…Books to recreate attitudinal changes in the management, direction of national affairs – Ekanpou

…It is a marvelous feat – Don

Renowned Niger Delta poet and playwright, Ekanpou Enewaridideke on Friday presented his new book to the public.

The books titled: Spiked Beyond Spikes, which is a novel, and Tapestry of a Dolphin, which is a collection of critical essays, was presented at the GbaramatuVoice media house in Warri, Delta State.

According to Ekanpou in his opening speech during the unveiling said, the books will recreate attitudinal changes in the management and direction of national affairs in African countries especially in Nigeria, with regard to the Niger Delta agitation and the irrepressible wish of Niger Deltans for liberation.

 “I wish to formally unveil and present these two books here, Spiked Beyond Spikes, which is a novel, and Tapestry of a Dolphin, which is a collection of critical essays. 

“And I’m equally convinced that, with these two books, African leaders can rely on them, and then, redirect affairs of the state in such a way that everybody in the country, anywhere in the world, would benefit maximally from the performance of any government. And it is on this premise that I hereby unveil and present my two books to the general public.”

Ekanpou went further to throw more light on the novel, Spiked Beyond Spikes, saying that the novel is meant to awaken the authorities at different levels to the dangers of the river that is deliberately or vindictively blocked.

“In Spiked Beyond Spikes, you can see certain things different even in different ways. For instance, you are clearly awakened to the dangers of a blocked river. And once a river is blocked, you are creating a distribution problem for the people, and the people can no longer make use of that river and that is dangerous. And that will not contribute to societal development; that will not contribute to transformation of the society. 

“So, in Spiked Beyond Spikes, I alert the world, to the dangerous possibilities, little implications of somebody (it could be a president, it could be a local government chairman) when you go to the extent of blocking a river that is meant for everybody, you are inviting problems; you are preparing the ground for agitations; you are preparing the ground for oil installations to be destroyed; you are preparing the ground for people to go back to their various shrines to get equipped for confrontation against authorities at any level. 

“I do not want things to degenerate to that level because when a river is blocked, the affected people will look for freedom, liberation. They will fight for a solution; they would want to see that blockage is removed, and in the cause of trying to remove that blockage, the people are likely to opt for independence; they are likely to opt for freedom. And when you opt for freedom what happens? You are likely to be at war with a particular country where you find yourself. And that becomes a kind of clash of two forces and it will lead to loss of lives,” he added.

The book reviewer, Professor Damian Opata, of the Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, Enugu State, in a statement congratulated the author and recommended the works for use in revolutionary literature in higher institutions.

“All in all, Spiked Beyond Spikes is a well written text; one that is lavishly inter-textual, evoking as it does many writers, national and international. It is a very captivating text. The various sub-plots of family life of the Alabeni family; of the love life of Endorobou, the fiery journalist, as well as the cultural episodes and fiestas portrayed here and there in the text, all combine to make the novel a rich, read avid text.”

Continuing, he said, “Very importantly, parts of this revolutionary novel constitute good philosophical reflections that suggest some form of indigenous cultural resurgence. The rich and varied imagery drawn from nature and replete with riverine evocations do good service to the setting. It is a marvelous feat that the narrative achieves a great deal of historical desertation despite its apparent concern with contemporary political/economic turbulence of the Oporozan nation, that is, of the Nigerian nation.”

In his submission, Jacob Abai, the Publisher of GbaramatuVoice Newspaper, described the author as “a highly cerebral individual” adding that the two books speak volumes of his philosophies.

Going further, he stated that describing the two books as master strokes from a wordsmith is stating the obvious.

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