“THE AUGUST MEETING BOOK READING EVENT:” A REVIEW

I love intellectual events.
So I had such a wholesome time on Friday as I showcased my book at the book launch of ‘On A Platter of Gold: How Jonathan won and lost Nigeria’ written by two-time former Minister under President Goodluck Jonathan, Bolaji Abdullahi.

The book launch was done during a quarterly book reading event put together by book organisation, The August Meeting in Port Harcourt.

For me, it all started with a phone call from The GodFather himself, Wenenda Wali.
It was a day after my Book Signing on Women’s Day and I was heading to Enugu for another event.

“Hello Chioma, so you wrote a book?,” he asked.

I said, “Yes Sir”.

“Oh interesting, we are having our book reading event, you should come to talk about your book,” he said.

He proceeded to buy copies of my book, almost what was left from my book signing event a day before.

Fast forward to March 22, I walked into the Unity hall at the Port Harcourt club and saw all shades of intellectuals in the city seated.

“Oh wow,” I said, as I took a seat awed by the ambiance and audience but ready to soak it all in.

As I settled in, my colleague, Wazobia FM’s programmes manager in PortHarcourt, China Acheru was called up to present his book titled, ‘A Thousand Times on the Same Road’ which chronicled his sports journalism journey.

I love how he wove in his narrative, drawing us into what he saw as he watched a thousand football matches.
I’m a former sports presenter so I found his intentionality to document to that extent very impressive.

When it got to my turn, I told the audience why I wrote my book titled,
‘Becoming A News Titan: A Definitive Guide to Covering Politics and Civic Space,’ which advocates for equitable reporting of politics and the civic space.

I spoke about the need to ask key issue-based questions when interviewing the women in politics and the civic space and not ask the ‘Do you still cook for your husband’ kind of question referencing a similar question which was asked a female billionaire sometime ago.

This aspect of my speech would later pique the interest of Mrs Ifeoma OCJ Okocha who, while giving her message at the event, commented about it and I found that her words brought balance to what I had said earlier.

Yes, she was right, my message isn’t to discourage women from cooking for their husbands but that interview questions for these women can be crafted better to portray/showcase them as the true key stakeholders which they are in politics and the civic space.

Students cut across some Secondary schools in PortHarcourt also reviewed the book that was launched and asked questions.
Great idea it was to have included the students.

Technocrat Robinson Tombari Sibe’s review of the launched book as the chief witness left me eager to open those pages.

By the time the author, Bolaji Abdullahi came up to speak, he left me with nostalgic feelings as he narrated past events from an insider’s perspective. I gained an understanding that I find to be a delightful privilege.

Highlight of the book event was the unveiling of the Education Champions League, aimed at improving the reading culture of students in schools across Rivers State.

I had a great time signing out more copies of my book.

For subsequent booking events of the August Meeting, it would be great to know if it’s an open event where non members can be invited or it’s a closed event. I wasn’t sure.
It would also be great to include undergraduates and not just secondary school students.
And then a media kit should be made available for journalists to have full information about the event. This would help them write better stories about the event, avoid mispronunciation of names and better report the event outcomes.”-
Chioma Ezenwafor.
Author of BECOMING A NEWS TITAN.