By James Eze
This is a book of legacies, timed to coincide with the tenth year
anniversary of the death of Chief Chike Okagbue (Ezennia). It is a
special tribute collection condensed from the reflections of people most
affected by Ezennia’s phenomenal life. It seeks to uncover, from
family members, associates and eyewitnesses; the forces that propelled Chike
Okagbue to his outstanding achievements in business, politics and service to
humanity.
It is a great story told with disarming simplicity and a rare ability to
cherry pick the essentials. Like most publications that fall under the coffee
table category, the aim is to inform and entertain in as few words as
possible. Here, there is no luxury of the long, windy narrative, of
the endless digressions that too often test the patience of the hasty reader.
Here too, the author turns the craft of word economy into a new art, chiselling
out spare lines that carry enough meat to fulfil the twin missions of education
and entertainment with each devastating stroke.
But who is the author and why should we read him? Well, this book if
from the desk of James Atah, editor of the African History Makers Series. Atah
comes almost fully made in the business, having produced important biographical
works on the Chief TOS Benson, Amb. Mathew Mbu and Chief Chidi Anyaegbu of
Chisco Group. He has also been head of the Tri-Atlantic Books biographical team
that churned out historical books on African legends like the Great Zik of
Africa, Aminu Kano, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Asagyefo Kwame Nkrumah and
other. Atah has a reputation for taking on giants and humanizing them with a
stroke of genius.
So, as leads us to Chike Okagbue in Root
of the Matter, we are offered fulsome glimpses of an ordinary life led in
extraordinary ways. Like a show-reel, each fragment offers us a view into the
rich tapestry of Okagbue’s everyday life; each scene throbs with memories that
resonate through the ages. We are forcibly drawn into the narrative as we
respond to every twitch of his nerves as he is drawn into the swirl of the
daily experience of life among his people. The circumstances of his birth and
the challenges of growing up in the countryside, isolated from the amenities
that made for elevated living even in the colonial 30s are painted with
shimmering clarity. With each stroke of his pen, the writer offers
us a fresh pair of eyes to visualize Ezennia’s colossal life from the simplified
prism of everyday living. Nothing is dramatized to comical proportion; nothing
too, is lost to chance or lack attention. In a seemingly uncanny way, the
author adroitly ensures that every line adds to the spell-binding narrative.
And this peculiar attention to creating believability is the strength of
the book. The humble beginnings of the subject and the frightening
circumstances that almost eclipsed his childhood and early education are
presented with telling poignancy. The loss of one’s parents and the
ease with which it could cut short a dream and the obligations of the
traditional society in raising a child; are all brought back with tingling
nostalgia.
It must be said though, that there is something inspiring in the
author’s masterful presentation of a series of interlocking events and actions
in a gripping flow that mirrors aspects of the personal experience of the
reader; giving us enough nudge to identify ourselves in the social milieu in
which the subject led out his extraordinary life.
The import of a work of this kind for many readers around the world
nailed to inertia by overwhelming odds and the fear of constant failure is that
it can still be done; that it is possible to rise above the jagged edges of
grinding poverty and build a multibillion Naira enterprise. And this is no tall
tale!
The loads of anecdotes, parables, illustrations and real life experiences
recounted in this slim volume will surely leave the reader thankful for a
surfeit of truly entertaining and motivational material.
The most interesting thing about Root
of the Matter is that there is something for every reader to take away; a
fruitful search in a large forest, teeming with brilliant ideas, imageries and
symbolisms. Root of Matter is
something to look forward to!
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