Bringing down what house?

Author: Odionikhere Patrick Reviewer: Benjamin Ubiri Odionikhere Patrick is sure a great writer. And the choice of his title, Bringing Down This House, provokes some very strong emotions and thoughts. From the very cover of the book, it gives a poser that defies the age long aphorism about not judging books by their covers and […]

Author: Odionikhere Patrick

Reviewer: Benjamin Ubiri

Odionikhere Patrick is sure a great writer. And the choice of his title, Bringing Down This House, provokes some very strong emotions and thoughts. From the very cover of the book, it gives a poser that defies the age long aphorism about not judging books by their covers and in its content, it answers, to a large extent, the very puzzle that greets the eyes of the reader who picks it up in curiosity.

The book narrates the journey of Nigeria and its people, from the colonial perspective: it highlights contemporary realities with critical thoughts and gives an in-depth understanding of power politics. The book is a thorough work on Nigeria’s historical and political evolution since the inception of its self rule, with a special appraisal of its political leaders. It provides insight on how Nigeria can be reshaped by a new definition of power.

On the cover: the map of Nigeria is partly depicted on a side, with a larger representation of the two great rivers, Niger and Benue, used to demarcate some etched pictures within. The top part has a group of people in suits but in the front is the blurred picture of one man in kaftan and a cap; he could pass for President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The lower part of the map has an army of people, with raised arms, some look like sports supporters, others like protesters, yet another set would pass for people waiting under something that is crumbling, and steeled to hold it up.

What a book? anyone would dare to ask. Whose house? What house? Where…? The litany of questions that trail this title pushes open the naked thirst of any true reader to want to find out the secrets behind this choice. Like most people who would have handled this beautifully printed book, bound in a fashionable matt lamination that appeals, both to sight and to feeling, and wondered what its content would mean—Treason or Triumph?—I drove headlong into its pages and the answers were unambiguous. Scattered among eight chapters of great historical research, careful reproduction of facts and lucid narration, that can be accessed by scholars as well as ordinary people.

The book is also very well timed. Published at a time when there are disputes in every part of the world and at a season when the world seeks answers to the very many problematic situations that appear to be crumbling. It anchored on our shores as a nation bothered about the hunger of the Niger Delta youths, the meditation of the Boko Haram converts and the continuous unity and indivisibility of our country, which is billed to celebrate her 50th birthday barely 300 days away. It is apt as a textbook, a history novel and a motivational companion.

It is a successful attempt at examining, extensively, the various efforts being made by various international institutions and organisations at resolving international disputes within the framework of law and diplomacy. It is, as well, the outburst of a compatriot over the many failed attempts of Nigeria and Nigerians to evolve a veritable system of patriotism, freedom and nationhood. It paints the picture of a gory past and a painful reality, but adds to it the glory of a future that can be built by the hands of Nigerians.

Odionikhere Patrick has exhibited great restraint in the writing of this book. Each page is filled with evidence of suppressed emotion and pain, the kind of pain that is usually exhibited by writers who have stayed away from Nigeria and are too disturbed by the things they hear, and whose speeches are full of bile. He has spoken about this Nation as a home. As a home threatened by history and the desire for a better future and he has achieved this only as one who is not only well read as a lawyer, but one who has the skill to stir the honest nest without causing panic.

He has accomplished the task of writing this book from a rich intellectual background which no doubt has eminently endowed him with highly scholarly insight. Found on both personal experience and an in-depth research into the subject-matter and coupled with original source materials, such as official reports and treatise, the first two chapters of the book present a search-light account of Nigeria’s history, with an in-depth analysis and conceptual clarification of the basic relevant issues involved in nationhood. He went very metaphorical with his heading: “Demon in this house”.

What strikes the reader forcibly portends to the information contained in these two chapters as the reader is given the impression at the initial stage that the discussion contained therein belong more to a historical book. Yet, one is fed with a richer intellectual diet by the author.

In Chapter 3, the author talks in Busybodies, debts and integrity; in chapter four, he opens up on the missing links. The discussions in this chapter, no doubt, is a result of an extensive research work and is most instructive for it shows the boomerang effect of the colonialist on Nigeria’s economy.

The author’s personal experience and active participation in the revolution of This House explodes in chapter six as he treats the title of the book. The author opens with a tinge of revolution and closes the chapter on a note that suggests hope despite glowing hopelessness. He identifies the impediments to collective peace and security, the collective will of the nation to maintain peace and security and the role played by leader after leader, in the eventual transformation that the nation has witnessed.

Chapter seven is like dawn on a rainy night. It answers the call of the cock and bridges the dark past with the picture of a future that we all dream about and wish for. The author goes further to proffer certain suggestions by way of proposals which are well-articulated. It is an exhausted analysis on the devastating and destructive impact of bad ruler ship on humanity.

The book closes with comments and suggestion that presupposes that there are practical ways of implementing the recommendations and suggestions contained therein. It ends with a glossary and indexes that provide simple answers to some technical projections and complexities not directly answered in the book. It climaxes with the author’s observations and evaluation of the problems and prospects for collective peace and security under the ambit of freedom, national re-orientation and good governance.

This book is well-written and is highly recommended to students of political science, international relations and law and diplomacy.

Ubiri is an Abuja-based poet and journalist