UTOMI’S SUBMISSION – MY ONLY REGRET! Yes, the same Professor Pat Utomi. Is there any Nigerian who doesn’t know the Prof? Well, I won’t bother to introduce him. His CV will not only take up more than the space for this write-up but also the energy and time to piece it together. So, if there’s truly anyone reading this that doesn’t really know the workaholic professor, let him visit Google. Seven years ago, Prof Utomi dreamed up this wonderful idea. For the uninitiated, he’s full of great dreams, even when wide awake! Prof looked back at the Civil War and wondered where all those innovations and inventions Biafra threw up against a more than formidable opposition came from. Not only came from but also where they have all gone to! In those 30 months, Biafra was able to refine crude, built an airport where Biafran pilots landed dead in the night without landing lights lightening up the runway, manufactured Ogbunigwe, crafted ‘sure battery’ and raised an incredible fighting force within the conscripted who never handled even hunting den guns prior to the inevitable kick off of the war. Prof believed that if our country, Nigeria could revisit those incredible feats and try to harness the spirit that gave rise to those acts that marveled the world that our fledging country could ride on those to new national heights and greatness that could reengineer our reorientation and reintegration into global prominence. Prof, having studied Nollywood, believed the third largest movie Industry in the world was ripe enough to make a movie based on such premise. And like everything about him, he went into action. He took time to make enquiries and somehow, he was told that the best writer for a script of such magnitude would be yours truly. So, the Prof contacted me, through one of the greatest individuals to come out of Nollywood. I won’t mention the name of this individual here. The person is presently holding a sensitive national appointment and I wouldn’t mention him/her without permission. So, we went to see Prof. He gave us express attention. He looked me over, apparently wondering if I was truly the right man to transfer his great dream into a working script. I introduced myself as best as I could, presenting my only novel then, The Senator as my handy CV. This impressed him… he quickly went to the blurb, then gave me in return, the only copy left of his then latest book, ‘TO SERVE IS TO LIVE’. And, quite conveniently for me, our discuss onward expressly translated into ‘one author to another’. Summarily, we discussed and he heaved on my shoulders the enormous task of coining a horrendous scenario into a nation-building script that would repair all damages and seek for total reintegration. In the process, he told me all his experiences during the war. As a boy, what his father went through while working for shell in Kaduna then. How he, his mother and siblings eventually got back home to Delta via routes that were bizarrely miraculous! I was to tour the whole country for the research. When Prof Pat Utomi challenges you to prove your professional worth, anybody so privileged goes overdrive. I was no exception! So, I set out. For eight months, I faced my biggest challenge yet as a professional. In the process I got from late Ikemba, the EzeIgbogburu, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu why he declared the Republic of Biafra. Ikemba said in just one seven-word sentence. I’ve never read it anywhere and won’t divulge it yet until the movie hits town. Done, we went back to Prof. He read through my ten-page Treatment within 10 mins, then stood and shook me … my proudest moment yet as a writer. He told me that he believed I was the right man for the job after reading my novel but that the treatment I presented more than re-assured him. Yes, he said my novel was one of the two he read in a flight from US to base. That’s the kind of man he is…never wastes any second, a voracious and very fast reader! However, he had no reason not to marvel at my work. As a hard-nosed master of fiction, I built my protagonist based on his story. In a way, he was seeing himself as the hero of the story…but make no mistake…Prof Pat Utomi’s story and experience during the beginning of the war, well-crafted, would win an Oscar. And I didn’t ignore the opportunity. He called in his secretary and there and then set up a 15-man committee, including my Nollywood colleague and I, to push through the production of the movie. He said he knew the production would run into millions of dollars but that he was equal to the task of raising the required funds. Now, for five times within a space of six months, Prof set out a date for a dinner meeting and formal inauguration of the committee. For those five times Prof had to cancel through his secretary because he had to fly out to attend to urgent business. Till today, that best effort I’ve ever assembled is still lying on my shelf waiting for Prof to say go. But it won’t wait for him forever. Soon and very soon, I’ll personally trigger that blockbuster into screen. VERY SOON! Take this from me, I do not blame Prof for the inability to have turned this script into action. He is one of the only two Nigerians I know that I can’t swear they truly sleep. The other is of course, Gov Peter Obi of Anambra State. Both are workaholics. Both work 24/7. I’m sure both work, when they muster any time to sleep, in their dreams! The man didn’t have enough time to transform this dream into reality yet. If I can add, without sounding degrading, I’d say the economist is one who has his fingers and toes in every pie. God so blessed him with more brains than one individual should possess but he often overstretches by arrogating too much tasks to himself. The amiable professor would never have the time to coordinate all his dreams into reality. He’s certainly not God! But I have to submit, after my two years close association with him…if there are few Nigerians I have utmost respect for, Prof Utomi is at the apex of that list. His brain works like the clock - overtly smart, intelligent and streetwise. So, when he submitted that the November 16 Anambra Guber Polls should be completely cancelled, I was taken aback. He admitted that he was not in the country and relied on twitter and social media to arrive at his deductions. He believed Gov. Obi forced his candidate on the people and characteristically tried to justify his stance with many global comparisons. However, he never failed to admit that Gov Obi performed very admirably. So, my worries … 1) From whose twit and reports did he make deductions? 2) Since he applauded Gov Obi of excellence in performance, why didn’t he get reports from the governor before going public? 3) As an economist of repute, why toe the line of total cancellation, considering the huge resources pumped into the exercise where Supplementary Elections, as ruled by INEC, could handle, and indeed handled, any hiccup encountered during the exercise? 4) Knowing Nigeria the way he does, which other State in the Federation would hold an election in isolation and have a 100% hitch-free exercise? 5) Which other incumbent governor in Nigeria had given as much tolerance as Gov Obi did to whomever decided to compete? 6) Did he remember the high regards people like me hold of him when he rushed into those submissions? There are certainly more questions but if all propaganda employed by the opposition, particularly by APC, could twist Prof Utomi into those submissions, my worries would invariably deepen. I went back through all the actions leading to and during the election – I cast aside every sentiment to ask question – were there things that happened in the dark I didn’t know of? I was at every level of electioneering. In my ward, Ward V Ozubulu, we stayed awake 24 hrs prior to voting, making certain nothing went wrong during voting. During voting, we conducted ourselves very well amongst rival parties. In my booth, PDP won and APGA accepted in good faith. I immediately gave my report via FB with accurate figures. My calls to many other polling stations fed me back the way I equally fed them – smoothly. Only in Idemili mainly were there reports of hiccups. INEC responded by re-scheduling a Supplementary Election. So, why on earth, would a man, who has taken time to dream up a project intended at finally healing the wounds of the war and completely integrating the ‘vanquished’ back into national polity, fault an exercise both the Presidency and INEC laboured admirably to make credible? Maybe, I’ll try and get to him and ask him directly. Until I do, the biggest regret I have of the whole exercise is having Prof Pat Utomi condemn an exercise I was on ground to witness. And when I see him, I will tell him beyond his silver-rimmed bifocals – YOU GOT IT WRONG, SIR!
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 13:12:03 +0000
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