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Napoleon Hill, the legendary author of Think and Grow Rich, an all-time bestseller (famous for quotes like: ‘Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve’) must be a happy man in his grave as his No. 1 apostle in Nigeria, Dr. Poly I. Emenike is set to present his fifth book titled Think and Grow Rich—African Perspective, on Thursday, June 20 at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).
I have read an advance copy of the book and I found it rich with an amazing spread of resource materials for anyone wanting to learn the secrets of wealth making. Nigerian business icons who have also read the book attest to it being a good book that will help entrepreneurs or anyone who wants to succeed in business.
“The biggest distinguishing factor between humankind and all other creatures is the ability to think,” Femi Otedola, Chairman, Forte Oil Plc, writes in his endorsement. “Having been on the wealth-creation journey myself for some time, I have come to the realize that we take thinking for granted because it comes naturally to us…I must commend the author of this work for adding an African perspective to a global phenomenon and telling the story in a manner that is easy to understand. I recommend the book to all who want to pursue value and impact their environment. As the great Andrew Carnegie and Napoleon Hill wrote years ago: ‘An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.’” 
Mutiu O. A. Sunmonu, Chairman, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc writes: “Dr. Poly Emenike must be commended for his painstaking effort to pull all the lessons in this book together. The real benefits of the book are the specific examples of successful men and women who have demonstrated similar traits and discipline in their personal and professional lives. While the book discusses secrets of success in different chapters, a lot of the secrets are embedded in every one of us and can be easily unleashed if we have clarity of purpose, and if we are ready to pursue that purpose and if we are determined to overcome obstacles that tend to limit us. This book, rich and easy to read, is a must for all those who want to get the best out of life.”
AVM A.D. Bello (Rtd), former Nigeria Chief of Air Staff writes: “Africa must continue to interrogate the subject of its puzzling underdevelopment relative to the abundant human and material resources that dot its landscape. It must find answers and the intelligence that will help it permanently drop the unenviable toga of basket case it has worn for so long. It is within this framework of this knowledge paradigm that I situate Poly I. Emenike’s latest literary offering. Being one of the successful stories out of Africa, despite having had first-hand experience with deprivation, his decision to share a piece of this story and the stories of Africans like him, in a way that mirrors the great success of the Andrew Carnegie and Napoleon Hill is a commendable effort.”
The format of the book, Emenike explains, “is to ensure that the original principles in Think and Grow Rich are maintained in all the chapters but some anecdotal explanations of the personalities should be of the African origin. This supports the saying that, if you want to catch a monkey you will act like one. Thus, I, being one of Napoleon Hill’s disciples of African origin, should do such annotations and narrations to African readers, with African examples.”
Among the Nigerian and Africans used as case studies in Emenike’s book are names like Mike Adenuga, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, David Imonitie, Philip Emeagwali, Folorunsho Alakija, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Kamal Budhabatti (Kenya’s Bill Gates), Naushad N. Merali (Kenya), Ashish J. Thakkar (Uganda), Onsi Sawirisi (Egypt), Tewedros Ashenafi (Ethiopia), Monica Musonda (Zambia), Strive Masiyiwa (Zimbabwe) and over a hundred other names of successful people on the continent.
“I urge the reader to endeavor to read the book so that you could accumulate enough wealth, as much as possible, in a legitimate way, because you will use that wealth to help your immediate localities and mankind, through philanthropy, Emenike adds.
The foreword was written by Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria who doubles as the reviewer of the book on Thursday. Ironically, Soludo says: “To try to review or advertise the book is to do great disservice to it. You don’t preach or teach it. It is a book for those who are ready. Just read it, and if you are truly ready for the secrets of success revealed in the book, you won’t be the same again. I am a lifetime student of philosophy and psychology, and I must have read dozens of books on ‘Success’ but certainly Think and Grow Rich is a league of its own—a classic which most people would agree is the most influential book on Success that has remained valid across time and space.”
Soludo continues: “In a continent where echoes of corruption and bad leadership dominates the headlines, and where prosperity preachers suffocate the airwaves with promises of ‘something for nothing’ and prosperity based almost exclusively on good luck (that somehow God can just serve one breakfast in bed), the book is breath of fresh air. It is a call to a return to the Socratic admonition: ‘Man know thyself,’ thereby unlocking the hidden powers within humanity which only the mind and the hands can do. Only those who plan can control the future, but a vision/plan without execution is hallucination. Personal responsibility and smart hard work are among the key ingredients for sustaining Africa’s nascent renaissance. It is a refreshing reminder of those lifetime quotes we were fascinated with as secondary school students. The quotes include: ‘Success is 99 percent hard work and one percent luck;’ ‘You are the architect of your own fortune;’ ‘The harder I work, the luckier I become,’ ‘God helps those who help themselves,’ etc.”
NEXT WEEK: IN THE BOARDROOM WITH ASUE IGHODALO, CHAIRMAN, STERLING BANK PLC, CO-FOUNDER BANWO & IGHODALO
