The Book World of ABIC

Book publishing in Nigeria is in dire straits. It shook me up like a charge of electricity that there is one Nigerian East of the Niger, largely unsung, devoting his entire life to the nobler details of book publishing and distribution. My knowledge or lack thereof of the publishing of books in Nigeria is largely restricted to the Lagos-Ibadan axis, that is, until a recent visit to Enugu during which my brother Isidore Emeka took me to 20 Edozien Street, Uwani, Enugu, the home of ABIC Books & Equipment Ltd, where the avuncular Mr. C.N.C. Asomugha presides.

Asomugha established ABIC Books back in 1987, and in the intervening years the company has published authors such as Chinua Achebe, Esiaba Irobi, Emeka Nwabueze, GPI Oluka, Chimalum Nwankwo, Mekinzewi, Ngozi Omeje, EC Nwodo, Ebele Maduewesi, VV Levtchitch, Emmanuel Attamah, Osondu Odionu, Chibuzo Asomugha, Chuks Okolo, Okey Anyichie, Rina Okonkwo, CH Spurgeon, Roland Timi Kpakiama etc.

According to Asomugha, “Our vision has been to share with all human beings aged between one and 100 years the unique African experiences recorded in books and in other means of publication. Today, we publish and distribute books from and to all ends of the world and provide access to information and publications from Nigeria in a way that has not been done before. This is our mission.”

Sales outlets of ABIC Books almost span the entire Nigerian States, notably: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Bornu, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Lagos, Niger, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, and Abuja FCT.

Asomugha takes pride of place as some of ABIC Books “have won the most coveted prizes in Nigeria.” For instance, the late Esiaba Irobi’s play, Cemetery Road, emerged winner of the 2010 Nigeria Prize for Literature endowed by the NLNG. Irobi’s Cemetery Road “is a play about living, loving and dying for the things we hold dear. It reveals the narrow purviews of the Nigerian nation, constructs deeper insights out of our social logjams, relates with the residual heritage of the nation and rises above the penchant for tragedy which the socio-economic situation in our country predispose every concerted consciousness. It is socially relevant in an ironically refreshing way. The dialogue crackles. Its theatricality is variegated.”

The office at 20 Edozien Street, Uwani, Enugu also houses a bookshop in which latest bestselling titles such as Chinua Achebe’s There Was a Country and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah are on display. Books published by ABIC share shelf space in healthy competition with offerings from other publishers, local and foreign. 

The bookshop trade discount at ABIC Books stands at a competitive 20 percent, while institutional discount goes for 10 percent. The company’s publishing orbit spans Drama, Education, Engineering, Young Adult Fiction, Adult Fiction, Football, History, Languages, Library Science, Literary Studies, Management, Medicine, Motivational Books, Music, Nigeriana, Poetry, Reference, Research & Experimentation, English Storybooks, Igbo Storybooks etc.

At ABIC Books there is the mantra: “This is not a Joke. You are Dead without Books.” This way, Asomugha champions the cause of books daring all the odds like poor power supply, atrocious transportation, printing woes, unreliable clients and sundry suchlike.

Its vision as “a unique African concept” stands ABIC Books in good stead toward reversing the odds against mother Africa in telling the total global story. Asomugha astutely leads the charge through committed publishing, books & journals distribution, educational equipment, and literary agency.

An interesting 26-page monograph published in 2006 by ABIC Books is Chinua Achebe’s The University and the Leadership Factor in Nigerian Politics, which is partly the late lionized author’s response to criticisms of his insightful classic The Trouble With Nigeria.

When the Arrow Rebounds: A Dramatized Recreation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God by Emeka Nwabueze lends to the classic novel a new lease of life on the live stage.

Mr. CNC Asomugha (FNPI) has through his ABIC Books given the literati of the country reason to believe. He deserves celebration.           

A Global Garden for Mandela in Nigeria

The whole wide world is stark awake, day and night, waiting for the Mandela hour. But there’s no escaping the fact that even in life or death Mandela trumps all. It is indeed with bated breath that the global village looks ahead to the great one’s 95^th birthday on July 18. Of course that date has been universally fixed as Nelson Mandela International Day, or Mandela Day for short. The epochal day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, and the first UN Mandela Day held on July 18, 2010. The Mandela Day celebrating the icon’s 95^th birthday on July 18 was marked specially in Asaba, Delta State with the World Press Conference proclaiming the establishment of a garden of 95 trees to be known as “The Mandela Garden of 95 Trees.” The celebrated environmentalist and conqueror of the Sahara Desert, Dr. Newton Jibunoh, as the Chief Executive of Fight Against Desert Encroachment (FADE) will partner with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and the Delta State Government to make broadcast the well over 134,000 square metres of prime land within the Asaba International Airport complex, designed to build “The Nelson Mandela Garden of 95 Trees.”
The conceptual design of the Mandela Garden is in the shape of the map of Africa, featuring a life-sized bronze statue of Nelson Mandela, 95 trees symbolically planted as the Robben memorial, freedom mini-gardens, well-landscaped terraced fences made of hedge plants, concrete walkways, state-of-the-art restrooms, adequate parking, Nelson Mandela playground and park for children. The Mandela Garden is due for commissioning in August with members of the Nelson Mandela family, led by Ndaba Mandela, flagging-off the planting of the 95 trees.   
Dr. Jibunoh in his drive toward greening the environment through FADE always had the abiding dream of planting the trees. It has been a life-long passion, culminating in the FADE Wall of Trees planted in Makoda Kano in the spirited bid to arrest desert encroachment. He then followed up on January 1, this year when he was accompanied by Governor Fashola of Lagos and other dignitaries to plant 75 trees in Lagos to celebrate his own 75th birthday. The 95 trees Jibunoh is partnering with the Delta State Government to plant in Asaba to mark Nelson Mandela’s 95^th birthday is the climax of his lifework. He plans to retire to the Mandela Gardens to manage it by himself.
“I will run the park for the rest of my life as the keeper,” Jibunoh says in his Lagos Island Didi Museum office, adding, “My family will have to come and visit me there. They know my passion. It helps that the project is situated at the airport. They can always fly in and fly out. I believe Asaba provides a conducive atmosphere batter than Lagos, London or New York!” He then adds this info: “I’ll build myself a small hut where I will live to keep it.”
Governor Uduaghan will lay the foundation stone of the keeper’s lodge while the enquiry office will also be in the initial works.
The lack of maintenance that almost always bedevils most Nigerian projects would not be the lot of the Mandela Gardens, Jibunoh avers, stressing, “Not only will I manage it fulltime, I will put a succession plan in place devoid of governmental bureaucracy. They will run the place better after my time. Governor Uduaghan gave me 100 percent control over the place.”
Jibunoh revels in the drive of Ndaba Mandela “to mobilize over a billion people all over the world to key in to the Nelson Mandela inspiration.” The Nelson Mandela mystique is seen as an eternal legacy that is forever compelling even if Madiba dies.
“We have to use Mandela to inspire people,” Jibunoh says, pointing at the legend’s picture on the wall of his office. “We used to have Kwame Nkrumah. There is no other Mandela anywhere. He gave the world all he had. He went to prison for 27 years and came out with nothing. He ruled South Africa for only one term of presidency and came out with nothing. That’s the legacy!”
It is therefore incumbent on Dr Jibunoh to mobilize people of the world to think like Mandela. “What did this man not go through in the fight for freedom?” Jibunoh rhetorically asks, shifting on his chair.
Jibunoh feels quite fulfilled that he has a green-loving governor in Dr Uduaghan who supports wholeheartedly the placing of the Mandela Gardens in Asaba. “We are looking for a global institution, and the site of the gardens at the international airport in Asaba gives it the strategic global appeal,” Dr Jibunoh informs.
For Jibunoh, the term “Charity begins at home” was done in reverse order. He was heavily involved in improving other places, notably the Sahara Desert and places like Kano and Lagos before returning to his home locale of Delta State. He mentions the Igbo term and name “Nkeiruka”, stating that what is ahead is greater than the things done earlier. An irrepressible optimist, Jibunoh believes that security challenges such as kidnapping can be solved to make Nigeria a tourist haven, starting with the Mandela Gardens in Asaba.
“There are so many things to challenge the world in Nigeria,” he affirms, nodding. He argues that he had seen it all, from the days of colonialism through the Apartheid years and the Nigerina Civil War. He believes that Nigeria deserves celebration for leading the charge for the freedom of Nelson Mandela and South Africa.
“We lost Barclays Bank and British Petroleum in the Mandela fight,” he says. “Nigeria was a Frontline State. We cannot now be a minor player. This project will re-establish Nigeria as a Frontline State. Our fight was not in vain. Through the Mandela Gardens Mandela will live forever! It will put Nigeria in a different platform.”
Jibunoh points at the irony that people thought that Mandela was only fighting for black Africans, only for it to be discovered at the end that the whites benefited more! According to Jibunoh, “The whites who saw him as a terrorist are now the ones benefitting from Mandela the most!”

To mark the first global celebration of Mandela Day on July 18, 2009, to wit, Mandela's 91st birthday, a series of educational, art exhibits, fund-raising and volunteer events leading up to a concert at Radio City Music Hall on July 18, were organized by the 46664 Concerts and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Then in November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly formally declared July 18 to be "Nelson Mandela International Day".     

Born Nelson Rolihlahla Dalibunga Mandela in Mvezo, a village near Mthatha in the Transkei, on July 18, 1918, to Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Henry Mgadla Mandela, the man popularly celebrated all over the world as Madiba spent all of 27 years in jail for fighting Apartheid South Africa to a standstill. His head was never unbowed until he was released from prison and won election as the first President of a free South Africa. On the historic day of May 10, 1994 that Mandela was inaugurated as the democratic President of South Africa, the great man said, “We dedicate this day to all the heroes and heroines in this country and the rest of the world who sacrificed in many ways and surrendered their lives so that we could be free. Their dreams have become reality. Freedom is their reward. We are both humbled and elevated by the honour and privilege that you, the people of South Africa, have bestowed on us, as the first President of a united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist government. We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign.”

He gave the perfect example to sit-tight leaders in Africa and other parts of the world by serving only as a one-tenure President when he had enough goodwill to rule South Africa for life. He handed over voluntarily to his vice-president Thabo Mbeki in 1999, thus laying a solid succession plan for building the South African project. Mandela gave solid support to another stalwart of his party, the African National Congress (ANC), Mr. Jacob Zuma who succeeded Mbeki after winning the South African presidential election.

Mandela lost his father early in life, in 1927, and this made him to take stand to fight like his forebears for the liberation of his homeland. Mandela wrote in his acclaimed autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, that his teacher gave him the name Nelson in his first day in school.

Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 12, 1964. He would spend some 27 years in prison. In March 1982, after 18 years, he was without any explanation whatsoever transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. In December 1988 he was moved to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. It was from this prison that he was eventually released on February 11, 1990.

Mandela refused to compromise with the offers of the apartheid regime while in prison, believing that only free men can enter into contracts. After his historic release, in 1991, the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa. Mandela was elected its President while his lifelong friend and comrade, Oliver Tambo, became the ANC’s National Chairperson.

Mandela was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize together with FW de Klerk. The end of apartheid happened on April 27, 1994, when Mandela “voted for the first time in his life – along with my people.”

 Of course Mandela was inaugurated as the first President of a free South Africa on May 10, 1994. He set an example for other leaders by stepping down after one term in 1999. In retirement, he is still the toast of all across the globe. He has set up three foundations: The Nelson Mandela Foundation, The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and The Mandela-Rhodes Foundation. Until very recently his schedule has been relentless.

Mandela married Graça Machel, the widow of ex-Mozambican President Samora Machel, on his 80th birthday in 1998. Mandela can hold his head high for turning South Africa from an erstwhile pariah state to a destination of choice for all humankind. During his tenure the unheralded South African football team, just emerging from a worldwide ban, won the esteemed Africa Cup of Nations on home soil in 1996. The country also won the World Rugby Cup. It is a testament to Mandela’s reach that South Africa successfully staged the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The legend of Mandela can hardly ever be exhausted.

The global icon Nelson Mandela richly deserves the “Mandela Garden of Trees in Asaba” initiated by Dr Newton Jibunoh and supported by the Governor Uduaghan-led Delta State Government.      

From Chinua Achebe to Eternity

Chinua Achebe died at exactly 11:51pm (US time), that is 4.51am (Nigerian time), on Thursday, March 21 at the Harvard University Teaching Hospital, Massachusetts, USA, aged 82. It was one death that shook the entire world as tributes came pouring in from all the continents of the world, from presidents down to paupers. For some of his admirers, the world stood still, yet for orders events moved at a frenetic pace, culminating to the Thursday, May 23 interment of the icon in his native Ogidi, Anambra State. The one-storey home of Chinua Achebe looks quite modest from the outside but it has a lift inside. The building for me captures the essence of the great progenitor of African literature: the quality of what is within is greater than any showiness outside. The mausoleum constructed to the side of the frontage of the building bears the heavy burden of the memory of Mother Africa in the buried remains of Professor Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, the inimitable author of Things Fall Apart.
Achebe was interred at 4.30pm in a marble tomb in his Ikenga village ancestral home of Ogidi town in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State. He was given an elaborate Christian funeral service at St. Philips Anglican Church, Ogidi, as opposed to the African mores he championed in his novels.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan made his presence felt in the distinguished company Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama. Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State was akin to a chief host and even doubled as the Master of Ceremonies along the line. The politicians actually dominated the scenes, with the writers dwarfed out of sight. The many contenders for the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in Anambra State, notably Senator Chris Ngige, Dr Andy Uba, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah, Dr Obinna Uzoh etc jostled for space with their supporters.  
President Jonathan sang the praises of Achebe as a philosophical writer whose insight tore through the heart of Nigeria’s national problems. He cited Achebe’s The Trouble with Nigeria and There was a Country as works that fearlessly held to account the political leadership that sent the country on the backward spiral since independence. He read an excerpt from There was a Country, citing the considerable improvement in the elections in Nigeria as opposed to the impunity that was the rule before the advent of President Jonathan. 
According to Jonathan, “It is for us to work very hard so that by the time the little Achebes will write again, they will write that there is a country and not that there was a country.” He highlighted his recognition of Achebe as “one of the greatest writers of his time and indeed all time, an embodiment of high values and a man of principle and deep convictions who took a firm, unequivocal stand on issues, however high the stakes, and regardless of the risk involved.”
Ghanaian President Mahama stressed that with the death of Achebe “writers in the African continent and the Diaspora have lost a mentor and literary godfather.” According to President Mahama, “In the same way that Chinua Achebe’s books helped foster the talent of countless writers in Africa’s post-colonial era, they also inspired a number of Africa’s current political leaders. Achebe had such influence on the African political landscape that three years ago he started convening an annual colloquium at Brown University, where he was a professor, that brought together leaders, scholars and artists to discuss ‘strengthening democracy and peace on the African continent’. When I was introduced to Achebe’s writing in the 1970s, during secondary school, there seemed to be no discernible separation in Africa between politics and the arts. We attended demonstrations almost as frequently as we attended discos. The music that we listened to, from Fela Kuti to James Brown, was filled with racial pride and political protest. It was, however, the literature of Achebe, namely his classic novel Things Fall Apart, that provided me with a larger context for the various maladies that were taking place on the continent. Reading that book was like a rite of passage.” He described Achebe as a visionary truth-teller who gave Africans confidence in the world community, stressing that “Achebe will never die having left behind a legacy that will keep his voice alive forever.”
South African President Jacob Zuma sent a condolence message read at the funeral. In President Zuma’s words, “Chinua Achebe was indeed Africa’s greatest literary export and a legend of African Literature. It was in his famous novel Things Fall Apart that many Africans saw themselves in literature and the arts at a time when most of the writing was about Africans but not by Africans. Africa owes a debt of gratitude to Achebe.” 
Chief Emeka Ihedioha, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, represented the National Assembly, depicting Achebe as “an iroko and ambassador extraordinary whose accomplishments only rank second to former South African President Nelson Mandela.”
The Anglican Archbishop of Aba Province, Most Rev Dr Ikechi Nwosu, who delivered the sermon at St Philip’s Anglican Church, Ogidi entitled “Professor Chinua Achebe -- A Parable to the Nigerian Nation” made the clarion call on Nigerian leaders to emulate the late Achebe’s attachment to the gospel as his foundation in life. He argued that Achebe believed so much in Nigeria such that he did not allow the negative forces in the country to deter him from attaining the status of an accomplished man acknowledged all over the world. He makes the case that Achebe in his last book, There Was A Country, undertook the task of enlightening Nigerians that despite the many forces of retrogression the country can attain any height that it wants. He defended Achebe’s refusal to accept national honours, averring that it was not because he did not like Nigeria. Rev Dr Nwosu said: “Achebe believed thoroughly in Nigeria; the only thing is that we all believe in righteousness but some people defined it in a way Professor Achebe could not understand.”
President Jonathan rose up to make a second speech at the funeral in which he announced that both the Nigerian and Ghanaian governments will completely reconstruct St Philip’s Primary School in Ogidi which Achebe had attended.
The church service started at a few minutes after 11am with President Jonathan, President Mahama of Ghana, former Vice-President Dr Alex Ekwueme, former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Minister of Finance Dr Okonjo-Iweala, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Ihedioha, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo, host Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, ministers and senators in attendance.
Crowd control proved quite difficult for the many security operatives who meted out brutality on the ordinary people. Most Rev Nwosu had to admonish the potentates that it was wrong to punish the people they ought to be protecting.   
Achebe’s first son Dr Ikechukwu Achebe gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the Achebe family, saluting President Jonathan and President Mahama of Ghana, Nigeria’s National Assembly,   governors, the literary community, high chiefs, and the multitudes of admirers of his lionized father for the outstanding burial.
The elaborate burial programme for Achebe started on Sunday, May 19, with a day of prayers and religious worship at the National Christian Centre, Abuja. Then the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) which Achebe founded held a symposium on the life and times of the legendary author at the International Conference Centre, Abuja in the morning of Monday, May 20. This was followed with an evening of tributes by the politicos and the literati with many cultural troupes performing.
Achebe’s remains arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Tuesday, May 21, draped in the Green-White-Green flag of Nigeria and accompanied by his wife Prof Christie Achebe and children Dr Chinelo Ejeiyutche, Dr Ike Achebe, Dr Chidi Achebe and Prof Nwando Achebe. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation Chief Anyim Pius Anyim was at the airport as the head of the Federal Government delegation. Governor Peter Obi accompanied the Achebe family in the flight from Abuja to Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, where the body was received by the Governors of the Southeast States and leaders of the pan-Igbo organization Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka where Achebe was Emeritus Professor held a Special Senate Session at its Enugu Campus in honour of the iconic author. In the trademark tradition of University Senate meetings, the University Registrar Ogbueshi Anthony Okonta called out names of members of Senate present. Everyone present answered his name. When he called Emeritus Professor Chinua Achebe there was pin-drop silence. He made another call of the name. There was again no reply. He uttered a final call and still heard only silence. It was after the third and final call that the very personable Vice-Chancellor of UNN Prof Bartho Okolo stated that it was “unusual for Achebe not to answer to his name.” The VC on his own called Achebe, staring at his remains in the casket in the middle of the Main Hall of the institution. As Achebe did not still answer, VC Okolo said: “Truly, this is a solemn confirmation that the earthly sojourn of our revered colleague, Emeritus Professor Chinualumogu Albert Achebe, our compatriot who rose to become a citizen of the world, has come to an end. It is therefore with profound grief and regret that I preside over this special Senate in his honour.”

A celebration of life carnival was staged at the Alex Ekwueme Stadium, Awka on Wednesday, May 22, whilst ANA put up a festival of life.

Renowned Jamaican scholar Professor Ekwueme Michael Thelwell had the singular honour of delivering the almost four-hour burial lecture entitled “Ikejemba: He Had In Him The Elements So Mixed”. According to Professor Thelwell: “Language is our father: the father of culture; the creator of collective consciousness within which humanity can unite to raise our voices against all that is evil in this world. This is the power of language, and yet you, Mr. Achebe, grant this power to language. Mr. Achebe, Owner of Words, you are the creator of language.”

Shortly after Achebe’s burial, Achebe’s second son Dr Chidi Achebe while directing me to the tent in which dignitaries were feted, said: “My father is not a saint but he indeed lived a remarkable life. Nobody has come here to tell us, for instance, that he had a love child for my father!”

For a man of such distinction, Achebe lived a scandal-free life. His legacy is assured, as attested to by The Economist of March 30, “Mr Achebe was widely hailed as the father of African literature; but, smiling over his heavy bifocals, he rejected that. Instead, he repeated his favourite proverb: ‘Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.’ Small though he was, he turned out to be the African lions’ earliest and most important historian.”

For Achebe’s distinguished colleague, the Kenyan novelist Ngugi wa Thiong’o: “Achebe bestrides generations and geographies. Every country in Africa claims him as their own.” In Nelson Mandela’s ringing words, Achebe is depicted as “The writer in whose company the prison walls fell down.”

Let me reserve the last word to American President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama: “A revolutionary author, educator, and cultural ambassador, Chinua shattered the conventions of literature and shaped the collective identity of Nigerians throughout the world. With a dream of taking on misperceptions of his homeland, he gave voice to perspectives that cultivated understanding and drew our world closer together. His legacy will endure in the hearts of all whose lives he touched with the everlasting power of his art.”

  

The Blind Can See Society at Oshodi

Miracles do not come any greater than giving vision to the blind. The Nigeria Society for the Blind (NSB) at its Vocational Training Centre (VTC), Oshodi, Lagos deserves support and celebration for giving vision and mission to the blind. The fear that going blind amounts to the very end of life has been defeated, as I can attest to, after paying a visit to the centre. My friend, the distinguished journalist, Lanre Idowu, decided to celebrate his birthday at the centre on Friday, July 19, and took me along with a handful of the Young Men Christian Union (YMCU) from St Jude’s Anglican Church, Ebute-Metta, Lagos. It was a brave new world that one discovered at the centre that is adjacent to the Armed Forces Rehabilitation Centre, Oshodi.

The Nigeria Society for the Blind is a voluntary, non-governmental and not-for-profit organization established in 1955 under the charge of Justice Adetokunbo Ademola with the main objective of training and giving hope to visually handicapped adolescents and adults in Nigeria. The Vocational Training Centre is in its 56^th year, having been founded in 1956, and well over 2,000 blind men and women have benefitted from the superbly-guided training. It is a testament to the success of the VTC that some of the graduates are now in gainful employment.

According to the rules of engagement, “The period of training is two years. Students with a minimum educational attainment of Primary Six do the Handicrafts course, while those with a higher standard of education and who show enough aptitude are trained in Braille Reading and Writing, Touch Typing, Telephone and Dictaphone Typing (audio typing) and Computer Training. Extra-curricular activities include Home Economics. The female trainees also do Home-craft, Knitting and Cookery. Counseling on the social effects of blindness is also given regularly.”

This way, the society prepares trainees to be self-employed, and equally solicits employment opportunities with organizations and governments where the skills learned could be put into effective use. The NSB needs help “to be able to give scholarships to undergraduates and post-graduate students in Nigerian universities.”

The centre has no subvention whatsoever from either the State or Federal Government. The class of people who go blind through unfortunate circumstances later in life and who are in dire need of rehabilitation with the support of philanthropists, corporate organizations, religious bodies etc. are given a new lease of life.

The Chairman of the Executive Council of the NSB, Mrs. Biola Agbaje is full of praise for Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) who surprised the society with a visit on his birthday, June 28, 2012, made promises and “has delivered on all the promises.” In this light, “tuition fees for 60 students for 2013 has been paid through Lagos State Scholarship Board… the funds for the renovation of our State of Art Workshop have been provided by the Lagos State Government.”

The amiable administrator, Ms Ivy Bassey, iterates the needs of the centre thus: “Our Staff Quarters, Administrator Block, Fence, Gate and Classrooms are begging for renovation. The entire compound needs to be properly and totally landscaped. These renovation works will cost a whopping sum of 20 million Naira. We need sponsorship for local and overseas Staff Training Programmes.” The centre needs seed money to be set aside “for disbursement to our deserving trainees on graduation to provide them with credit facilities.” She informs that “this Micro-credit scheme has not been actualized because the banks we have approached seem to feel our money is too small for them to administer.”

Subscription to become a member of the NSB goes thus: N2,000 for students, N5,000 for annual adult dues, N50,000 for life subscription, and N250,000 for corporate bodies. One can donate to the society a dedicated amount every month. Also, a dying person can leave clear instructions so that his or her cornea can be given to the society to give sight to someone after passing. The maiden edition of the NSB Membership Day was held on Sunday, October 21, 2012 at VTC, Oshodi. The get-together was for all registered members of the society who had the privilege to bring along their families and friends. The VTC students performed drama and supplied music to make a jolly good day. Awards were given to supporters of the NSB, notably SNEPCO, Kakawa Discount House, Standard Chartered Bank, First Securities Discount House, Dupe Have a Bite, Sokoa Chair Centre, Cathedral Church of Christ Marina, MTN Foundation, Guobadia Foundation, Bible Socety of Nigeria, RT Briscoe etc.

Miss Chisom Anozie, who was posted to do her primary NYSC assignment at the centre, narrates in the NSB magazine published by the centre that she was full of sadness when she was posted there but ended up enjoying the VTC for setting her “on the road to a lifetime of illumination.”

The Annual Inter-House Competition held at the UNILAG Sports Stadium on April 4, under the distinguished chairmanship of Victor Gbolade Osibodu, Chairman of Vigeo Holdings Ltd and Chairman of Special Olympics Nigeria. The students competed for honours in 50 metres race, long jump, 3-legged race, walking race, rounder’s game, searching race, shot put, skittle game, tug-of-war, Tor Ball etc. According to the principal, Sola Ogunsiji, “The students were very excited and have had a change of thought of their self concept and worth.”

Miss Modupe Kafayat lost her sight in 2010 after graduating in Law from the University of Ibadan. She then enrolled in VTC in 2012 to learn Braille writing and reading, the use of the computer with the help of speech software and mobility etc. She subsequently performed excellently at the Nigeria Law School, Lagos Campus.

Chidozie Obianyo lost his sight to glaucoma in 2007 after passing out of secondary school and sitting for JAMB in the bid to study Medicine. He was made to stay at home for all of six years, almost giving up on life, until he got to know of VTC, Oshodi in November 2012 and was admitted into the centre in January this year. Now he has been able to travel from Lagos to Anambra State all on his own!

Miss Adesope Latifat Adeleye obtained an OND in Business Administration from Osun State Polytechnic, Ire, but, in her words, “on the morning of 30^th December 2011 while going for my prayer, acid was poured on me by an admirer whose advances I had refused to acknowledge.” She lost both eyes, and after her discharge from LASUTH she found succor at VTC, Oshodi. She was able to travel home alone during the April break and intends to study Mass Communication at the university.

The library at VTC is a sight to behold, being the best of its kind in all of West Africa. Braille books are printed readily and we witnessed a printing by the hardworking librarian.

In short, after being at VTC, Oshodi, I discovered that I had been blind, and I was given new vision as I encountered the magnificent work being done there. Now I have reason to believe and see!