earlier, is a worthy honour which the village bestowed on the Desert
Warrior in appreciation of his work in the area.
Yes, this is the real conversation that the Desert Warrior,
Dr. Newton Chukwukadibia Jibunoh, wants Nigeria, its people and governments to
have, and wage a war against environmental degradation that is decimating the
upper regions of northern Nigeria through desertification of their
environments.
In this regard, he says: “In developing countries
in general, and particularly in Africa, a vicious cycle exists where land
degradation is accelerating, productivity is decreasing and poverty is
increasing”(Page 272)
STRANGE, ISN’T IT
You all wonder why the author did not keep the first car
that did the London - Lagos trip as a souvenir and artifact. It is
not for lack of desire to preserve that car but a reason exists for why the car
was not kept as such. Please see page 95 for details.
WHAT IS IT THAT NEWTON JIBUNOH DID NOT TALK ABOUT IN THIS
STORY?
I tried unsuccessfully to find the name of the Secondary
school that he attended just as I did not locate the maiden name of Mrs.
Elizabeth Jibunoh. Yes he attended a few secondary schools, as was often with
those who lived with itinerant teachers and any attempt to mention any of those
schools may attract complaints by others. I have since found out that Mrs
Elizabeth Jibunoh was Miss Elizabeth Okagbue.
AND WHAT ARE THINGS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN DIFFERENTLY
TO BE MORE CORRECT?
On the back cover of the book, “Newton Jibunoh is an 80
year old Nigerian national who has crossed the Sahara Desert by car thrice”,
not twice as stated.
The Managing Director of First Bank Plc. about 1979 was
Chief Oluwole or Wole (not Wale) Adeosun. (Page 119) while one of the
triumvirate that built the three tall buildings in Victoria Island is Mr.
Adeyemi Bero, not Bello. (Page 143)
Page 255 starts Part Four, not Three as written in the book
The name Abdulrahman Dahiru is written as Abdulraham Dahiru
in Page 96.
IS DR JIBUNOH STILL PLANNING OTHER EXPEDITIONS FOR THE
FUTURE?
Page 227 provides an answer.
PETER FARRINGTON
Mr. Peter Farrington presents as the star of this STORY and
one cannot conclude this review without making a special mention of this great
gentleman, professional, and manager. In corporate life, there are a few people
who are natural role models and I dare say Peter Farrington is one. I looked
forward to meeting him at this Event but I have been advised that Peter would
not be here. Ladies and gentlemen, please read about Peter in this book.
CONCLUSION
What have we done? We have reviewed a STORY which
constituted itself into a BOOK that goes by the title “HUNGER FOR POWER”.
Thank you, and God bless.
*Reviewer: Titi Omo-Ettu, a telecommunications engineer, versatile writer and could be reached via titi@titiomoettu.com
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