‘Why Christianity, Islam have same route’

Lt. Col. Abubakar Sadiq Ogwuche is a publisher and author of the 10 books with the most recent titled ‘Compendium of Life and Death: A Guide to the Straight Path’.  Here, he talks about his latest work, similarities between Christianity and Islam, publishing in Nigeria and more.    Bookshelf: You have written about ten books […]

Lt. Col. Abubakar Sadiq Ogwuche is a publisher and author of the 10 books with the most recent titled ‘Compendium of Life and Death: A Guide to the Straight Path’.  Here, he talks about his latest work, similarities between Christianity and Islam, publishing in Nigeria and more. 

 

Bookshelf: You have written about ten books so far. Why did you decide to write your latest, ‘Compendium of Life and Death: A Guide to the Straight Path’? 

Abubakar Sadiq Ogwuche: It took me about three years to write the book and there are two things that motivated me. First, my wife died in 2013, of heart attack. It taught me that there’s basically nothing in this world. All we need to strive for is to serve the almighty God, and humanity. The second was the issue of religious crises and intolerance in Nigeria. I decided that I should be able to write a book that will tell people that Christianity and Islam have the same route and we don’t need to kill or fight ourselves because of religion. If one understands religion very well, then there will be no need to fight each other. So, the book’s main purpose is to bring about peace in Nigeria.

In this book, if I take a verse from the Holy Qur’an, for instance, about death, and take a verse also from the Holy Bible, you will see what the Bible also says about death. If I take a verse about service to humanity in one book there will be almost the same in the other. 

I also talked about terrorism, where even Pope Francis said Islam is not terrorism, rather terrorism is in the hearts of evil men. Again, I quoted the Sultan of Sokoto who said when a Muslim commits a crime, see him as an individual and as a criminal and not as a Muslim. Bishop Kukah said that murderers should be condemned, whether they are Christians or Muslims. So this is the essence of the whole book, telling people that Islam and Christianity are basically one.  

Bookshelf: What approach did you take in your research work?

Ogwuche: The research was in-depth, both secondary and primary research. I had to consult with learned people in Islam and Christianity and also those learned in both, such as Sheik Abubakar Gumi in Kaduna. I talked to Professor Dauda, who was once an Arch Bishop, but now a Muslim cleric. So he has a very solid foundation in both religions. 

Bookshelf: Your book was published three months ago, what kind of reception has it gotten so far from the public?

Ogwuche: The book isn’t written to magnify me as a person, but the almighty Allah, so I haven’t sold a copy. What I have done so far is to send it to individuals who would appreciate it. Even if I am going to sell it, it won’t be for commercial purpose but to serve humanity.

Bookshelf: How did you start writing in general? 

Ogwuche: I was inspired to write while in the University of Lagos studying Law. 

I was inspired by the works of Lord Denning, who is one of the best brains when it comes to law in the twentieth century. His books inspired me. I also saw that there’s a vacuum. Aside the law reports we have in Nigeria, we didn’t have any serious work. This inspired me to write ‘A Compendium of Laws Under the Nigerian Legal System’. It covers every field of law, environmental, land, international, labour, medical law and so on. It’s very comprehensive. 

Bookshelf: At what point did you decide to delve into publishing and what were the challenges you faced?

Ogwuche: That was after I left the army in year 2000 and felt I had enough time on my hands. On challenges, piracy was number one. The Supreme Court was the first set of buyers when ‘A Compendium of Laws Under the Nigerian Legal System’ was published. They bought for all the Supreme Court justices. There were also the Court of Appeal, the Federal High Court, individuals and law firms. 

So, at a certain stage, because the book became so popular, they were pirated. After our efforts, someone just sat somewhere and printed our books. It wasn’t even of good quality. For me that’s the greatest challenge and not finance. 

Bookshelf: How do you view the Nigerian publishing industry?

Ogwuche: I don’t think it’s as well developed as we would want it to be. For the young people who want to publish and lack resources, it takes them time. This is not the case overseas. So far, so good, but there’s much more that needs to be done. 

Bookshelf: What are you working on at the moment?

Ogwuche: I’m working on a book, a manual for security in the office. Including travel security, kidnapping and what you are supposed to do in such a situation, suicide bombing, the indicators and how to avoid it. There’s also the issue of security while using the ATM machine, cyber-crime, how you protect your work from competitors in the office and so on.