The Future of My Past: Beyond An Autobipgraphy

By Udoh Elijah Udom

In the book in your hand, the author chronicles experiences and challenges he faced during his extraordinary life journey. Difficult as his early life was, he reminds us that our past experiences, no matter how ugly they were, are our best teacher and the brainchild of whatever we are today. Therefore, we should endeavor to understand why certain things happened to us in the past and make use of our past experiences to design the future we want for ourselves and others. This is the kernel of this autobiography and underscores its title—The Future of my Past. Our past is behind us, but no less significant. Understanding our past helps us to create a better future for ourselves. We should learn from the past but focus on the future because that’s where we are going to spend the rest of our lives.The author admonishes those who think strings of university degrees, materialism, and socio-economic power, are what life is all about. Drawing from his past experiences, he discusses what he considers the true meaning of life and his credo for the future—People First. He plans to intentionally focus on other people’s welfare, rather than on himself, to lift them out of the valley of nothingness with whatever resources at his disposal. He sees this as the greatest act of humanity. The author encourages us to contribute whatever we can, wherever we are, to improve the lives of other people. That is, he concludes, what makes people significant, and the true meaning of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Udoh Elijah Udom
• Release date: Mar 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781736218327

Udoh Elijah Udom

Udoh Elijah Udom was born into a monogamous family, with strongparental guidance, hinged on Christian values. He was socialized earlyto think of education as sine qua non to survival in this world. Hegrew up with a ravenous appetite for knowledge. Unfortunately, hiseducation was put on hold when his father passed away before he evencompleted his primary education. With the money earned from menialjobs, coupled with the help of his mother, he completed his primaryeducation and moved on to study privately for ordinary and advancedlevels General Certificate of Education (GCE). Success in GCEopened doors for further studies in institutions of higher learning.He earned his bachelor’s degree in social science/psychology fromThe University of Wisconsin (USA); Juris Doctorate degree from TheUniversity of Iowa (USA); Master of Law degree from The Universityof Leicester (UK), and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Government/Public Administration from The University of Texas at Austin (USA)—mission accomplished. His combined training in law and publicadministration became the passport to his future. It opened doors foremployment at both local and international levels. While in graduateschools, he served as Faculty Assistant to different faculty membersand was diligently involved in Research. This was when he developedan interest in academics, but that interest in academics was overtakenby an attractive job offer with the World Health Organization (WHO)regional office for Africa (AFRO) in Brazzaville, Congo.He began a long career journey in the WHO that lasted for two decades(1984 – 2004). He served AFRO in various legal and administrativecapacities for thirteen years. During his time in AFRO, he wasprivileged to travel to, live, work, and visit many African countries,South of the Sahara. As he often says, there is no better educationin African history and politics than the exposure he had traveling todifferent African countries and learning, firsthand, their culture andsocio-political developments. He loved working in the African regionof WHO, except when he was assigned to war-torn countries. In 1997,he was transferred from AFRO to WHO Headquarters in Geneva,Switzerland, where he served as the Head of Administrative Servicestill he retired in July 2004.Retirement, in the true meaning of that word, was not in Dr. Udom’slexicon. He retired from WHO but was not tired. In 2005, he acceptedan Adjunct Faculty position with Strayer University in Washington,DC, USA. This appointment paved the way for him to satisfy hispassion for teaching, writing, and research. At Strayer University, hetaught undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in law and publicadministration. His passion for teaching earned him recognition amongstudents, faculty, and university leadership. In 2007, he was awardedthe prestigious Donald R. Stoddard Faculty Award of Excellence. In2009, he was promoted Academic Dean of Strayer University campusin Nashville, Tennessee. It was a unique position in the continuumof his career in academics, particularly as the facilitating link amongfaculty members, staff, students, and University leadership.As an Academic Dean, he decided courses to be offered each quarter,coordinated students’ admission processes, recruited faculty and staff ofthe academic department, and carried out regular faculty evaluation. Incollaboration with other senior administrative staff, he was responsiblefor ensuring the security of students and staff while on campus.In 2011, he decided to step down as Academic Dean and returnedto the Washington, DC campus as full-time faculty. In 2013, hefelt enough was enough with Strayer University and resigned. He iscurrently an Adjunct Professor at Washington Adventist University,Takoma Park, Washington DC.Dr. Udom is an author of three books: (i) Adminisprudence: ABehavioural Approach to Managing Ourselves and Others (1998), (ii)Restless Citizens: The Hidden Burdens of Living and Working for theUnited Nations (2010), and (iii) What Makes Students Tick: Unlockingthe Passion for Learning (2014). Dr. Udom has also published peer-reviewedarticles. He continues to sharpen his brain by reading, writing,and blogging on his two online journals: www.africanexchange.netand www.ourroot.net. He is involved in church activities, ethnic andprofessional associations promoting human welfare and dignity. As agrandfather, he often travels to visit his grandchildren scattered acrossthe globe. No wonder he says retirement is a job of many colors.He is a man who “never sleeps.” He is always thinking or doingsomething to improve himself. What next after this autobiography hasbeen published? Stay tuned.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

God, the Alpha and Omega, is the foundation of my life. When all is said and done, this project would not have been completed without God. He is worthy of my praise and honor.

In the journey of life, no one can go far alone. Everything I have accomplished in life is a synergistic product of many people who have walked with me in good and bad times during this long journey of my life. I am eternally grateful to my parents, Elijah and Nancy Mary Udom, who brought me to this world, and painstakingly taught me the lessons of life that have helped me to be who I am today. I am exceedingly grateful to my late wife, Ekaete, who was on my side day and night, in good and difficult times, as I struggled to get a good education and eventually a good career. Your support in various ways is hereby acknowledged and will forever be remembered and cherished. I am also grateful to Boi-Betty, who has given me the much-needed support in many ways in this last phase of my life. You have made my retirement life worthwhile to the point that my retirement has become a life after life.

I wish to thank my children, Ekan, Inyang, Adiaha and Victor, my brother and sisters—Etukudo, Affiong, Julie, Bella, and my grandchildren, for their moral, spiritual, and material support and for their commitment to excellence in all their endeavors. May this autobiography be a beacon on their path. My sincere thanks to my cousin, Ime Etukudo, for her support in so many ways, and to my friends indeed that I met in the WHO—Mark Okoronkwo, Simon Antey, Juliana Boateng, Andrew Asamoah, Alex Woode, Kofi Gyau, and many others. Finally, coming from a large family, it is difficult to mention everybody’s name here, but my thanks to all my cousins, nephews, and nieces, who have worked hard to keep our family intact.

There are still more special people whose support I wish to acknowledge. I would like to thank Ambassador Okon Udoh, a former Nigerian diplomat attached to the Nigerian Mission in Geneva, and his wife, who took an interest in visiting my late wife in her sickbed in the hospital in Geneva; Professor Akpan H. Ekpo, Prof. of Economics and Public Policy, The University of Uyo, Nigeria for writing the Foreword to this autobiography; Prof. Macleans Geo-Jaja, Professor of Economics and Education, Brigham Young University (USA), for his listening ears and advice on how to proceed with the editing and publication of this autobiography. Thanks to Ms. Sona Schmidt- Harris and Dr. Boi-Betty Udom who edited the first and last versions of the manuscript respectively and provided excellent feedback. Mr Patrick Daniel’s help in formatting the photographs was invaluable, of which I am sincerely grateful. And finally, my thanks to the Publishers, Kingdom Branding, whose Executive and staff worked diligently to enhance this publication with their creativity and ingenuity.

DEDICATION

To My Parents

Elijah and Mary Nancy Udom

Dear dad and mom, I am so much of what I learned from you. The brief period we spent together, you left an indelible handprint on my heart. Without the inspiration, drive and support you gave me in my early years, I might not be where I am today. Thank you both.

FOREWORD

When Dr. Udoh Elijah Udom asked me to write this foreword, I was delighted, because I knew, given his level of education and extensive professional experience at national and international levels, every experience of his life and every quality of his mind, will be the hallmark of this book. A life history does not just highlight a series of events in one’s life, it must also contain information about why those events happened and how they were contained. I have known Dr. Udom for many years in academic and professional settings. I admire his go- getter approach to life which is evident in his narration of his journey of life in this autobiography. This book is beyond an autobiography. He not only chronicles his life experiences and the history of his family, he shares his philosophy of life, particularly what he considers the true meaning and purpose of life.

Everyone has a past, present and some hope for a better future. That’s a truism. Dr. Udom views his past as history he is learning from; the present as a gift to him and does not worry about it because he can control what happens to him at present, and the future as a mystery which he must plan for to prevent the pitfalls of the past. His past is still fresh in his memory because it cannot be forgotten or changed. As excruciating as his past experiences were, particularly the loss of his father even before completing his primary school, and how these problems affected his development, he refuses to dwell on his past experiences, and would not allow them to do more than being his guide into the future. To do otherwise would be a self-inflicted wound likely to derail him from pursuing his future objectives. Unlike many people who live in fear of the future, Dr. Udom has avoided living in fear that the future might be as ugly as his past was. This attitude has helped him to move forward into the future fearlessly with intent, not only to survive, but to make a difference.

He is truly a futurist but considers his past as a great teacher. If you ask him to choose between his past and his future, he would certainly say he does not dwell with his past because he does not live there anymore and that he is focusing on the future because that is where he is going to live. That is the kind of wisdom that helped him to navigate himself through difficulties to reach where he is today. Excellence is never given to a man except as a reward of labor.

His father was a master of the art of parenting, but he passed away even before the person we now address as Dr. Udom, completed his primary education. Thanks to his father who had sown the seed of manhood and self-development in him early in life. The two lessons that Dr. Udom learned from his parents early in life, that he often talks about, are the importance of farming and the value of education. Food security has always been a serious problem in his natal home. Therefore, his father taught him early to understand that farming was and will always be a major source of sustainable livelihood. Dr. Udom had practical experience working in the farm with his parents, after school and weekends, to grow crops for family consumption. His father also understood the value of education and socialized him to understand that education was the passport to success in the future. This early childhood socialization, followed by the loss of his father and the attendant consequences, explain why Dr. Udom has worked diligently to develop himself educationally and professionally. The loss of his father meant the loss of paternal support when he needed it most. Most kids of his age would have fallen on the wayside, but he did not. He took the time to seriously consider what would be the costs to him of not developing himself and all of the benefits of doing so that await him in the future.

Dr. Udom’s rich life experience and his philosophy of life makes his autobiography a must read. His life experience molded him into a fascinating human being. I have never heard him blaming his parents for the difficulties he experienced early in life. On the contrary, he capitalized on the past difficulties he encountered and a few native philosophies of life his father orally passed on to him and, of course, his parental lifestyle which he has modelled himself. One good thing he did for himself was not allowing his past experiences to corrupt his thoughts about life in the future. He chose to live forward and not backward, hence the title of this autobiography, The Future of my Past. He made empowering choices that were based on the quality of life he envisaged for himself and his family in the future, and not based on the pain from the past.

Dr. Udom is the architect of his future. His greatest enemy that he fought hard to defeat was illiteracy. Poverty, in terms of impecuniosity, was also his enemy. But he reasoned that if he could defeat illiteracy, poverty would be easy to bring an end to. He vowed he will be the last person to be referred to as an illiterate or poor in his family. Therefore, he worked hard to pull himself and his children out of the valley of nothingness. Improving his education was his primary objective. After his primary school education, he did all kinds of menial jobs to earn money to invest in education. Only very few kids, with primary school level of education, would have been motivated to study privately for ordinary and advanced levels General Certificate of Education (GCE). After passing the required number of GCE courses, he applied and secured admissions into reputable universities in the United States and the United Kingdom where he earned degrees of Master of Laws (LLM) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). With the same tenacity he used to pull himself out of the valley of illiteracy, he used it to successfully guide his children to achieve post-graduate degrees in their fields of specialization. His children were very young when he lost his first wife, but he was able to support his four children from elementary school through university levels. This has earned him respect among those who know him. One thing we can learn from Dr. Udom’s journey of life is that we cannot control what happens to us, but we can control our attitude toward what happens to us, and by so doing, we will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master us. Dr. Udom has demonstrated that, with hard work and diligent pursuit of one’s dreams, nothing is impossible.

He had immediate reward for his investment in his education by securing an international job with the World Health Organization (WHO), an agency of the United Nations. Again, due to hard work and commitment to excellence in all that he accepted to do, he rose from professional level two to professional level five, a diplomatic rank in the United Nations (UN) system, in less than eight years. His experience working for WHO was not without disappointments. When he joined the WHO, he thought he was joining a utopian or a perfect organization. He found out, after having signed the contract, that there were hidden burdens living and working for the UN. One must be an insider to understand the pros and cons of working for this global giant. As a humanitarian organization, expected to protect the human rights of people irrespective of race, gender, national origin and religion, Dr. Udom suffered discrimination based on his national origin and skin color. He endured and continued to serve the organization loyally until retirement. But he has not forgotten what he characterizes as a systemic culture of dehumanization of man by man which he witnessed in the United Nations institutions and in the countries he visited on behalf of the WHO. Now that he has retired, he plans to team-up with like-minded people, or solo if need be, using different tools, to protect vulnerable individuals and groups in different human communities at the national and international levels.

Dr. Udom displayed the same commitment to excellence in the academics after he had retired from WHO. He loves the academic environment, particularly teaching. Six months after retiring from WHO, he accepted a faculty position at Strayer University in Washington, DC (USA), where he taught undergraduate and graduate level law and public administration courses. He rose from an adjunct faculty position to a Campus Dean position in five years. His passion for teaching was recognized by his students when in 2007, they voted for him to receive the distinguished Faculty of Excellence Award. He shares his philosophy of teaching in his book, What Makes Students Tick: Unlocking the Passion for Learning, (2014), available globally. Dr. Udom would not have displayed his passion for education and community service any more than when he walked into my office at the University of Uyo, Nigeria, where I was the Vice Chancellor, to donate books, bought with his own money, to help jumpstart the medical school at Uyo. The university management and I appreciated his generosity. The students were and remain ever grateful.

His work with WHO took him to many countries in Africa and Europe; a rare opportunity that many people yearn for. But what he saw in the African countries was troubling to him. He did not expect to see the level of underdevelopment that he saw when visiting African countries on behalf of the WHO. What was more troubling to him was that everywhere he went, he saw human beings but no humanity. In other words, he was expecting to see a culture of outreach to the downtrodden by the economically well-off citizens of those countries. What he saw were people who only cared about themselves. That triggered in him thoughts about a new world order, peopled by individuals who are compassionate, sympathetic and empathic towards one another. His argument, and rightly so, is that we are not on earth by accident. We were created for a purpose, particularly to be joint builders of humankind.

Many people who know Dr.Udom describe him as,passionate,empathic, resilient, tenacious, a philanthropist and futuristic. I would like to add, altruistic. These personal characteristics have been emboldened by his experiences traveling far and wide during the heydays of diplomatic shuttling on behalf of the United Nations. This is a man, who went through severe hardship in his youth, but is now downplaying the hard times he experienced in favor of engaging in activities that would reduce human suffering. His credo for the future is, People First.That is, intentionally thinking less of himself and his immediate family members and focusing on other people, especially the poor, that have been decimated by diseases, illiteracy and food insecurity. His intention to explore avenues to make the world a better place, by mobilizing people of goodwill to come together to put an end to poverty, diseases and hopelessness, is both inspiring and infectious. He believes that life is more than strings of university degrees, materialism and socio- economic power. Life, he says, is about serving or pursuing a higher purpose—serving people; it’s about impacting positively our world and the people around us. Living for others is what he considers the true meaning of life.

The key message of this autobiography is summed up in his People First credo for the future. Dr. Udom strongly believes that the prime purpose of this life is to help others, and that it is better to give than to receive. In his plan to lighten the burdens of others in the future, he does not worry about where the resources would come from. He is rich intellectually but not financially. But his greatest wealth is his positive attitude. In the words of Charles Swindoll, We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. Considering all the difficulties and challenges he had to deal with in his life journey— losing love ones, working to support himself and his children through school, not getting the promotion he was entitled to in the workplace— he remained resilient, going through life and all the ups and downs with positive attitude. This positive attitude caused a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes and a catalyst that sparked extraordinary outcomes in his life.

The title of this autobiography, The Future of my Past, speaks volume. His past may not have been something to write home about. But he certainly has learned from it. Throughout this book, Dr. Udom has referenced acts of kindness he received from members of his family and strangers he met on the street. He wants to give back. His future credo is a demonstration of an attitude of gratitude, especially when it comes to making use of his past experiences and resources to make the future better for others. He is conscious of the difficulties he suffered growing up and would not want anyone, God willing, to walk on the same path. With this kind of thinking, Dr. Udom fits into the category of a hero. The greatest heroes are those who fight to help others, not those who fight for themselves and their immediate family members. I conclude this Foreword by encouraging everyone reading this autobiography to join this crusade, to invest on something bigger than ourselves—people, wherever you are, with whatever resources and talents available. This is a bottom-up crusade, and works effectively by starting with family, to community, to country and to the world. Dr. Udom hopes, and I share his passion, that this would bring about a better world for humanity. We are rich when others are rich, and we enjoy peace when others live in peace.

Professor Akpan H. Ekpo

Professor of Economics and Public Policy University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria.

Immediate Past Director General

West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) Lagos, Nigeria.

January 2020.

PROLOGUE

Learning about what was, can help you turn what is, into what it will be

In my country of origin, many believe that when your eye itches, when your cheeks or ears burn, or when you sneeze, have sudden hiccups or goosebumps, it translates as a sign that someone is thinking or talking about you. As unscientific as this might seem, people believe it, and I do too. I value and give credence to my traditions, customs, and beliefs. The problem, though, is that these signs may be partially or entirely ignored or taken for granted. From time to time, I have experienced these signs in my life. If I have a hiccup, I always have the tendency to drink water, or if I suddenly start sneezing, I often think that it is a symptom of a cold. The truth behind customs and beliefs lies in its manifestation.

During my fiftieth birthday celebration in Geneva, Switzerland, one of my colleagues said he had been thinking of me and how to best describe my work at the World Health Organization (WHO). I didn’t have a hiccup nor an itchy eye before this birthday party. Traditionally, it would have been a signal that someone was thinking or talking about me. Even if it did happen, I was too busy to take note of it. This colleague then asked me a question that completely threw me off, i.e. Why don’t you write your autobiography? At first, I thought he was drunk, but he wasn’t. He was serious. I was fifty years young. I always thought writing an autobiography was a post-retirement project by people known for their scientific, financial, and political accomplishments. I didn’t fall into these categories.

Subsequent speakers surprisingly supported the first speaker’s suggestion. From the facial expressions of other colleagues present, there seemed to be overwhelming support for me to write my autobiography. Why me? I asked myself inaudibly. I didn’t understand why they thought I should. Some of these colleagues were older and more prominent in professional and social settings; some were much older than I, and they hadn’t written their autobiographies. Two days after my birthday celebration, one of the colleagues, who was at my party, dropped-by my office to follow up with the discussion. I took the opportunity to ask why they thought I should write my autobiography. He said they had been following my career at WHO, and many people would benefit from my experiences, especially with regards to my work in trouble spots in Africa, among other contributions I had made to the organization.

A week after this conversation, a lady colleague who was also at the party accosted me in the corridor. She said if I were to decide on writing my autobiography, she was interested in reading about how I was able to raise four children from elementary school through universities as a single parent, despite my busy work schedules. I wasn’t sure whether that was a compliment. Hitherto, I didn’t know my professional and parental roles were being monitored and evaluated by my colleagues. These colleagues continued to remind me about my autobiography within and outside office hours. This kept me thinking about whether it was feasible and viable. The frequency at which I was harassed by my colleagues, encouraging me to write my autobiography, was enough incentive to think favorably about this project. I started jotting down, haphazardly, events, whatever I could remember, in the annals of my life.

Having published a few books and academic peer-reviewed articles, I was not a novice in research and writing. However, my busy schedule proved to be a hindrance. I was a very busy professional, frequently traveling to various countries on behalf of WHO, and I had four children to support emotionally and financially. The pressure of work and parenting responsibilities was such that I felt it would be suicidal to take on another nerve-wracking activity. For these reasons, I hesitated to embark upon another writing expedition. I then stopped jotting down events I could remember about myself and my family. But the question, Why, why, and why me, continued to ring in my head.

I did not stop thinking about this project. In my spare time, rather than reading my professional law and management books or writing articles for publication, I would read autobiographies of prominent world leaders that were in my library. I had read these autobiographies before solely for learning about the lives of other people; but this time, my reading went beyond information gathering. I became interested in finding out why these people wrote their autobiographies and what these authors included in them. This awakened my interest in writing mine, and I resumed jotting down events about my life. My colleagues’ advice was a timely clarion call for me to do something that would outlive me. They will be remembered for sowing the seed of wisdom that stimulated my interest in this project.

THE VOICES OF THE SKEPTICS

As I shared my project plans with friends and professional colleagues in and outside WHO, some skeptics thought writing my autobiography was a futile exercise because nobody would buy or read it. This statement sounded like a euphemism for you are not a well-known figure in the world, or your achievements are insignificant. Such a startling bluntness did bruise my self-esteem, especially after looking through the books in my library and finding out that the autobiographies in my library were those of eminent individuals alive or dead. Is there no room for a David—the little guy? I asked myself. I could not reconcile the skeptics’ comments with the encouragement I had received from other colleagues advising me to write my autobiography.

Whose advice should I follow? The skeptics’ comments reminded me of my past experiences with people who told me that I shouldn’t do this or that because of my surname, my national origin, my race, or my socioeconomic status. It was discouraging. For months, the progress in this project was in limbo. Anger and frustration suffocated my initial excitement. At this juncture, I had two options to choose from, either listen to the skeptics or hit the ignore button. I chose the latter and moved forward.

I don’t know why some of my colleagues thought writing my autobiography would be a futile exercise. If that was intended to weaken my self-image, they failed. I may not have been famous, but I was not insignificant, either. Self-esteem is the value we privately place on ourselves. If we allow people to define and cause us to doubt our ability, it would negatively impact our sense of self-worth. Rather than weaken my self-image, the skeptics’ negative comments strengthened my commitment to write this autobiography. I firmly believed that the completion of this project would add value to my personal and family history. The unintended consequence was that the skeptics’ comments made me question their integrity, their level of self-esteem, their ability to think outside the box, or do something audacious. As John Maxwell argues in his book, Winning with People – The Lens Principle (2016), Who we are, determines how we see others. I am glad I did not allow the voices of the skeptics to define me. Their opinion sharpened my knowledge of human nature and made me aware that whatever I plan to do in life, some people would support me, while others would criticize my plans and try to make me doubt my ability to succeed.

I was not afraid of criticism, and I never will be, especially if it is constructive. The difficult decisions I took during my work with WHO earned me criticisms and taught me how to accept criticism gracefully. Also, my experience working with people from various nationalities and making difficult decisions that impacted other people’s lives taught me that criticism can only be avoided by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nobody. I welcome criticism because I know I am not perfect, and criticisms only make me stronger. I listen with interest to whatever people say about me, but it is what I think about myself that matters.

PRESERVING FSMILY LEGACY

Despite the discouragement, I summoned the courage to write down all that God had done in my life. The more I compiled my personal data, the more it became evident that I was not as ordinary as the skeptics wanted me to believe. It was in the process of collecting information for this project that I discovered more things about myself than I had known. My life’s story became sweet music worth playing and documenting. As Maya Angelou once said, There is nothing as painful as an untold story buried in your soul. As I placed my life history in writing, I freed myself from the pain and blame of letting my personal and family histories fall into desuetude.

I did not embark on writing my life story to gain fame, boast about my accomplishments, or acquire financial gains. I was driven by the desire to create a permanent record of life events for the benefit of my children, who would, in turn, pass them on to the next generations. The greatest legacy I can pass on to my children and grandchildren is not money, which I don’t have, or other material things, although all that matters. But instead, it is a legacy wrapped in wisdom and character, imbued with faith in God, which I hope in some small way, will manifest in my autobiography. This piece of work will serve as a reference document for future generations of the Udom Clan.

ORAL TRADITION

I grew up in a society with a very deep-seated and robust oral tradition. Important transactions and agreements were concluded orally. Verbal agreements were enforceable either by the Local Council of Chiefs or in the Magistrate Court. To this date, verbal agreements are still applicable, and the words and decisions of the elders are as good as a written agreement. These unwritten agreements co-exist with written agreements and form part of our culture and legal system. From a young age, my dad talked to me virtually about everything, including but not limited to, Ibibio culture, local politics, religion, family structure and ancestry, village demography and, more importantly, what they owned, particularly landed properties. He would take us through thickly wooded landscapes to physically show us the locations and boundaries of his properties. These properties were not surveyed or registered in the public records. But the sanctity of agreement and legal ownership based on local laws and customs were and remain inviolable to this day.

In the absence of any written documents, my dad briefed us on how he acquired these properties. Some were given to him by his senior brother as part of the family land inheritance; some were properties he leased from local farm owners for a specific time, while others were freehold properties he bought. He expected us to memorize the facts he conveyed to us orally about these properties and to pass them on to our children and children’s children. He always reminded us that it was our responsibility to use whatever means available to possess our possessions and to defend family values after he had transitioned to glory. We have not failed him.

It might surprise some readers that I am talking at length about landed properties. In my country of origin, land is the most valuable property. That was why my dad advised us, loud and clear, to possess our possessions. Writing this autobiography made me reflect and recall the valuable information that my dad handed to us orally, and of course, my personal life events that I had either forgotten or considered unimportant. Through this project, I became closer to the elders in my family. They now serve as the fountain of oral and unwritten rules and practices from which I drew information from.

I found writing my autobiography very challenging, to say the least. Even more challenging was the fact that some family members with a wealth of knowledge of family affairs had passed away, hence making it difficult to corroborate many details of my early life transmitted to me orally by my parents. I had to pick the brain of everyone in my family, including my junior brother, Etukudo, and some village elders and neighbors to collect vital information.

STORMY PATH

My life journey was not without bumps and storms along the way. In fact, it was so stormy and sometimes debilitating that I lost hope of ever realizing my dreams. Most storms caught me by surprise. Some were anticipated, but couldn’t be controlled, even if I tried. Growing up in the village with little or no developmental guidance rendered my plans misty. The primary economic activity that was available to youths at that time was farming under the tutelage of their parents. I witnessed my parents tilling their farmlands to grow crops for our subsistence and joined them in farming very early in life. I worked on the farm after school and during weekends. That spirit and love for farming are still in me today. Although I lived about 10,000 miles from my village, every year, I would buy or rent farmlands for my sisters and pay people to cultivate crops for human consumption. This is how I help to fight hunger in my family.

One serious stormy event that impeded my social mobility was the loss of my father before I completed primary school. The consequential effects of this loss are discussed in different sections of this autobiography. Anyone who had lost his parent or knows anyone who suffered this misfortune early in life would understand how devastating this could be. Then came the long and tedious journey in search of education and a white-collar job that would give me some income. I was left with no father and financial inheritance. People in the village, who preferred to wait for manna to fall from heaven, said I was silly to aspire for more education beyond primary school. Indeed, I was silly. But as silly as I may have perceptibly been, I felt instinctively that some people were born great while others achieved greatness. Achieving greatness, if it was God’s will, was envisaged.

With all my