A major part of my 70th birthday activities on last Monday 12th February 2024 was the launch of the book, ‘Épa Don Coime – An Odyssey With the Elder’, put together by yours sincerely, Ogie Eboigbe.
The launch was coordinated by the birthday event Chairman, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, former Governor of Ogun State and guests were happy to be involved in the unique presentation – a compilation of some articles in the blog, Epa.com.ng, since it came on stream five years ago.
Recall that the first article to formally kick off the wisdom blog, Épa.com.ng on 1st October 2018 had the headline: “Nigeria At 58 – An Adult, A Toddler Or Still An Infant?”
That article headlines the selection which makes up the book, ‘Épa Don Come, An Odyssey With the Elder’, as we mark the blog’s 5th Anniversary and my Platinum Jubilee, because like many other articles, it is still very current today.
It was a pleasure to formally present this book, which contains what I consider to be some of the very interesting articles from ÉPA.COM.NG, the Well of Wisdom. This presentation also coincided with the launch of our Biography & History Project, BHP, which aims to encourage all of us to write about ourselves in order to ensure that there are materials to boost our history which has unfortunately taken a beaten and has been sidelined in recent years.
‘Épa Don Come’, is the precursor to others which I will present, starting in 2024, as a payback and tribute to authors who have written all the books I have read these years. I will not start naming them because it is not possible to do so. While writing, I also intend to read more and encourage others to do the same by engaging in activities that will help improve our reading culture which has somehow nose-dived in recent times.
I am not sure the role the internet generally and social media have played in discouraging reading and writing but if there are negatives, there definitely are also very many positives because you now have books literary in the palm of your hand or in your pocket all day long.
I have read many books. Right from when I was a young boy, books, magazines and newspapers fascinated me and I was lucky that I was able to develop reading habits, even though some were not very good, according to family values. Like reading while eating, reading while sleeping, (Yes, it is possible – I have been caught holding a book in front of my face while lying down and sleeping), and so on. I was also lucky to have attended schools, even at primary level, where books were available or given to interested pupils. For instance, I read many Shakespeare books when I was in a village primary school in the 60s – the BDC School, Obadan, in the then Midwest Region, now Edo State. The school had a library stocked with those books and many lucky pupils started early. Therefore when I entered secondary school in 1968 and Shakespeare was the lead author of literature books, it was a piece of cake for me. So I have continued to read and read – fiction and non-fiction, and from available genre, including Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Romance, Horror, Thriller and Historical Fiction as well as Memoirs & Autobiography, Biography, Art, History, Entertainment, Sport, Business, Legal, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, Media, Education, Travel, Crime, Culture and Tradition.
Like most young boys and girls of the 60s and 70s, we all grew up reading books by popular authors like James Hadley Chase, Chinua Achebe, Nick Carter, Cyprian Ekwensi, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie, Wilbur Smith, and others. Those ‘softer stuff’ prepared us for more serious books, including text books which were sometimes easier to understand because of one’s broader knowledge formed from other people’s writing.
It has been an interesting life of books and I feel I have procrastinated all these years with half or one-quarter written books so 2024 should be the first year to give back and make good on the promise to also write, not just about me and my life but about life and the world generally.
Some of the articles in ‘Épa Don Come’ (Pidgin for ‘Épa Has Come/Arrived’) provide snippets of some of the things to come in my main biography, but they do not expose all. The articles are just about show why they call me Épa, The Elder and the articles we have chosen represent areas of human interest, including the Society, Politics, World Affairs, Business, Economy, Security, Sport and Tributes. I hope you enjoy them.
Several blurbs and snapshots by some of my friends are pointers to the contents of the book.
For instance, Nosa Igiebor, Editor-in-Chief, TELL Magazine says: “Ogie strips serious issues of their complexity and creates an easy conversation about them, inviting you to join him in deconstructing them. This is what makes EPA DON COME a delicious read.”
“Ogie Eboigbe dispenses wisdom, ancient and modern, like nuggets of gold”, says the great SO, Sonala Olumhense.
And what does the philosopher Taiwo Obe say? “Épa shows that accomplishment has no age limit. And, that’s splendid to know”.
The media Amazon, Betty Irabor sent her greetings: “It is my honour to extend felicitations to Epa.com for its very analytical articles, spiced with history and the wisdom of Epa.”
And the guru crowns it all: “Often, the society equates success with the amassing of material things, and climbing the socio-political ladder by any means possible. It overlooks the true essence of success and fulfillment. Ogie attained both as a veritable journalist, an international technocrat and an accomplished public relations practitioner. Among his peers, he stands tall, in a society that has become more and more mediocre; he looms large as a beacon of excellence whose wisdom predates his now very auspicious age.” That’s Emeka Izeze.
They all made my day.
And so, Épa Don Come, Épa tide, Épa abia la, Épa ya zo, Épa rhe ne, The Elder – the wise one – has arrived!
