Golden Book on a Golden Governor

By Clement Warrie

For the first time in Akwa Ibom history, a graphic insider account of a stormy political campaign that climaxed in the election of a governor, has been turned into a riveting book.

For the third time in five years, Anietie Usen, the multiple award winning journalist and author, has written a gripping octavo, this time, titled And It Came To Pass, that is currently thrilling readers nationally, beckoning on movie makers and
certain to impact posterity.

His first book, Audacious Journalism (706 pages), published by Parrésia in 2018, is described as the “veritable definition of Dele Giwa brand of journalism”. Scholars such as Professor Des Wilson, a Professor of Communication Arts and Professor Joseph Ushie, a Professor of General Stylistics & Literary Criticism, have described the Audacious Journalism variously and respectively as a “treasure trove”, “incisive, stylish and a must read by teachers and students of journalism”.

His second book, Village Boy (204 pages) published also by Parrèsia in 2022, is a thrilling story of village life and village children in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, which has already won the United Nations SDG Book Club Award and was formerly unveiled by the UN Information Centre, UNIC, in Namibia, during the UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day in 2022. Village Boy is already a text in three departments of the University of Uyo, where the book has been put on stage thrice and Usen awarded the Creativity Award of the University. Not surprising, the first two books received revving reviews in the many national print and electronic media.

This time, Usen, a former General Editor of the legendary Newswatch Magazine and former Editorial Board Member of THISDAY Newspapers, took advantage of his position as the Director, Strategic Communications of the Akwa Ibom Governorship Candidate, Pastor Umo Eno Campaign Organisation, to, in his words, “keep a copious diary of dramatic and historic political rumbles” that culminated into the election of Governor Umo Eno and by extension, the new book.

And It Came To Pass has a rider written in gold, obviously to explain what came to pass. The rider says: “How God Turned A Pastor Into A Governor Against All Odds”. The Foreword of the book is written by a no-ordinary mortal but Udom Emmanuel, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State [2015-2023], while the Preface is written by an erudite Professor of Military History and Head of the Department of History and International Relations in the University of Uyo, Ubong Essien Umoh. The Epilogue of the book has the impresario and imprimatur of Governor Umo Eno himself, which altogether combine to make the book a hot cake especially for Akwa Ibom elites and people at home and in diaspora.

But if you think this book would pamper any of the big wigs and historic figures in the book, you have made a big mistake. This book is written in a no holds barred, Newswatch Magazine style. It is deep, sharp-witted and insightful into the inner recesses of political brinkmanship in the State, surprisingly pushing the limits independent political research and reporting. The author himself describes the book as “400 pages of adrenaline rush”.

But what this author said or think of his book is immaterial and inconsequential compared to what readers and reviewers have been saying and writing since the book was formally presented to the public on May 26, 2024, before the crème de la crème of Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria.

At the official presentation of the book in Uyo, May 26, 2024, Effiong Johnson, a Professor of Theatre Aesthetics and book reviewer, proved his mettle, when he turned the 5000 capacity International Christian Worship Centre (also known as Ibom Basilica) into a theatre-of-the-pragmatic, where he seized the moment and intellectually dissected the book to the ovation of the jam-packed audience.

“This book is a bold affront with facts and figures, evidence and exhibits, times and places, to establish a persuading verdict for believability. The book strikes the reader with bewildering spasms of truth…It is couched in the style of docu-factualism; that is, a mix of documentaries and factualities. Real names of people in real situations; quoted lines of what they said, where, when, and even how they said them are cited in the narrative”, Professor Johnson said with the audacity of a rooster, and in a style that got the audience glued to every word and move he made.

Said the daring reviewer: “This book is insightfully revelatory of the nuances of intrigues associated with politics and its attendant constructions and deconstructions of power. The book brings all the power hegemonies and principalities…in Akwa Ibom politics into bold display, including their sophistries of power-brokering and the damnable schemes of the most abhorrent dimensions…The author equally unmasked in orchestrated abandon the behind-the-scene, nocturnal political chase game…and the engulfing toxic scenario… which included an unprecedented 45 court litigations against Umo Eno”.

Oluwole Akindutire, Esq, the Managing Solicitor of Wole Akindutire & Co in Port Harcourt, has read And It Came To Pass three times. He sees the book in a different light altogether. “This is a quintessential Anietie Usen’s blockbuster. If you’ve read the Village Boy, you’ll appreciate what I am talking about. Each chapter of And It Came To Pass represents a milestone that makes you look forward to the next chapter. You are gripped in a kind of suspense and you would not be able to put down the book till you have read the last word. Very outstanding”, Akindutire said.

Tete Adam, a Professor of Constitutional Law and Dean, Faculty of Law, Clifford University, agrees with Akindutire. “This book is a compulsive and compelling narrative by a gifted storyteller. It is insightful, breathtaking and unputdownable… I am highly humbled and amazed by the ability of this author to pull and piece together disparate scenes and scenarios into one delectable whole of racy reading. This is profound”, Professor Adam said.

The book is made up of 31 chapters, but the author said he has already added one extra chapter in the new edition that is expected early next month. The titles of the chapters are simultaneously appetising and inviting. They ranged from: The Red Letter Day, Empire Strikes Back, Avalanche Of Legal Onslaught, The Database That Was Hacked and Dilemma Of Forensic Laymen, to, Handwriting On The Wall, Behind Closed Doors, Courage Is His Name, Status Quo Ante Bellum and D-Day At Last. Other enticing chapters include: Here Are The Prophets, Endorsement With A Bang, Governor Unusual and Convoy Of Compassion, to mention a few.

Emmanuel Enoidem, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, took a closer look at the book. Said the SAN: “It is a capsule. It is an outstanding and sequential chronicle of the historic political landmarks of the last Gubernatorial election, beginning from Umo Eno’s unveiling as a governorship aspirant, through to his nomination as the PDP governorship candidate and his travails through an unprecedented 45 court cases, to his memorable campaign stumps, his eventual landslide victory and inauguration as the governor of Akwa Ibom State.This is a very detailed work that also covers the first year of Umo Eno as governor and the new cultural context of governance and politics-without-bitterness, which Governor Umo Eno has provided. This is unique”.

Dr. Udeme Nnana, the founder of the respected Uyo Book Club and a Mass Communication Scholar adopted a novel perspective in reviewing And It Came To Pass. After reading the book, he published several reviews in many online newspapers, which he titled: 11 Lessons from “It Came to Pass”. The lessons, which he considers far-reaching and wide-ranging, comes from the lives of not just Governor Umo Eno and his wife Patience, but from the life of his predecessor, Udom Emmanuel, which Dr. Nana picked out from several chapters of the book.

According to Dr. Nana, there are real lessons to learn from the book on courage, goal-setting, focus, determination, self confidence, strategic planning, God-centeredness and on mastery and control of one’s environment, as demonstrated by the role of Udom Emmanuel in the book.

There are also lessons in the book to learn from the lives of Governor Umo Eno. These include lessons in contentment, industry, self-drive, decency, discipline, integrity, humility, gratitude, compassion and acuity to see opportunities and seize them, not to forget the big lesson that “anyone can make his or her way from the lowest estate in life to the highest rung in the society”. The last lesson but not the least, according to Dr. Nana is about courts and court cases, “namely that documents filed in the Court of Justice must be defended as such documents may not speak for themselves…”

There are critics too, such as Professor Johnson who baulked at the “boldness” and “affront” of the book that could generate controversy. But Dr. Ubong Essien Umoh, Head of Department of History and International Relations in the University of Uyo, has instead invited other political actors across the political divides to write their own books from their perspectives, to further enrich the political history of the State.

As the new book marks its first month on the bookstores, online and offline, it was the octogenarian journalist, Moses Ekpo, fondly called Uncle Mo, a the first Akwa Ibom Commissioner of Information and the immediate past deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, who caught the imagination of readers in a message he sent to the author. “Anietie, this book is Gold; and you are the Goldsmith”, Ekpo said.

*Mr. Warrie is a Media Analyst and Brand Creator