Ojisi: Book Review

Book Review

Meet one of Nigeria’s youngest Lecturer who “Broke the Coconut” by hitting 5.0 CGPA in her Masters Program [BOOK REVIEW]

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Image result for images for charles umeh's breaking the coconut

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.

Image result for images for Ngozi Marion Emmanuel

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

The book is rich with lessons from the young to the young. I still draw personal reference from it because they are people within my generation and the language they speak I understand, and s do many other youths out there. For instance;

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

www.partridgepublishing.com/africa

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.

I am working on personal story for Ngozi and she has agreed to share some of her recent stories with us.

OjisiEmezie

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Book Review

Why this book is a must read for all seeking to know the real African History [Book Review]

06:35

BOOK REVIEW

The Happy Devil Has Fallen - Chigbolumogu Izu

Pages – 370

Genre – Historical / Science –Fiction Novel

The book is sure to get you glued from the first page to the end. It tells you about the history of Africa like never before, quiet unlike the others you have read in history books. It chronicles a 24 hour sequence of events while beautifully unraveling rich African history.

It centers on Ikeofo, a scientist who researches on paranormal and extra-terrestrial activities and also on how mankind can achieve a longer life span, or possible immortality, encounters the most paranormal occurrence of his career when someone appears on the media and claims to be the ancient Herodotus, the world acclaimed man of history, and who existed two thousand five hundred years ago. He claimed to have been alive all these while in an extra-terrestrial planet, and the world was further thrown into amazement and fear when he presented evidences that support some of his claims. If his claims were to be true, how did he survive for that long? How come the extra-terrestrial world exists and man with all their scientific and technological advancements did not know it? Does his strange phenomenon endanger the earth, especially the possibility of alien invasion? Why did he make himself known now after all these years?

Now, he called for a world conference to clarify things to an already agitated human populace amidst a military coalition of all earth nations under the U.N., in a coordinated effort to defend the earth against any possible external threat. But during the conference he exposes a deadly conspiracy that was about to kill over seven billion people, orchestrated by a secret organization in alliance with some human-like aliens who infiltrated the earth after World War II. By the end of the conference day one, more breath taking secrets were discovered, other secretes about African political, economic, religious and social history in relation to the world of Asia, Europe and America were uncovered; more intrigues occurred, and the world was more agitated than they had been at the beginning of the day, as these secretes proofs that most things we have come to know and believe of our world are not really what they seem to be. Interesting, humorous, informing and almost unbelievable, the world will never forget ‘conference day one’.

In the book, the author argues that of a truth, “It has become a common knowledge with seemingly strong evidences that Africa is a land of witches, wizards and dark magic, even the Africans will tell you that their land and the people in it are demonic, evil and wicked. Everybody seems to know for sure that Africa is poor, backward, underdeveloped, wild and savage, a calamity brought upon them by their inherit evil, and corruption that have eaten deep into the fabrics of the continent. Nevertheless, nobody should blame the Africans since they are an inferior race by nature, and are well endowed with ignorance and limited intellectual ability in handling their challenges.”

He further notes the danger in the Africans story as told by foreigners form the one sided perspective. “That’s why where ever you see them, they are always poor, hungry and begging, or committing one violent crime or the other, just as characterized their barbaric nature. Only few have distinguished themselves by struggling to attain superiority by emulating the more intellectually pre-eminent white people; those are the ones worthy to be called two third of humans, the rest are a little better than their ape cousins back in the jungle they call home.”

He believes that “the African recent forefathers who fought for independence by claiming to be as capable as their white masters, have seen how they deceived themselves and innumerable Africans into calamity; and now, the recent children of Africa are more aware of their inferiority than their forefathers had been. Their unanimous acknowledgement of their inferiority can be seen how they are awed by the advancements of the Western world, and sing praises how the ingenuity of the white race have brought tremendous benefit to humanity. The young African generation question the concept that civilization started in Africa just because it started in Egypt, because aside Egypt what else has the Africans done right?”

He strongly asserts the superiority of the African civilization when he enumerates the accomplishments of the African people. “Now let’s see what the Africans have achieved. Starting from the early times, everybody were black and African, the pale coloured skin of the white people only came to be when some black people migrated from Africa, and began to adapt to different temperate regions of the world. As much as the Africans in Egypt were civilized, lots of the civilizations were introduced from other parts of Africa who got civilized before them. They can be credited for being the most popular of the ancient civilizations in modern times, but the pyramid construction actually started from the African interior thousands of years before the Egyptians ever began to reason it.”

“Human language and writing were invented by the Africans; Chemistry, physics, mathematics, algebra were also invented by them when the rest of the world were still intellectually incompetent. Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and other renowned Greek philosophers, learnt their philosophy from African philosophies. The Africans embraced the gospel of Christ even before Rome ever heard of the name Christ, and it was through the African endeavour that many parts of Europe came to hear about Christ. Administrative wise, many parts of Europe, Asia, and Arabia have been conquered, colonized and ruled for ages by the Africans. Africans had ruled Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Arabian Peninsula, Middle-East and even Greece.”

The author Izu Chigbolumogu in praise of Africans noted that they “ had plied the oceans and high seas at a time very few people in the world ever dreamt of stepping into it. Africans had gone to the Americas before the renowned Columbus Christopher did, and had even gone to far Asia for trade before the time of Christ. They had constructed magnificent structures and buildings when majority of mankind still lived in caves or constructed houses with wood, mud and thatch.”

He further notes that “Counting these things can be tiring, but the truth is that along the line, a fundamental development occurred that the blessings of the Africans turned into a curse. Then their history became rewritten a few centuries ago, a new and untrue history that attributes wickedness, barbarity, corruption, backwardness, inferiority to the once great people. When Africa shall rise again, which they must surely, their past and the present glory of the West, shall be like a speck of dust to the magnitude of their great future. But that great future remains elusive if the people of African will not go beyond their present state of utter ignorance to a more knowledgeable status, as knowledge begets wisdom.”

The ancestors of Africa archived greatness because they were reasonably wise and knowledgeable, but the current Africans have had their minds so controlled that they let their history to be written by outsiders who define them the way they chose to. Most recent Africans ignore the past and their consequence because they think it does not matter, they also dangerously assume that mistakes of today can never be as disastrous as mistakes of the past. But history is interesting because it repeats itself, if the current Africans should continue in the follies of their recent past, then they should be guaranteed that their posterity might never fare any better. Knowledge is power, then the appropriate use of it is supremacy; for one not to know what happened before they were born is to forever remain a child.

Most critical is the way racism has gone deep in the world system, and remember that racism started as a symptom of hatred, guilt, and ignorance of the white imperialists against their subjects. In as much as so much noise has been made to fight racism especially against Africans, Africans have surprisingly become the highest racists in the modern times; most of them automatically feel inferior in the presence of a white fellow. This is reversed racism and Africans are the most perpetrators of this evil against themselves; Africans must as a matter of life and death kill the slavery, ignorance and inferiority inculcated in them in the recent past. When these fundamental defects are rectified, every other thing will most likely fall in place. That’s the narrative.

The author has made a great effort in reliving African history in this book. The book is not the regular boring books of history, but a compelling story that chronicles the birth and growth of African History. Its a must read. Watch out for the offcial launch. coming to stores near you.

Izu Chigbolumogu holds a Bacherlors of Accounting. He is an entrepreneur , Writer, Historian, and social science science researcher, and philanthropist. The Happy Devil has Fallen is his first published book.