KWENU! Our culture, our future

BOOK REVIEW

Oseloka Obaze

TALL DRUMS: Portraits of Nigerians who are changing America by Ugorji O. Ugorji

(ISBN: 1889218-14-6; Sungai Books: Princeton, New Jersey, 2002; pp. 127 Price, $45.00.)

Book Review By Oseloka Obaze

Tall Drums – Portraits of Nigerians Who Are Changing America is paradox. It is a testimony to Nigeria’s wealth of human resources as well as a sad commentary about how a nation so richly endowed can easily squander its wealth and human resources through brain drain – thanks to unimaginative and uninspiring leadership. This compilation, which has been in the works for over seven years, is a coffee table must for every Nigerian home. And more so, for those non-Nigerians whose only grasp, understanding and knowledge of Nigeria are about scam letters, military coups, ethnic and religious violence and other forms of societal ills.

As the title suggests, Tall Drums is about Nigerian-Americans and Nigerians living in America, at their very best. A textbook in federal character, Tall Drums depicts Nigerians from all walks and works of life at their epitome in every profession. Regrettably, the first thirty-one people profiled, represents just the tip of the iceberg, for there are indeed many more Nigerians blazing the trail in the United States, who should comprise the first one hundred (100), the original target goal when this project was conceptualized in 1996. I believe that those not portrayed in this volume, will find space in the subsequent editions, and will not in any way be diminished by playing second fiddle, since I am aware that Dr. Ugorji has far more material than space has allowed him to record in this first instance. And as he owned up, the selection process must have been a very difficult choice to make, in determining who would make the final cut.

This book should be considered a who-is-who of Nigerians in the USA. The individuals profiled form a colorful mosaic given their varied backgrounds, professions and tribes as well as in their ages -- which spans from the ennobling seventies down to the range of youthful thirties. The portraits and biosketches include the renowned and famous like Chinua Achebe, the late General Joseph Garba and Phillip Emeagwali, and brainy and beautiful dames like Dr. Juliette Modupe Tuakli, Dr. Elizabeth Odilile Ofili and Dr. Alash’le G. Abimmiku. Many more Nigerians from varying backgrounds are also featured, as does official Nigerian representatives in the United States. In this category, the likes of Chief Arthur Mabanefo, Ambassador Jibril Aminu, Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari, Hon. Joe Keshi and Hon. Toafiq Oseni are cataloged. People profiled offer a synoptic insight into their lives, profession and early American experience. Most having come to America in search of the proverbial “Golden Fleece” have become sojourners, who in the word of Ugorji “no longer look to rush home after studies or business”. Others, if one must admit, are stranded not by choice, but by circumstances, well beyond their control.

What is illuminating about this collection of portraits is that it reveals the hidden wealth and talents of Nigerians sequestered in difference nooks and corners of this country – many of them unsung, unknown, untapped and uncelebrated. Author Chike Momah for instance, a close, dear friend and contemporary of Chinua Achebe is deservedly featured. But Nigerians, having like everything else lost their reading culture, one is compelled to wonder how many are indeed privy to his writing, which belongs to a new genre of exciting Nigerian-focused “ficfaction” books. Dr. Alfred Olusegun Fayemi, who is also featured in the volume, is an accomplished medical practitioner, but his talent and dexterity in photography speaks volumes. In years to come, his accomplishments as a physician may very well pale, when compared to his mastery in the use of the camera. Indeed, Dr. Ugorgi’s first attempt at publishing coffee table volumes, featured entirely Dr. Fayemi’s collection of West African photographs and was aptly titled Balancing Act. Besides the personalities featured, Tall Drums is laced and sprinkled with photographs of other famous (Wole Soyinka), talented, and recognizable Nigerians, including some social climbers, who all in their own right ought to have made this first volume. Perhaps, they will the next time around.

Should any one, and for that matter, the Nigerian Government go looking for a talent list of Nigerians in resident in America or the Diaspora, Tall Drums is surely one place to start an effortless search. As the editor admits, the compilation is by no means exhaustive and the selections, as good and balanced as they are, could possible open the editor to criticisms of subjective and idiosyncratic selection. But then, those who seek the limelight can hardly escape taking such knocks, especially from their compatriots. Ugorji’s alibi must in the main continue to be the surfeit of talents and accomplished Nigerians to pick from and the constraints of space. If not, it would be hard to explain some notable exclusion, a fact the editor attempts to explain at length to in acknowledgement. Besides those he recognized as deserving to have made the final cut -- late legendary drummer Babatunde Olatunji, Michael Chiaka Okwu of CNN, basketball star Hakeem Olajuwon, et. al. – there are many others like HIV/AIDS researcher Steve Kwueberuwa, Boeing Corporation’s rocket dynamics specialist, Anthony Akpati, onetime Nigerian ace footballer, Dominic Ezeani, Dr. Mary Okechi Dupain, founder of the Okechi Village Health Center in Portland Oregon and other Nigerians who readily come to mind. In the arts, academic, law enforcement, diplomacy and politics, Nigerians abound. Ugorji’s next task is to broaden his search, find and showcase them.

If I were to have been Ugorji’s selection board, assuming there was one, I would not have missed out on Mr. Ajayi Ojo. Ajayi who? Yes, Ajayi Ojo. Anyone who has had the privilege of attending a reception at the residence of the Nigerian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Tarry Town, New York or at the Nigerian UN Mission itself, over the past twenty years or so, would have been surprisingly tantalized by Mr. Ojo’s original Nigerian culinary delights. These treats range from the tuwo, to inyan, edikaikong and the ubiquitous kwose or akara. A Paris-trained chef of many years’ standing, Ojo has been in the service of the Nigerian government for almost thirty years, starting in France, before settling in New York in the mid 1970s. Mr. Ojo has fed and is personally known every Nigerian Head of State who has visited New York since the time of General Yakubu Gowon. His Nigerian cuisine has also delighted many visiting, foreign dignitaries privileged to be guests at the Nigerian House. Had he been in private practice, Ojo would have been one of the most highly sort after and perhaps, one of the better-paid Nigerian chefs in the world. In Ojo, one sees an illustrious and proud Nigerian chef, with distinguished credentials in exotic African and Western culinary dishes, whose art is no less important than that of an artist whose masterpieces hang in a Manhattan museum. By all accounts, Mr. Ojo’s portrait merits to be among those of Nigerians Who Are Changing America.

If one were to go strictly by the title of the book, the portrait of any Nigerian who strives to live the American dream by excelling in their chosen field, and does so within the rule of the law, ought to have been considered for inclusion in Tall Drums. A Nigerian taxi driver in Chicago, or local newspaper publisher in Norfolk, Nebraska, is as good as a Nigerian scientist at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta or at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in providing service and bringing recognition to Nigeria. An accomplished Nigerian doctor is no good without a sick patient to treat. All these, ought to have been relative considerations in determining Nigerians who are changing America. But then, an editor or a publisher retains the prerogative, if not veto right to the end product and what gets publish. Such editorial license falls well within Ugorji’s the remit. One can therefore criticize but not begrudge him.

All said, there could be nothing but praise for Ugorji’s efforts and Tall Drums, which celebrates Nigerians. One must therefore give Ugorji his dues. Since he got his big break in 1995 to publish Joe Garba’s seminal work, Fractured History, for which I modestly take credit for facilitating, his Sungai Publishing Corporation has gradually swollen in ranks as a veritable African publishing house, and stable for aspiring African authors, who proverbially own the future. Tall Drums is a welcome addition to the many published works under Ugorji’s name and that of Sungai Books. I would encourage anyone who takes a modicum of pride in Nigeria and being a Nigerian to purchase a copy. If for nothing else, Tall Drums is a unique and not-too-expensive gift to a non-Nigerian friend and Nigerians alike, it might also motivate Nigerian youths in search or role models to aspire higher. Finally, it is a good conversation piece.

For information on Tall Drums, contact: Phone: 609/393-2655 / Fax: 609/396-9553 609-393-2166