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The idyllic Seven Palms Garden Event Centre, Trade Fair Complex Gulf Estate, Enugu, throbled with cheers and clinks as Sir Emeka Ukwuaba unveiled his latest literary work, Hypnotising Minefield. The event doubled as the 70th birthday celebration of the author.
Rev Father lbe, CSP, set the tone for the eventful day with an opening prayer, while the chairman of the occasion, Hon Justice George Nnamani, President of the Enugu State Customary Court of Appeal and a Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, in his opening remarks, extolled the brilliance of the author, Sir Emeka Ukwuaba, whom he described as a renowned administrator, a technocrat, a politician and a literary icon. He stressed the urgent need for writers to conscientise society, especially in a perilous time such as Nigeria had been witnessing.
“Writers should courageously expose the ever growing ills of our society, no thanks to the poor governance malady bedeviling us,” he said.
The celebrant was assisted by two of his children, Engr Ogbonna and Dr Nneamaka, who shared November as their month of birth with their father at the cutting of the cake ceremony.
The author, in his remarks, averred that, at age seventy, he owed it a duty to his beloved country to chronicle the many ills that had bedeviled the nation from independence with a view to alerting nationals to halt the drift. He bemoaned a situation where things, instead of improving, had always turned out worse with each successive regime, whether military or civil. He wondered whether it was designed for us to never get it right, blaming the woeful lot of our country on the allegiance of citizens to tribal nations instead of the nation state. The phenomenon, he said, breeds unbridled corruption, nepotism, abject poverty, weak institutions and general lawlessness.
Sir Ukwuaba lamented that the quest to escape poverty had snowballed into a myriad of crimes ravaging the land. He added: “The interconnectedness of corruption, bad governance and poverty takes its toll on the nation’s security which is abysmal. Originally a major transit hub for transnational drug trafficking, our nation has graduated into a synthetic drug manufacturing haven, where bandits, kidnappers and other terrorists get limitless supply to embolden their trades.”
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He was optimistic that, Hypnotising Minefield, like other seminal works chronicling the trouble with our country, if read widely, would go far in shaping the minds of nationals, young and old to tow the line of rectitude and save our ailing nation.
In their review entitled “A Mirror to a Nation”, the reviewers, Su’eddie Vershima Agema and Oko Owoicho, writing for the publisher, SEVHAGE Publishers, stated: “One special thing about Hypnotising Minefield is that it hides real Nigerian events inside its story. If you are sharp, you will catch them. A big example is the reference to the famous Gloria Okon drama, yes, the woman who was declared dead but rumours later said she was living in London with a new identity. You will see hints of such real-life mysteries woven cleverly into this novel. So, in a way this book is not just a story alone but a historical treasure that will help us remember.”
The reviewers also noted: “Yet the novel does more than showcase individual tragedy. It mirrors the unsettling rhythm of contemporary Nigeria, where one wakes up each day surprised, as if the news headlines are being written by a novelist with a flair for plot twists. Today, it is retroactive decrees; tomorrow, it is a new regulation that contradicts the previous contradiction.”
Dignitaries who graced the event included the Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter N. Mba, represented by the Hon Commissioner Special Duties, Mr Emeka Ajogwu; Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, like Hon. Ejike Eze, Hon Nnaemeka Obe, Hon. Williams Amuka; former members of the National Assembly, including Dr Frank Ugwu and Engr Simon Atigwe.
Others were prominent traditional rulers led by HRH Igwe Cyril Ayogu, the Chairman of Igbo Eze North LGA Council of traditional rulers; Captains of Industry, including Dr Cosmas Agu Esq and Chief Festus Oshaba Onu of COMAG Steel Group and FERTEX Consortium.
