You most likely have a variety of opinions about Godstime Assin, particularly when you're studying his Era of Mad Individuals and Urhobo Present Affairs for the primary time. However opinions alone are usually not sufficient. He’s somebody to like due to his humility. As an writer and writer, he’s the Chief Govt Officer (CEO) of a publishing home, Pen-Digital Nigeria Publishers.
Properly, an addition, if you’ll: an irredentist Urhobo researcher.
“Writing is a medium to share concepts with folks,” he says confidently.
He provides, “For me, the aim of writing is to promote what you already know others want. Each particular person has one thing that others must flourish. For instance, the comedians are humorous in order that their viewers can chortle, and laughing will increase your age. That’s their medium to promote their message to the general public.”
For Assin, the medium he used to promote his message stays, above all, literature. “Regardless of my age, I’ve been lively within the literary business for nearly twenty years,” he surmises.
Throughout these years he has written fairly quite a few books, starting from prose, drama and poetry. “However I've been extra of a novelist and playwright,” he confesses. “This doesn’t imply that I’ve restricted myself to literature; I've carried out fairly just a few issues in English and historical past. I like historical past due to my background. My father was a very good historian who launched us (his youngsters) to oral folklore and historical past.”
His curiosity in historical past developed years after his father died. For him, it was obligatory to construct a model that might not be simply erased. In the identical vein, he needed to be recognized, revered and glorious at residence (Urhobo Division) as he was born outdoors Delta State.
“I created Urhobo Present Affairs after rigorously finding out most of the historical past books available on the market. Quite a few Urhobo historians solely wrote in regards to the origins and migration of the folks, and I felt that I might make the most of the weak point of others to get a bestseller,” Assin reveals.
In keeping with him, the so-called majority teams in Nigeria – Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo – have had comparatively higher experiences than the minority teams, such because the Urhobo.
For the primary group, the tales of the exploits of a few of their distinctive leaders have been privileged to no less than be talked about within the curricula and different tutorial supplies.
“For instance, persons are conversant in the exploits of Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sir Tafawa Balewa, Alhaji Aminu Kano, Uthman Dan Fodio and so on. of the Hausa Fulani. To the Yoruba, the exploits of Madams Moremi, Fagunwa, Tinubu, Olufunmilayo Ransome Kuti, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and numerous others are effectively documented and publicized. The Igbo have additionally acknowledged the exploits of Dr. Nnmadi Azikiwe, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Aguiyi Ironsi, Chinua Achebe and so on are additionally effectively revealed,” he says.
Assin continues: “however in case you are on the lookout for a doc that chronicles the historical past and exploits of the distinctive leaders who emerged from the Urhobo nation, for instance of one of many minority teams in Nigeria, and their contributions to the Nigerian state, you then very upset that such supplies are usually not in print. For instance, it’s hardly remembered that Basic David Ejoor performed an important position in irritating the ambitions of the secessionist Biafra forces through the civil conflict and making certain victory on the aspect of the Nigerians.
To realize his purpose, he wrote the Urhobo Present Affairs, which he first began in newspapers round 2013, earlier than shifting it to social media (Fb and Instagram) two years later.
It’s in mild of the foregoing that Godstime Assin's seminal work, Urhobo Present Affairs Vol. 1 is rightly described as not solely historic, but in addition present and effectively attuned to the ideological consciousness of a postmodern period by which distinction, range, id and authenticity are valued and celebrated.
The e book will also be described as a 'Assortment of Firsts' as it’s an encyclopedia of all of the vital trailblazers and trailblazers in numerous fields of the Urhobo nation. For instance, the primary Urhobo College graduate, the primary Urhoho professor, the primary Urhobo military basic, and so on. are all captured within the masterpiece.
A key function of Godstime Assin's traditional is its chronicle of the 24 kingdoms into which the Urhobo nation is culturally divided and the greater than 500 communities that comprise these kingdoms.
The e book has 202 pages with a sequence of cute, brightly coloured pictures of present vital figures of the Urhobo nation adorning the opening pages. These embrace the President Basic of the UPU Olorogun Ese Gam, the Rapid Deputy Chairman of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo Agege and the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom.
Every hero mentioned additionally has a portrait of her or him within the prime left nook of the web page so as to add visible results; improve the aesthetic sense and maintain the reader's curiosity and a focus.
“Urhobo Present Affairs was unusual as a result of he was the primary ethnic nationwide in Nigeria. It covers core areas resembling; who’s the primary university-educated Urhobo graduate, the primary feminine university-educated graduate, the primary female and male PhD holders, the primary female and male attorneys, the primary female and male medical doctors, the primary female and male engineers, the primary female and male professor, Urhobo's first nurse and midwife, first engineer, painter and sculptor, accountant, first flooring constructing in Urhoboland, Urhobos who’ve been senators, navy and civil governors of Urhobo, deputy governors of Urhobo extraction, federal ministers of Urhobo extraction, first main and secondary faculties in Urhoboland, Urhobo 24 kings and their designations, first technology Urhobo professors, vice chancellors of Urhobo extraction, and so on. The hanging factor about it’s that the date of each documented historical past is recorded. The primary revealed version was in 2019,” he says.
What had been the challenges he confronted in writing the e book?
He takes a deep breath and provides in a fashion that appears somewhat conspiratorial, “Each affluent journey includes not only a process, however a Herculean process.”
He continues: “I confronted an enormous process in attaining this due to two issues: first, there was no materials to seek the advice of. Secondly, I don't have a reputation that pulls buyers. Over the course of the launch, I seen that folks weren’t thinking about investing in it just because that they had not heard my title earlier than.”
Assin says most of the folks he approached to assist the mission requested him about its relevance to them and their households. Some didn't even hearken to me in any respect. His phrases: “Firstly I used to be confronted with monetary disappointment. Nobody was keen to assist. Bravely, I used to be not upset. I stored hope alive, tried tougher, and invested my hard-earned cash in analysis and lodge payments each time I traveled to Delta State. I dwell in Benin and visited Delta Central (Urhobo division) two to a few occasions per week. I used to be at all times on the go for one piece of knowledge or one other. Over time, I attracted the likes of Professor Onigu Otite (now late), Professor Peter P. Ekeh (additionally late), Professor GG Darah and some others. These nice students have responded to a lot of my questions.”
Their responses had been extra like a compass, as these folks had been “bibles of Urhobo historical past,” whose wealth of expertise he wanted to journey via his new calling.
Professor Darah was at numerous occasions chairman of the editorial board of the Every day Occasions and The Guardian. “He was at all times there to information me. In abstract, his work for The Guardian, revealed in 2003, impressed Urhobo Present Affairs. Moreover monetary limitations, our folks often disguise their historical past. Many individuals in our communities are afraid to inform their historical past to strangers. In addition they demand large cash from a researcher, agreeing to offer you the knowledge you come to ask for. I needed to cope with each monetary obstacles and rejection from individual to individual when beginning out, however I'm glad that has since been a factor of the previous. Later, Sir David Edafe Ikutegbe financed it solely along with his personal palms. He’s its largest donor. The likes of Dr. Otive Igbuzor, Professor Sam Oyovbaire, Kelly Oghenekevwe, Okakuro Chapel, Olorogun Francis Arhiyor and some others donated immensely on the eventual launch in December 2022.”
What did the e book acquire him?
“Nice issues or discoveries deliver not solely monetary rewards but in addition applause. To be sincere, the e book has not earned me even 10 % of what I invested in it. The timing, vitality, power, intellectualism and sacrifice can’t be measured with cash. Moreover cash, it has additionally given me fame and recognition. I’m honored by the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU). The UPU awards are given solely to notable Urhobo individuals who have made immense contributions to the event of the ethnic group. I’m the youngest to obtain this honor in 91 years, and this could not have been attainable if I had not found this e book. A part of Urhobo Present Affairs was revealed on the 2022 UPU Brochure Conference. It was certainly a dream come true. I used to be honored in faraway Ekiti State because the Onigere-Ara (trendy storyteller) of Tapa Kingdom. This was after the Oba attended my e book launch and he was impressed by all the things he noticed there.”
“Monetary rewards?” he asks somewhat rhetorically.
He says: “At my ethnic degree, folks name me an Urhobo historian. Not a lot of them know that I had written greater than ten books earlier than I got here up with the e book. I’ve written many books which have obtained the approval of the Ministries of Schooling in Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Lagos States. A few of my books are: Era of Mad Individuals, Oduduwa, A Dance to the Golden Imaginative and prescient, Stunning Nonsense, Holy Sinner, Lust for Wealth, The Crying Hospital Mattress, When Warri was Warri, Midnight Solar and A Miracle in Two Paragraphs.
In certainly one of his revealed works, Era of Mad Individuals, he highlights the issue of web fraud amongst younger folks.
The textual content has obtained the assist of the Ministries of Schooling in Edo and Rivers States. In these states the e book was permitted for JSS 3 to have a large readership and subsequently used for the State Junior WAEC.
For him, “inspiration is the core of realizing a dream or pursuit. Professor GG Darah's work, Historic Details About Urhobo Nationality in The Guardian Newspaper, impressed and accelerated me to understand my dream. I’m grateful to him.”
