BOOK REVIEW

 The making of a stateswoman

Sunday, December 7, 2003

The autobiography of

(published in  Nigeria by FIT Consult, 13 Link Road, Independence Layout, Enugu, Nigeria)

[Available @ 13.99 from Reedbuck, P. O. Box 150, Bloomfield, NJ 07003, USA]

When last August many of us -- males -- heard of Loretta Aniagolu coming to town, we adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Then the news came that she was stepping in where many men and women fear to tread. We held our breath. As then Chair of the Board of Directors of Enugu Association, USA, I recall discussing the issue with then President of the Association Alloy Attah. What to do? I didn’t mince words: She is our sister; let’s listen to her. If she is the daughter of her father, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Aniagolu, she would not disappoint. Besides, our sister Ms. Ngozi Agada, the major mover of her selection as the 2002 keynote speaker, did not suffer mediocrity.

Dallas 2002: She came, we saw, she stole the show! Her presentation impressed so many. An instant star was born: One of our own, a Waawa women to be proud of anywhere any day. As our ancestors would put it, she is “Ada e ji-eje mba” (a daughter with whom you can go places).  Many instantly took to her and offered to support her quest to inject issue-oriented debates into the march of Enugu State to El Doraldo. Besides the charm and charisma of her person and presentation, that someone was out to discuss openly ways to improve Enugu State mattered. And her fans grew.

Since then I have had the opportunity to speak with and meet Loretta, but nothing prepared me for the manuscript of her book, then tentatively titled “The Making of the Woman.” Now published under the title “Unbroken Spirit” and co-authored with her brother Charles Chukwuka Aniagolu, Loretta presents a no-hold-barred autobiography that is captivatingly candid in a way you have never seen before.

But the question must be asked: Why is such a post-independent Nigerian lady writing her autobiography? You just don’t start telling the world about yourself because you are stepping into the forties. Why would she want to do that? Simple: Loretta believes that if she is going to be out there talking and expecting people to listen, then the audience deserves the right to know who she REALLY is. Besides, the “Chicago” and “Toronto” and “chief-crazed” politicians have fouled the polity deeply. Fair enough, but did she have to open it all up? From discussions, I found out that it’s all about being sincere and hoping that people trust you enough to give you a listening chance.

In her phone-in radio programs 'Ka Oha Malu' and radio talk show 'Media Link,' Loretta makes a point of letting listeners know that no question is off-limit, even when some supposedly salacious repetitions are rife. Loretta does not mind. For her to move into the next phase of her life, she reckons, she needs to let the world know where she is coming from, where she’s been, with whom (oh yes, that too), and where she is going.

Alaiyeluwa Oba Oladele Olashore, the Ajagbusi-Ekun of Iloko Ilesha, Ogun State, Nigeria captured it in the book’s Foreword:

“By putting forward her autobiography, Loretta holds herself out for detailed scrutiny.  People have been named, places named and events mentioned that are verifiable even by her contemporaries. This appears to me more than a bold start.  In an age of forgeries and credentials that are not easily authenticated, Loretta has given those who seek transparent politicians to trust a great choice. Her track record, also verifiable should encourage development minded voters to invest their confidence in her.”

Then you open the book with trepidation. What is in it for me? Oba Oladele Olashore has an answer:

“The book you are about to experience is at once the interim report of the segment of four decades in the life of a maturing professional and a remarkable commentary on the making of a nation. It is about an accomplished professional intent on entering the next phase of life as a statesperson.”

The book is indeed a commendable commentary of immense historical importance. It captures the early years of Nigeria through its turbulent years. From the acknowledgement, we meet a plethora of people she has met in her life and who have impacted her in one way or the other, folk with whom she is “immensely pleased,” to whom she is “eternally grateful,” and without whom “my life would not have made interesting reading.” From “fabulous … Dad and Mom, Anthony and Maria Aniagolu” and her sisters and brothers (“my best friends, my strength and my support”), we go through such prominent VIPs as Justice Belgore, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (“the consummate intellectual, who has taught me the importance of conviction, as the very essence of a worthy life”), Bishops Anthony Makozi and Anthony Gbuji (Bishop of Enugu), Dr. Okwy Nwodo (ex-PDP scribe), Oba Oladele Olashore, Brig. Gen. Sule Ahman (Rtd.), Justice & Mrs. Eze Ozobu (President-General of Ohanaeze), Col. and Mrs. Lucky Torey, cousins, friends, and lastly but by no means the least, “my little Angel on earth, my special gift from God … my daughter Ola.”

But the book is about Loretta Ngozichukwu Aniagolu, her early days, her delights, notable national events and how the family coped, eventful encounters, and almost everything there is to know about her. The very first lines say it all about her imaginative style: “Out of a family of ten children, I emerged as the fourth of the fifth. That is to say the first of five daughters, after three sons. The fourth child in a sequence of ten! An interval in a succession of males!”

A grand niece of legendary King Onyeama of Eke, Loretta takes us to all corners of her family tree, which included “my uncle, late Judge Charles Dadi Onyeama,” formerly of the World Court at The Hague -- and Onyeama n'Eke's favorite son, and “Mom’s younger brother, Dr Victor Ejiofor Igbo… Tall, handsome, broad-minded, educated in Germany and Italy to PhD level in Architecture, fluent in German and Italian…. By 1976, Uncle Victor was a terribly eligible bachelor.” Then there is “Uncle Tony Mogboh, a dashing young bachelor at the time and a brilliant lawyer who would later become the state’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice.” Talk about being born with a silver spoon in the mouth, she had gold chopsticks encrusted with fine diamond!

From the “so-called Garden City of Port Harcourt in the 1960s of which I don’t remember much about …. apart from a fairly vivid picture of our colonial style house, which was in a lovely area, by a lake, with lots of trees” to “Calabar Prep School, privately run by Mrs. Uwemedimo, another English Lady married to a Nigerian,” the book takes you way back, way way back to the good old days. And then there was a war, and “Dad was posted to Umuahia.” Enter “Dragons breathing fire,” a period that could have made another book of its own. It was no longer about families and growing up;  girls matured quickly and boys “joined the Boys Company as fighters. Today they would be known as child soldiers and would probably be under the media spotlight as the victims of exploitation. But in 1969, the world cared a lot less.”

After the war, getting back to where the family called home was equally eventful: “We drove through innumerable checkpoints and rifle-totting soldiers barking commands like ‘Halt’…’Advance to be recognised’… ‘Proceed.’  The checkpoints consisted of two big rocks or in some cases two oil drums or two heaps of broken furniture on either side of the road with a tree branch propped against them… ...You had to stop when you heard the word ‘halt’ or you risked being cut down by a hail of bullets. … As we drove through one checkpoint after another, the soldiers would peer at Dad and Mom in the Volks ahead.  Sometimes they made us stop.  We would see Dad gesticulating and pointing at us in the truck behind.  Then they would wave us on.  We went through innumerable checkpoints but somehow they didn’t order us out of the cars to be searched or to have our travel documents examined. Now that the war was over, the soldiers seemed more relaxed and friendly. We of course never failed to yell “One Nigeria” enthusiastically at each checkpoint.”

Takes you way back, huh? If you did not live during that era, that's living history captured by a young mind.

In Ukpabi Asika’s Enugu, the book captured 1970s like no other work in print, complete with names of people you know. If you think today’s youth are degenerates, you didn’t grow up in the 70’s Enugu. The book lets it hang out there. Nothing is held back. Professor (Monsignor) Obiora Ike, Director of Catholic Institute for Development, Justice and Peace, Enugu, weighs in here:

“An excellent and brilliant capture of memories (normally long forgotten). An exercise in the mastery of language, presentation and consistency. It exposes Loretta’s honesty, plain personality, bluntness and daring… It is an all around work.”

No one who has read the book will disagree with the reverend gentleman.

From her days in Pre-University Center in Dublin to entering the University of Jos at 16 to bag a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics, we learn the rich history of Loretta’s growth, the other side of Justice Belgore who guided her, and “lectures of one of my more politically radical teachers… Dr. Iyorchia Ayu,”   etc. And she stepped into politics: “unanimously elected as the Treasurer for the Youth Wing (University of Jos chapter) of the NPN.”

Loretta is so brutally honest you immediately want to know more! Read: “I graduated in 1981, disappointedly. I only managed a Second Class Lower rather than Upper Division. My parents were happy but I felt as if I had let myself down.” When she writes later that “America tested me beyond words,” she goes all the way to tell it all: her marriage, her pregnancy, the trials, and the tribulations. But she feels “grateful for the opportunity to have lived in the States for upwards of ten years.  … Previously, I had travelled to the US on vacations financed by my parents. It was a different life with money to spend on nightclubs, theme parks, cinemas and the theatre.  A far cry from the one I found myself in as a resident -- struggling to pay bills, driving an old car, watching my expenses, taking lunches to work and not eating out.”

Say no more, sister; of course we know: This is the America of immigrants!

If you think she is done, try again: “In real life, I am surprisingly small. Tiny in fact by some standards! An everyday kind of person who can sit you down to a horn of palm wine and fiery pot of Isi Ewu any day. When I speak, I mix short stabbing sentences – thrusts – with long flowery prose. I am friendly but sometimes wary, suspicious of questions and conversations. A perfectionist constantly challenging herself, highly intelligent, shrewd, intuitive, sympathetic, understanding, generous, honest and totally dedicated to my profession.”

Now, how many people could be so flat-out honest about themselves? Only Loretta Aniagolu, the lady who has seen and experienced enough to tell tons of stories. She simple told one; yes, one ton of a story. It is captivating, educating, motivating, and uplifting. I did not mince words when I classed it “an irresistible page-turner.” It is.

I highly recommend the book without an ounce of reservation.

[Loretta  contested the gubernatorial election in Enugu State under the banner of Gani Fwehinmi-led Nigeria Conscience Party]

This piece was written in April 2003, prior to the book launching in Washington, DC.

See details on how to get a copy: