UNVEILING BOOK OF THE YEAR

 

BY ABDULSALAM ABDULFATAH LIBERTY

Barrister and Solicitor of Supreme Court of Nigeria

It is a multiple celebration on the 28th December, 2014 in the State of Osun when Comrade Amitolu Shittu clocks 50 years on the surface of Earth. Thousands of Nigerians are rejoicing with this living hero who has lived his life to fight tirelessly for good governance and rights of the people. It is still loading, the 28th December when a book titled “Comrade Amitolu Shittu: Tributes to a Selfless Activist” will be unveiled. We have only partially satisfied our thirst like the words of Samuel Lover, an Iris novelist and artist “When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen” the youths will see why it is priceless to be an advocate and fighter of the masses. 

A revealer and a compendium of facts about Comrade Amitolu Shittu is the book to be presented on the 28th December, a book that is heavier than any frivolous and malevolent deformed perspective, “the writer, a free man addressing free men, has only one subject-freedom” in the words of Jean-Paul Sartre. A book will soon be unveiled about “a comrade for life” no better account of man can be given than what is contained in this book. It is a stage in the life of this activist when his good history, good intention and sacrifice are unveiled to the world and one that cannot be shadowed any malicious account. You need to read for good reasons because “there are two motives for reading: (according to Bertrand Russel) one that you enjoy it, the other that you can boast about it”

In the words of an English lexicographer, Dr. Samuel Johnson “What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure” The forward of the “book of the year” was written by the Governor of State of Osun, a comrade governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the preface was written by one of renowned veteran journalists in Nigeria, in person of Chief Smollette Shittu-Alamu, a role model to the young journalist, a fluent and articulate orator, in this book, pens of a veteran writers and journalists vomited the golden words.

A justifier of all perspectives about Comrade Amitolu Shittu whether negative or positive is the book which shall be unveiled on 28th of December. This reminds me of an issue propagated by people I consider epileptic and myopic, they wrongly interpreted the involvement of this selfless activist in politics and particularly the strong support given to Aregbesola during his re-election. Activism is not parallel to politics it is rather interconnected. An activist mostly goes against the bad governance, he is rather considered as a barking dog. Until he experiences what he considered as good governance, he remain a barking dog, it cannot be a crime for Comrade Amitolu Shittu to have considered Rauf’s government as the one he believes so much in. 

It will be considered erroneous to have plotted an imaginary gap between Amit and politics, his history has proved the fallacious view to be wrong. He was the first Chairman of National Conscience Party (NCP) in State of Osun, and later the National Vice President of NCP and a Deputy Governorship candidate of the same party. Just like Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAM, SAN, the greatest human rights activist in Nigeria did contested for the president of Nigeria under the platform of NCP, in the same manner, Nelson Mandela the foremost rights and political activist became the President of South Africa after he was incarcerated for years. The wisdom of activist involvement in politics lies in the fact that a man or group who has being antagonistic to all the government may practicalized what he projects by being in the government. Also, when he is elected by the electorates into an elective post, it exposes the critic to criticism like he does to others. I say the tail of activism is a progressive politics when an activist is called to do it the way he preaches it.

A book “Comrade Amitolu Shittu: Tributes to a Selfless Activist” is a repellant and a powerful bleacher of dot of blemish on the white garment of Comrade Amitolu Shittu and it further affirms the fact that this selfless activist is a living hero. You can’t oppose a statement of a Scottish novelist; Robert Louis “Books are good enough in their own way, but they are a mighty bloodless substituted for life”. The event holds on 28th December, 2014 at Leisure Spring Hotel, Osogbo, State of Osun, in the morning.