One of the easiest tasks to perform should be to review a book that is so easy to read because the writer knows what he is talking about and he knows how to put it down. Right?
I thought so too! Especially when the author has been your friend for almost 50 years!
But in this case, my friend, Ogie Eboigbe sometimes confuses us right from the headlines of some of his articles. Or what do you say about the headline to an article which screams, ‘Remembering My First Wife’, when you thought you knew he was never married before; Or was he and you did not know?
Or another headline that will say, ‘The Women in my Life’, and you are ready to relish in some very juicy tales, only to find out he is talking about his wife, daughter and sisters?
But don’t let me lose you in my own world and forget that the book we are introducing, ‘Epa Don Come – An Odyssey With The Elder’, is a compilation of selected blog articles from Épa.com.ng, the blog published in the last five by Epa himself – my dear friend and brother, with whom I started working same day in Radio Nigeria in September 1978.
The title of the book, ‘Épa Don Come,’ is intriguing and reflects the arrival of wisdom, experience, and a call to action. It is great to see that the book covers a wide range of themes, from life and human interest to politics, society, tributes, and beyond. This diversity of topics makes the book relatable to a broad audience. But he has not provided a full content page of article-by-article or an index for readers to jump to any headline or topic – just the sections on the different topics; and I dare say that we may sometimes need to search and flip through, to reach specific topics. However, in doing the flipping though, you will no doubt get caught up in other interesting stuff that will make you read all – page by page!
Richard Ikiebe’s words in the Foreword to the book are a testament to the impact the book has had on him and how it should resonates with readers.
There is no doubt that the odyssey through the realms of Literature, Marketing Communications, Government, Broadcasting, Journalism, Banking, Business and Foreign Service has shaped Epa’s perspectives and laid the foundation for a commitment to authorship and this book should be is a testament to the power of reading and writing.
For ease of browsing through, Epa has divided the book into sections, rather than chapters and the sections are led by the one he calls Epa Direct, which are basically articles written on his experience and activities in different spheres of life. The other sections on People/Society, Business/Economy, Politics, Foreign, Sports and Tributes, while dwelling those subjects, are spiced up with historical information and backgrounders on the various issues raised in those articles and stories.
I must express some favoritism for the sections on People and Tributes, but more on Tributes because this is where the author uses his experience and ‘wordsmithship’ to bring out what he has dug up and weave the stories about the subjects in what Nosa Igiebor describes thus: “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.” I cannot but agree more.
It is great to see one of us encouraging people to write about themselves, their experience and history. It is also heartening to know that he is promoting reading culture through the book, instead of everyone fixing eyes in devices all day – something that has become a norm with some people and does not really provide the patience to read and understand issues as they are. Reading books is of course a great way to learn new things, expand horizons, and gain new perspectives and it is unfortunate that reading culture has declined in recent times, but it is encouraging to see people like Ogie taking steps to revive it.
‘Épa Don Come, An Odyssey With the Elder’, should inspire many people to read more and write about their own experiences and I hope it will also prompt Epa himself to write more, as he promised, particularly in full biographical terms, that should serve as a push to many others to write and take action to promote data and information flow.
I wish Epa Ogie Eboigbe all the best with his future writing projects as he has promised, through the Biography and History Project and I commend this book to us all.
Thank you and congratulations!
