The public presentation of the autobiography of Rear Admiral Alison Madueke titled “Riding the storms with God in my sails” yesterday at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, was dominated by strong feelings and expressions of nostalgia of what a good country Nigeria used to be before it was driven to the precipice where it is today.
The feelings were reminiscent of the title of Chinua Achebe’s book, “There was a Country”. And not a few speakers at that gathering of prominent Nigerians actually used that Achebe’s book title, “There was a country” in their speeches. In fact, one of the speakers, Retired Vice Admiral Ezeoba, wept openly for the country after recounting his experiences of the good old days.
Speaking at the end of the presentation, the author, Rear Admiral Alison Madueke said: “I have only told a story, the story of my life. You might ask: why did you decide to tell your story? I decided to tell my story so that no other person will tell my story for me.” He said when one had been in public office many of the things he says and does can be misinterpreted, citing examples with an incident where he was said to have addressed traditional rulers in Enugu State as “guys” shortly after he arrived from Washington D.C to Enugu as the military Governor of Anambra State.
“So, it is good to tell your story. The incident that led to our retirement; my fellow victim (Major-General Chris Alli, former Chief of Army Staff) is here. What was it? It is in this book.”
