Those who, like me, have read newspaper accounts of Dr
Newton Jibunoh's odysseys, would tell you huge stories about his crossing the
Sahara Desert by car three times; his activism on desertification and the
environment; his love for the Arts; and his obsession for Artifacts.
Apparently those are but only a part of him that he chose to
allow flaunted in the media.
Now he has written a book to celebrate his 80th birthday and
those things, believe me, are just footnotes in the book. I can say that
because I am REVIEWING the BOOK at its public presentation come his birthday in
January 2018.
About a year ago, Dr Jibunoh called me up on telephone......
"Hello My brother, I hope I am talking to Engr Titi
Omo-Ettu"
"Yes sir I am Titi Omo-Ettu"
"I am Newton Jibunoh"
"Aaah!, good day sir. The DESERT WARRIOR? Yes sir, I am
Titi Omo-Ettu. I greet you sir".
"Yessooo, na me o. Thank you very much. I got your No
from a mutual friend of ours. Please allow me to bump on you".
"You are welcome sir" and he went straight to
business.
"My brother, there is this book I have just completed
scripting and it is on its way to my publishers as we speak.
"Wow, that's great sir...." I could not wait to
hear of it
"Yessooo my brother, and my plan is to present the book
to the public on my 80th birthday which will be on January 1, 2018. I am just
wondering if you can kindly accept to be the REVIEWER of the BOOK at the
Event.."
"Consider it done sir and i dare say, Sir, that with
this, I feel I have received my own reward here on earth while others are waiting
to receive theirs in heaven. I am all yours sir. May the Almighty spare our
lifes till then and beyond".
Between then and now, I have been very close to this Enigma
and soil mechanics guru, and I even spent a night at his Mandela Park in his
native Asaba. I have also read the books he wrote earlier and enjoyed a guided
tour of DIDI MUSEUM.
I have already secured his permission to share the text of
my REVIEW of the new
BOOK with my friends immediately I am done with it at
his birthday celebration in January. Please stay tuned on this platform.
I can say it here rightaway, however, that the book, HUNGER
FOR POWER, is about human beings and humanity; power and its enormity;
corruption and its venom; the hypocrisy of 'Godliness' and/versus
religiosity;... and many more.
There are very deep accounts of personal experiences that
befuddle human thoughts and understanding plus the fact that the book is
written in the best, most simple usage of the English language.
What's more, imagine this issue of religiosity which we
present to ourselves as godliness, especially here in Nigeria, as he drives it
home with a story:
"A very good friend of mine was kidnapped, blindfolded
and dumped in the boot of his own car. The kidnappers kept him in their
hide-out for 5 days, during which time
he learned a few cold facts.
The boys who abducted him were nothing but paid soldiers
schooled in the art of abduction. Their masters remain out of sight in the
hideout and are responsible for conducting the ransom negotiations. These
masters live like Lords and princes, wining and dining scores of girls all the
time. Occasionally, the kingpins would plan and launch another abduction raid
for fresh victims.
What struck my friend as odd was that before embarking on
each raid, they would gather with the boys for prayers and praise worship. My
friend was curious to find out who they were praying to until he heard them
intone - "in Jesus name."
*Contributed by Titi Omo-Ettu, erudite telecommunication engineer and partners at Telecom Answers
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