|
The seventy odd pieces of treatises, articles, and insights in this volume are segmented into eight distinct chapters, of which, The Readers Collective and The Ink Never Dries are my favorites. Bringing up the rear is the epilogue and a set of unedited handwritten and typed fan letters, which form the appendix. Across the breath of the book, one encounters observations, public commentaries, punditry, soul-searching and patriotism at its very best. But if one singular adjective would be used to qualify this work and Eugenia Abu, it is that she is a quintessential member of Nigeria’s attentive audience. As the author herself had acknowledged, In the Blink of an Eye “is book you can read today, tomorrow and the next year in bits or all at once.” Perhaps, it is for this reason, (maybe it was not contemplated) that the book is laced with topics that are serious, light, flighty, compassionate, livid, and investigative, plus some, which are far less interesting and even perfunctory in their content and slant.
Chapter 6, One-on-One, is a parade of the stars and celebrities Mrs. Abu encountered on her beat. It is also a testimony to her professional pedigree and reach. From Presidents Sirleaf-Johnson, Olusegun Obasanjo, Yoweri Museveni, to Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer, Ngugi wa Thiong’O and James Adu, Mrs. Abu chronicles her encounters in such intimate details, thus allowing her reader the rare privilege of vicariously bonding with these personalities of our time. She also offers rare insights. Branding Soyinka “multi-genred,” she revealed that though the Nobel laureate admires the native toga – agbada - he would never wear one. In response, Soyinka retorted, “I can admire something without using it”; also, “he admired many beautiful religions but did not have to practice it.”
Someone has already categorized In the Blink of an Eye as “a must read”; I concur.
- Mr. Oseloka Obaze
A must read
- Ken Ike Thisday review
|
