I accepted the task of reviewing "Running for Dear Life" by Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo (CeeOoo) only after I had been assured that I was not expected to provide the type of scholastic punditry that one might get from a professional practitioner of political science.
My formal education and professional background disqualify me from attempting the type of critique that one would get from social scientists and men of letters. Fortunately, "Running for dear life" was written primarily not with the political or social scientist in mind. Rather, the book oozes with the universal evocativeness of a human story.
Regardless of one's attitude to politics, politicians, social activism or social activists, the story told in "Running for dear Life" sparks spontaneous vicarious emotion. It is true that this is the story of a man who had been a Governor in Nigeria long before gubernatorial offices in Africa's largest country were Babangidaized and Abacharized into open sewage of political bastardization and reprobate villainy.
But this is more than a politician's memoir. It is the stirring tale of a man who was fortunate enough to flee from the wicked engine of political tyranny that Sani Abacha unleashed to denigrate Nigeria into a fragment of hell. "Running for dear Life" is a proverbial stone that kills two essential birds.
First, it tells the story of the author's escape from the eerie shadows of the valleys of death. Second, it archives some correspondences, communiqùe's, speeches, news reports, press interviews etc., for present and future generations.
Certainly, each of these two themes, the personal story or the archivist documentation could have stood as a book unto itself. However, Chief Adebayo's story of danger, escape, vicissitude, endurance, faith, disappointment, divine providence and human triumph was inextricable from the larger context of Nigeria's travails and the role of NADECO, particularly, NADECO-ABROAD. Hence, the subtitle - My work in exile.
But as the author himself correctly affirmed, this book deals more with a human story than the documentation of what was done or left undone by him or his organization - NADECO-ABROAD.
No, the book does not provide a comprehensive account of what were done, left undone or perhaps done amiss by NADECO-ABROAD. Such an account awaits future books by Chief Adebayo and other authors.
The story began in the backdrop of molten lava of death and bodily harm volcanically spewing from that maniacal despot - the accursed Sani Abacha whose name still leaves a foul taste in the mouth. When one's name is earmarked for death, as was the case with the author, it is not difficult to become an Olympic sprinter!
The author recalled being forced to quickly and unceremoniously abandon his friends, exalted social standing and beloved family for the indignities of a refugee's life in exile. But if Chief Adebayo had any illusions that his escape to exile would be an Olympic sprint, he quickly found himself in a different race - an Olympic marathon race - that required physical grit, moral fortitude and spiritual strength.
Through the thick and thin of his tortuous journey, Chief Adebayo was aided by his family, friends and most importantly his faith. What impressed me the most about "Running for dear Life" is the simplicity of the author's narration.
A teacher of English language, Chief Adebayo demonstrated what he and other language teachers often emphasize- that a good story is best told with simplicity. From the first page of the book to its very last, the book attests to uncommon faith.
Indeed, it could easily have been given a different title - "Testament to a living faith." Here, one talks of faith, neither as a fatalistic resignation in times of trouble nor as the exhibitionist affectations and chest-thumping sanctimoniousness of 21st century Pharisees.
Rather, Chief Adebayo's certitude, a recurrent stream effortlessly flowing throughout this book, is an unwavering confidence in God's power and providence.
It was with supernal equipoise that Chief Adebayo passed through the uncertainties and depravations of an escapee from state-sponsored terrorism. As one reads the daily entries in his diary, one could almost hear CeeOoo say with the Psalmist: "Though I walk through the shadows of the valleys of death, I shall fear no foe; for Thou art with me; Thy Rod and Thy staff, they comfort me."
Quoting the words of Peter, the hero of a novel entitled "Fortitude" by Hugh Walpole, Obafemi Awolowo once asserted that "it is not life that matters but the courage you bring into it." As Chief Adebayo ran for dear life, he authenticated that faith is the foundation for and the stoke of courage; his story leaves me wondering whether Peter and Awolowo should have said:"It is not life that matters but the faith you bring into it!"
Faced with the fiery furnace of deadly foes and unfettered tyranny, faith became a permanent shield and an unfailing armor. But faith never banishes life's buffetings. No, faith does not preclude persecution by enemies, treachery by saboteurs, disappointment by colleagues, and avoidable flops by one's organization. Rather, faith enables us to cope with and triumph over these and other inescapable adversities of a noble life. This, in my view, is the compelling story unfolded in "Running for dear Life."
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