Book Title: Breaking
the Coconut: Tales of 11 Inspiring African Agents of Change, 2015
Genre: Non Fiction
Novel
Author: Charles Umeh
Publishing House:
Partridge Africa
Total Pages: 115
Writer, Media
Entrepreneur, Journalist, Social Innovator, OAP, Compere, Poet, Mentor,
Teacher, Ngozi Marion Emmanuel is considered one of the youngest university
lecturers in Africa in her time.
At age 22, she started her teaching journey [she
is currently 25]. A womanist, she is best known as the youngest lecturer in
Nigeria (according to some press reports). She would possibly be classified as
a geek after finishing with a 5-point CGPA in her master’s degree at Nnamdi
Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State South East Nigeria in the same
department where she had her first Degree. As an undergraduate studying Mass
Communication, she stood out among her peers, carrying out several social
projects which put her in the spotlight.
Though a native
of Ebonyi State, South East Nigeria, she grew up in the Okota area of Lagos
State and currently teaches Mass Communication at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in
Awka, Nigeria. In all, she is humble and tells everyone who cares to listen
that #GodIsNotDead, for all her success can be attributed to God. At spare
times, she does more of pep talk for young minds who look up to her for
inspiration.
She is the
founder of Smart Leaders Are Made [SLAM] and her organizations has been
doing great things in the lives of young especially with the South Eastern part
of the country for over 5 years. SLAM organizes the Slam Youth Heroes Awards,
the SYHA which recognizes the contributions of young people in the development
of their country. She is a multiple award winner. You can reach her by email: Marionngozi@yahoo.co.uk. www.slammagazineng.com
I
decided to begin this review from her because she is among the 11 amazing
Africans whose lives Charles Umeh decide to chronicle in his book, Breaking
the Coconut: Tales of 11 Inspiring African Agents of Change.
Charles
can be seen as an African Millennial who seeks to
share the experience of African change-makers by likening their exploits to the
breaking of a Coconut.
Breaking
the Coconut is nonfiction and contains insights of eleven African change-makers
who bare their mind on thriving in Africa. The short Stories of these
change-makers captures leadership values marinated in a simply written
style to inspire and urge young people thriving to keep beating on their
craft. I have long decided not to comment on this book because the Author is
not just a friend but mentor, but then, I am more persuaded to review this book
because I am a part of the stories as told by 4 of the agents of change [Marion
Emmanuel, Chinonso Arubayi, Dunn Eustace, Maple Dappa]. I have benefited from
Chinonso’s wisdom and also listened to Amaka Anusi while she was at 96.9 Cool FM
Nigeria.
No
doubt we live in the social era, the epoch of the New Media. For me, I like to
see it as the age of young people helping young people, and it is this that the
author captures in his book. The fact that he got Partridge Africa to publish
the book goes to show the quality of the content. Also, selling on online
stores such as www.barnesandnoble.com
and www.amazon.com with over 28, 000
affiliate online store including www.kindle.com is quite a testament of the lessons contained
in the book.
The foreword to the book was written by LEAP Africa. The
author couldn’t have made a better choice seeing that LEAP Africa has been in
the business of producing young agents of change since 2002 of which Charles
Umeh is a 2007 Alumnus. Amongst others, it notes; “however, Breaking the Coconut dispels this notion completely. The change
agents whose stories are told in this book are everyday young people fuelled by
a passion to see positive change in spite of limited resources. Their
commitment, enthusiasm, and tenacity in the face of challenges are inspiring…To
every young person out there hungry for positive change but too scared or
unsure of how to begin, Breaking the
Coconut will provide the fuel you need to begin the journey to make an
impact and leave an indelible mark in your society. Read this book, and be
inspired to join these dynamic individuals to defy the odds and recreate the
Africa that we long to see, the Africa of our dreams”.
The
book is broken into eleven chapters with one chapter dedicated to each story; followed
by a short biography of each of them, then the Index. The book is written in a
youth friendly language with no complicated words that may disrupt the flow of
the stories. Each chapter is introduced with an African proverb that more or
less suits the kind of story to be told.
As one online media clearly puts it “Charles
Umeh takes his readers on an inspiring African journey. The beauty of these
stories is their easy to read language which is more appealing to
the young at heart. #BreakingtheCoconut is the first of its kind: having young
people share their ongoing “biographies” on how they helped influence and
inspire change in their communities. The idea is to influence and inspire the
next game changer to learn from these lessons and act better”.
Describing the
Change Agents, the author said “The beauty of all of them is that they
belong to a generation classified as millennials, who coincidentally have been
adjudged the most self-absorbed and narcissist generation. One pattern seems to
resonate among a majority of them: they believe making the world a better place
is a collective effort of every one of us, and they refuse to believe in the
status quo and wish to be forever young at heart and be the solutions rather
than the problem. The world tells them they lack experience, and they shock you
with results that probably didn’t match their experience. We would let you draw
your lessons from there. #breakingthecoconut book As the world always heralds
new change-makers in seasons, it’s my belief that sharing insights from these
millennials, whose involvement in their craft shapes their world and serves as
heads-up to the next generation of game changers”.
I quite agree
with him.
Lessons from the 11 Change Makers
Maple Dappa is
an enigma of a breed. Maple grew up in the South Southern part of Nigeria. As a
child, the beginning looked hostile and bleak at a time, and even the future
looked uncertain. His story sheds light into a childhood which prepares him for
his journey and how he thrives through. Lessons from Maple: your background has no right to put your back
to the ground.
Sara Nana Yeboah
is a nurse who is passionate about preventive healthcare for girls and youth
empowerment. In her fatherland, Ghana, she is being referred to as the Florence
Nightingale of Africa. Lessons from Sara: follow your dream and impact others while at
it.
Ngozi Marion
Emmanuel became a lecturer in a Nigerian university at age 22. She would
possibly be classified as a geek after finishing with a 5-point CGPA in her
master’s degree. As an undergraduate, she stood out among her peers, carrying
out several social projects which put her in the spotlight. Lessons from
Marion: if you can conceive it, then you
can achieve it for smart leaders are made.
Chinonso Steve
Ogbogu is what you might refer today as ‘knowlegepreneur’ (don’t search for it
on Google; Charles’ coinage). He sells his knowledge via books, social media
platforms, and his website. He has two books to his credit and has once been
listed as an under 30 in his country making impact. Lessons from Chinonso: if you must fail, fail forward and be
persistent at rising up.
Kenechukwu’s
Uba’s story is that of grit. He sowed a seed of perseverance among a team of
young college students and raised and led a team of undergraduates whose goal
was to represent their country of birth in a global competition for youths
around the world. Lessons from Kene: always bequeath a legacy that outlives your
tenure, lay solid foundations for the future rewards are great!
Ambrose Adole
was awarded the best young team leader in Nigeria by the global blue-chip firm
Accenture Nigeria as a reward for leading a bunch of energy-filled young
Student to cause a social change in his community. Lessons form Andrew: never
let ugly circumstances confuse you. When life throws its shit at you, standup,
shake it off and move on, always keep an eye on the goal.
Chinonso
Arubayi’s dream of changing the world wasn’t completely unfounded. An
opportunity to express impact opened with a student magazine she pioneered on
campus as an undergraduate. Her thoughts evolved to a movement widely known as
Building Opinion Leaders with a Difference (BOLD), which opened doors of
opportunities for a dream. Lessons from Chinonso: A team is always greater than a
solo venture. Never seek for immediate gratification.
Olufunbi Falayi,
in my own words, portrays the picture of the saying that when a man is faithful
in little things, he can be entrusted with more. While serving his fatherland
in what was called the National Youth Service scheme, Funbi decided to carry
out community projects where he gave hope to high school students with a
community project called Project 4. Lessons from Funbi: who says investing in other
people doesn’t pay? Dreams do come true!
Daberechi
Okedurum is a social entrepreneur. Dabs, as he is fondly called, shares his
story on social entrepreneurship—the opportunities available and his lessons.
Having learnt from the best tutors and mentors, Dabs connected the dots of his
life only to observe that his new-found love wasn’t completely new but one
which had probably existed but never had a name. Lessons from Daberechi: there
is a drop of greatness in each one of us, it is our duty to turn that drop into
an ocean. Always look within.
Eustace Dunn is
a journalist, blogger and Social Media expert. His passion for journalism in
his early years inspired him to study mass communication in college. With the
dream to change the world with his pen, .Lessons from Dunn: You
must not always flow with the crowd to win, dare to be different, be unique!
Amaka Alusi is
an on-air personality (OAP) and relationship coach. Maxy, as she is widely
known, for her insight on her relationship coaching firstly on radio, where her
audience, which cut across continents, have been inspired by her. Lessons from
Amaka: look out for the dots, discover the connection.
The stories in
here are not complete yet because they aren’t fiction and the characters are
still beating on their craft. It takes an ordinary act to pull out an
extraordinary impact; the goal of the change-maker is to inspire change
casually while they cause an outstanding ripple. Literally, the coconut hasn’t
been completely consumed yet! Most of the contributors choose to sip the water
and have now decided to move on with the new deal life is offering them. As you
read and get inspired, go ahead and choose how you write your coconut story.
No doubt the
book has many strong points from its writing style and transition to the
quality of the content, however one major flaw is the inclusion of one Ghanaian
in the eleven and then capturing it … Inspiring stories of 11 African Agents of
Change. One would expect that fpor it to be truly African, 50 per cent of the
stories would have come from other countires other than Nigeria and Ghana to
give it more credibility as an African and not a Nigerian product.
But suffice to
say that these young people whose stories were slected hae caused a butterfly
effect creating an avalanche of change across the continent. I am most certain
that when another volume would be made, it would be more difficult than the
first because then, there would many more stories from the African youths to
tell.
It
said that one of the major causes of problems in the African continent is our
lack of story telling especially within the current generation. If there was an
attempt, it would be distorted or even told with half truths in them. This is
one gap, the book has come to bridge.
Book readings of Breaking the Coconut have been
scheduled for five African Countries and seven states in Nigeria in 2016 and
hopes to be an avenue to inspire and influence reading.
Also available on www.okadabooks.com.
To order
additional copies of this book, contact
Toll Free 0800
990 914 (South Africa)
+44 20 3014 3997
(outside South Africa)
orders.africa@partridgepublishing.com
Charles Umeh
He
is a personal effectiveness coach, Author of an Inspirational African book
Breaking the Coconut, Business Consultant consulting to individuals in SME’s,
with entrepreneurs and top management in corporate businesses which have
equipped him with the needed requisite to deal with a wide range of business
challenges. Contact him for
bulk purchase and consuktation email to
charismaticcharles@gmail.com, talktome@charlesumeh.com or call 234 -9051728112.
PS
I am working on personal story for Ngozi and she has agreed to share some of her recent stories with us.
OjisiEmezie
