You were a little bit sceptical when you received an invite for a special edition of what was usually a monthly event, The Bookjam. This special edition was supposedly in honour of writer John C Maxwell who, according to the invite, would be supported by three Nigerian authors.
Though only the name of one of the authors ringed familiar to your ears, Abraham Oshoko, author of ‘June 12: The Struggle For Power In Nigeria’ you decided to attend the event and arrived the venue about fifteen minutes before the 3 o’clock start of time, hoping to dodge a repeat of your adventure with African time a few weeks prior, but you hoped in vain. For an event that was billed for 3 pm, African time played much more than the usual havoc. You felt justified to give kudos to the organizers for starting just a few minutes later than the advertised time, but you also gave them knocks for, in 2010, using a sound system that transmitted more noise than all else.
You didn’t even shy away from also awarding Silverbird serious thumbs down for venue choice. Whoever picked the lobby of the Silverbird galleria for an event that was supposed to be intellectually engaging left too much to be desired as the constant drone of shoppers and a particularly annoying sound from some sort of machinery served as sources of more than just the casual distraction, drawing participants mind away from the discourse.
Anyway, after a sputtered (blame the sound) announcement by the mc, Ani, Abraham Oshoko began reading from his graphic novel. Though the young man really tried to convey the feel of his graphic novel via reading, the bland nature of it made you wonder if that is the best way to relay a work of that nature – perhaps an accompanying slide show would have suffixed here.
Sometime at this point, the audio got better, And you smiled as the author described his nationalistic leanings while answering a question from a participant as to what made him embark of his project (the graphic novel) and you recalled when you too found comfort in that sort of thing, Nationalism.
But then another young man, still young enough to fling his age about without feeling self conscious, Tolu Akani, a 21 year old, just a few weeks out of the university got up to read – to your undisguised interest – his newly published and launched book, which is basically a compilation of stuffs he wrote at 20.
Though you have never been inclined towards self help books, listening to young Mr Tolu read from his book sold you completely, or almost. The young man used simple every day analogies in a very creative way to convince you that his book is what whatever hype it surely would generate in the near future. You laughed aloud at his portrayal of the travails of a bottle of coke, how it sells for 50 Naira in a road-side buka and becomes 500 Naira in a high brow eatery, somehow you could imagine you being that bottle of coke…yeah, you could be. Says Mr Tolu…it’s all about packaging!
Then Mr Adebayo Adelaja-Olowo-Ake came with his delightful reading from his novel ‘Thunder Lightening and Storm’. Man! Did he bring all that and more to bear?
The fresh novel, which he said was inspired by a real life female Major-General in the Nigerian army, Aderonke Kale (rtd), a name whose fame was further buttressed by the fact that it was recognised by your word processor, centres around lieutenant Aminat Zechariah of the Nigerian airforce. The depth of this book, clearly evident even in the light of the less than an hour reading of a few parts, made you wonder why the author wasn’t published by one of the big players in the Nigerian literary scene.
The 2nd runner up of Project fame West Africa, Mr Tomiwa, was also on hand to entertain the guests with a rendition of his brand new single ‘I will do’. You nodded your head, captivated by the music, a love song, one you considered well crafted, while frowning slightly at the bum length short most of the obviously affluent young ladies that trooped in and out of the high-end galleria were sporting, wondering if, when they come, you will allow your daughters dress in such, let alone buy it for them.
Deciding to leave the venue a few minutes shy of the 6 pm closing time, you hastily explained to the man next to you that the traffic wouldn’t wait for the Aforementioned John Maxwell before closing up, making your journey home more hectic.
Outside, you flag an Okada down and as it meandered with you through the building traffic, you felt the weight of Tomiwa complementary CD in your suit pocket, You smiled happily. Yeah, it was well worth it…even without the advertised John Maxwell.
Adieu
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