A Dusky Dawn: First Rays of Hope

I have long held the belief that all men are not just created equal but are equal irrespective of colour or societal divisions but never for once have I questioned my belief and the rationale behind it. For what makes a man less equal than his fellow men if there be any reason. For we are all bound to the same fate; to live and to die eventually.     

Peter Otabor

The Black Man! Who is the Black Man? How do you define what Black is? The world has indeed changed but the societal prejudices of old are seemingly stuck with the times. Colour, Race and other societal divisions are seemingly ever-present and so often one might wonder will change and acceptance ever take hold of the hearts of men. This was the feeling when I wrote the piece “Who is the White Man? Thoughts of an African man.” It was an exploration of the subject of colour and how a Black man defines what seemingly is considered his opposite; the White man. The article was a heartfelt expression of what I believed was an uncharted path – writing on who the White man was.  Regardless, I took the path knowing fully well that the subject of the Black man was always constantly in the media and so often the pictures painted were not a true reflection of who the Black man is?  Though, I might be black in colour it doesn’t define my ability and my achievements.  It doesn’t mean everything I do reeks of savagery, greed, and darkness. Black is simply colour and my hope was that my article would strike a nerve and get people thinking and taking action to change that perception and indeed it did. The article got published in one of the National dailies, The Guardian Newspaper and a number of other websites and I was proud knowing that the message was being preached and that hopefully change would be birth.

A couple of months down the line, a reader named Amrita reached out to me. She was an Indian living in Nigeria with her husband and she was in her words moved by my piece and felt the same way – that Nigeria, despite the negatives, had positive stories, stories that were buried by the negative media coverage and she wanted to bring those positive stories to light.  I was touched by her words and so I decided to join in on her project – a project of words. And so I joined a passionate cause, one that set out to change the perception of the world about Nigeria. This project was one I felt deeply about and one that pushed my limits as a writer, exploring a new genre of story writing meanwhile I wrote mainly articles. An interesting journey I might add and after months of brainstorming, writing, and meetings, a dusky dawn was born.

A dusky dawn: First rays of hope; is the name of the book that tells the Nigerian story through the eyes of a foreigner, her experiences, the bonds she formed and more so stories of hope, love and the unsung Nigerian heroes all fictionalized but drawn from real-life experiences. My hope is that this book would tell the real Nigerian story and change the perception out there to one that speaks of a people with a great heart and a loving spirit. It is a piece definitely worth reading.  

GET YOUR COPY OF THE BOOK – A DUSKY DAWN: FIRST RAYS OF HOPE

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