By Henry Uche
The Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Limited, Mr. Onuoha Ukeh, has advised potential and prospective authors to, as a matter of necessity, engage editors in the process of book writing before publishing and launch.
He gave the advice at the launch of four books written by Professor Poly I. Emenike, under the chairmanship of Mr. Emeka Onwuka, former GMD/CEO, of defunct Diamond Bank in Lagos, yesterday.
Mr. Ukeh, who was the book reviewer, raised the consciousness of the author and the audience when he spotted an omission in one of the books: ‘15 Writing Principles On How To Be A Celebrated Author’, where the author never deemed it necessary to tell his readers and emerging authors to engage editors as a matter of importance if they really want a thorough and fine literary work.
The erudite journalist who painstakingly reviewed the four books chapter by chapter, observed that the author is a lover of Napoleon Hill who (Emenike) spent fortunes on to see the success of the books. He identified some postulations, assertions, opinions and beliefs of the author as controversial views subject for debate.
“Book 4 has a missing chapter, which is ‘Having an editor’ who will cross the i’s, and dots the t’s, check spellings, grammars and check facts. Great writers have renowned editors. So, it’s important you acknowledge editors in every literary work you embark on. This book is recommended for learning, research and scholarship,” he affirmed.
The author, fondly called ‘Napoleon Hill of Africa’ by his friends, said he was fulfilled to affect his generation by spreading the gospel through his 17 books and more.
“Write down every experience you have in a book. Don’t throw them away, they will be useful to someone tomorrow. I’m happy to offer my contributions to humanity through my books and other ways,” he maintained.
The three other books are: The Economic Trajectories of The Igbos After My Nigeria-Biafra War: My Personal Perspective; The Mental Emancipation: How To Control Your Conscious And Subconscious Mind For Effective Performance; and Shrines As Arbiters: Is Reserve The Case of Christianity in Igboland?
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, at the launch commended Professor Emenike for impacting his generation through books, and raised the alarm over the level of boisterous and flamboyant graduation ceremony of secondary school students.
Obi feared that the next generation of graduates in Nigeria may not have any value to add nor be able to create jobs in the society.
“If Professor Emenike left secondary school with such a big celebration or indulged in such a lifestyle, I don’t think he would have been able to be here today with such honour as an author, making impacts to his generation.
(So don’t blame those kids who are graduating with exotic cars, instead blame us (the politicians) who are showing them how to live. We have too many politicians in Nigeria without any enterprise. Any country where politicians are richer than business men and women, that country will collapse. So many politicians have no valuable story to tell their children,” he posited.