..Reviewers recommend Political Hygiene, commensurate rewards for bad conducts
* Author unveils website of Crow Media
By Olawale Lamina
Twin books with moral and political tones have been added into the body of literature, though both aim to generally revive Nigeria’s ebbing reading culture- one emphasizes the moral implications of betrayal of trust in relationship, while the other underscores the negative influence of colonialists on the African continent, stressing the imperatives for political hygiene to put the society back on the path of social order and ensure it is corruption-free.
The book launch which took place on Saturday at the Nigeran Union of Journalists, NUJ, Secretariat Utako in Abuja brought together members of the academia, civil society, family and friends of the author and publisher, Mr. Olushola Omogbehin.
In his address while shedding light on his motivation for writing, Mr. Omogbehin stated that the works came about based on his efforts to portray the situation of the country and that of Africa at large.
According to him, the first title, (a novel) ‘Tears of Betrayal’ is a portrayal of the pervasive trends. He noted that betrayal of all kinds cut across different segments of the society, especially in relationships, which the subject matter addresses.
On the second book, an adaptation from Professor P.L.O Lumuba’s great speeches titled, ‘Speaking Truth to Power…,the African Dialogue,’ the author said that the society must rise to speak truth to leadership, cautioning that not rising to demand accountability will continue to deepen Africa’s leadership crisis.
He emphasized that ‘Speaking Truth to Power’ also touches on the common political history of Africa, with regard to the colonialists style of leadership.
The first guest lecturer and reviewer of ‘Speaking Truth to Power,’ Gabriel Omolaolu called for ‘Political Hygiene,’ in view of the challenges that characterized the political landscape, citing corruption and other anti-social conducts as the bane of the society.
He defined political hygiene as some of the elements that could help to foster good leadership in political space, such as visionary leadership and people centered politics, devoid of selfishness.
He criticized Nigeria’s current constitution, describing it as unhygienic and derived from a burrowed source being colonial heritage handed down the people.
He opined that the absence of corruption and poverty will give birth to arpolitical hygiene,adding that the electorate have a role and must contribute to make the political scene hygienic, because they contributed to making it unhygienic in the first place
He also tasked the Nigerian electorate to rise in preparation for the coming election ( 2027), to ensure the delivery of political hygiene through necessary contributions to sanitize the polity.
Reviewing ‘Speaking Truth to Power,’ Mr. Omolaolu urged the participants to add ‘Speaking Truth to Power’ to their library, drawing from African Professor of Law, Patrick Lumumba’s 10 speeches , covering politics, sermon ( as a minister of God) and from his rich interviews.. as captured by chapter one of the book.
He observed that the book is historical, when considering slavery in Africa, noting that foreigners came in and used “our forefathers to develop their countries.” According to Lumumba’s treatise, the Arabs, the (from the East) came in first before the Portuguese and the British.
The reviewer noted from the work that Arab enslavers castrated Africans, leaving no remnants of black Arab origin till today, until is the case with colonialists from other blocks where black ancestry are still traceable.
He explained further the colonialists’ negative influence, leading to the movement of some of the African leaders like Kwame Nkuruma, Julius Nyeyere to their land, who saw how the colonial overlords used Africans to develop their countries, which in turn fuelled the call for independence by the African leaders. He highlighted how Nkruma had pushed for the Unites States of Africa, but the move suffered as others later subscribed to the formation of African Union which only emphasized sovereignty of African nations and consequently turned out to be very weak, as the colonialists returned to Africa to observe the land and succeeded in eliminating some of her leaders like Professor Lumumba of Congo,(was removed by the Presided whom the foreign colonialists influenced,) all because of available resources in Africa.
According to the reviewer, despite independence, the colonialists are still much around because of their interest the raw mineral resources located in Africa.
Omolaolu pointed out that presently, Africa is in an era of neocolonialism where the leaders are being controlled by foreign interests.
He reasoned that the book is an expose on political rottenness replete in Africa.
He praised the author for coming up with a book loaded with political history
According to him, the author, Mr. Omogbehin had realized that the present crop of youths were not prepared for a change.
He also lamented that the youths, that formed the critical segment, were not reading and as a result lacked sense of history.
He commented Mr Omogbehin for curating the work of Professor Lumumba, calling on the Gen Z to start embracing the reading culture.
He concluded by recommending ”Speaking Truth to Power’ to the reading public.
On his part, the second Guest Lecturer and Reviewer, Mr. Stephen Ajinomoh commenced by appreciating the author for his efforts in writing the novel, ‘Tears of Betrayal,’ emphasizing that based on the novel, actions have consequences.
He said individuals can locate themselves in the characters portrayed in the novel which represented a metaphor, especially where the actions of certain characters, like Angel turned out to be exact opposite of their names. (Remi, Angel and Emeka)
He explained that Angel misbehaved forcing Remi into single motherhood, while Emeka portrays a moral compass, by pointing us in the right direction.
Continuing, the reviewer said, at the end, Remi found peace and Angel got what he deserved in some ways, though did not adequately suffer for her misconducts.
“Tears of Betrayal has universal significance, drawing from wisdom of using betrayal as a subject that affects all, regardless of geography…., he said.
He described ‘Tears of Betrayal’ as highly philosophical,urging participants to connect with the book.
He opined that literature rewards virtues and punishes vices, stating the reason for his little observations.
He challenged the author by calling for a possible second edition to resolve some of the issues in the plot, especially in the area of fulfilling expectations.
During the unveiling of the books, a members of the high table, Mummy Rock of Ages and other personalities who did the public presentation expressed the hope that the work will inspire and educate the public the more.
Other speakers, Dr. Jumai Ahmadu, represented by Mrs. Felicia Sams and Mrs Winners Williams, in their separate speeches underscored the need to build a better home through good moral standards. They stressed the need to make the books available in digital form as to expand its readership and be more appealing to the younger ones.
Mrs. Felicia Sams who spoke on the topic titled-Patriotic home, Role of Homes in Nurturing.. described the home as the foundation of the society, which is able to help a child understand his or her background history.
She particularly stressed that the home stands as the first school of socialization, while noting lack of history had led to lack of guidance for the young people and mainly the citizens.
She also harped on the need to promote gender equality. She urged the public to embrace the books being launched.
High table personalities include Chief Host-Dr Ola Agbaje, represented by Miss Aisha Bello, Spiritual Father of the Day- Pastor Edwin Etomi, Mother of the Day, Pastor Mrs. Mary Aboluwarin (Rock of Ages and Total Event) and the Master of Ceremony, MC- Pastor Sylvester Omose, among other attendees.
…. Omogbehin unveils Crow Media at Launch
In a related development, Mr. Olushola Omogbehin, author, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief seized the occasion to introduce his new media website, the Crow Media via https://Crowmedia.ng to the public.
The Crowmedia.ng promises an exciting news and information dissemination to its varied readership and followers online.
The new media outfit, in digital form for now focuses on Politics, Business, Economy and other general interest news information.
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