Book Review

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Interviewwith author, Honorable Michael Ukwagiobe Adie onOctober,17th,2016 at the Nigerian
Chronicle'sofficesatBarrack's Road.
RecentlyIsat withthe accomplishedauthorandpublicservantforaone on one interviewonthe releaseof his
newbook, Groundworkof Obudu History (1600-1959). The publicoffice holder,whoisdoublingasawriter,( he
iscurrentlythe Cross RiverState Special Adviseron Inlandwaterways)spoke tothiswriteron the processof the
birthof hishistorical tome.
R. Knight:You recentlycompletedamammothwork (688 pages) on the historyof the Obudupeople,replete
withphotographsanddetailedannotationsandreferences.Tell usaboutthisbook.Whythispainstaking
undertaking?Everybodyistalkingaboutit.
Hon. Mike U. Adie: This book is all about the origin and migration and
settlement of the groups in Obudu, their traditional institutions, forms of
aesthetic expression and the customs and traditions of the diversegroups. Itis
also concerned with how colonialism was established in Obudu and impact of
colonialism on the traditional institutions of the area. There is a scan into the
future beyond 1959, as the book is appropriately periodized.
R. Knight:Howdid youcome to a platformof a writerwhenindeedyourbackgroundhasalways
beeninpublicadministrationandsecurity?Are there anycorollaries?
Hon. Mike U. Adie: Matter of factly, I am a historian by trade, having acquired
degrees in history in the 1980s and early 1990. BA (1984) MA (1990). So I ammoreor
less practicing my art, what I learnt in the university. Itis historians that oughtto
write about the history of their areas, using what Prof. Okon Uya calls the inside-out
technique and employing the technique of historiography (thetechnique of
researching history and writing history, the various sources of history and the works
of pasthistorians).
R. Knight:YesYou may have studiedHistoryasa disciplineinthe University.Idare submit,youwere notthe
onlystudentinyourclass,yetwe don't see othersembarkingonadecadeslong researchto write a688
tome aboutthe historyof theirethnicgroups.Whatisyour motivationforsuchan undertaking?

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Hon. Mike U. Adie: The book derives frommy urgent concern to reconstruct
the history of all the groups in Obudu (the Bette/Bendi,
Ukpe/Ubang/Alege,Utugwang and Abonlikwu groups) This is because there has
been a serious dearth of published materials on the groups. Obudu has been a
crucial but frequently neglected area to benefit fromany formof historical
reconstruction until recent times, when people, some not professionalhistorians,
began to take up the gauntlet and do some publishing, I, as a son of the soil began
to see holes in their narratives. Secondly, speaking on the national historicalscale,
the tendency has always been for historians of Nigerian extraction to gloss over
the history of the groups in Obudu, by treating the groups in Obudu and her
people as objects not as subjects in reconstructing the history of Nigeria and her
people. At bestNigerian historians treat the groups in Obudu as footnotes or
endnotes to the history of Nigeria. So we need to reconstructour history and de-
constructthe stereotypes about the groups in Obudu. In short, Obudu has, all
along, been under-reported in books written about Nigeria and her people. So
historians of Obudu extraction haveto riseup and play their role.
Thirdly, historians who fail to document their history abdicate their
responsibility and appear before the court of history strangulated by their
lethargy and inertia and navigate into the futurerather rudderless planting the
future of their areas in perpetual darkness. They also starvethoseunborn of a
compass. If you failto know the sickness thatkilled your father, you may end up
like your father. This has served as my motivation in writing this book.
R. Knight:Howdoesyour backgroundas an officerinthe NDLEA influenceyourseminal workinthe
"groundworkof ObuduHistory"?
Hon. Mike U. Adie: Yes, as a professionalhistorian, I amplying my trade.
Secondly at the NDLEA, I was noted for prolific writing and computation of case

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files, infact mostcases that appeared complicated were always referred to me to
compile. I presumemy background in history was put to advantage. Besides, as
NDLEA commander, in chargeof a zone or state, I routinely sent what wecalled
monthly or SITUATIONAL SITREP ( situation reports) to head quarters and you
needed to have proficiency in writing before you could write or string coherent
reports. But writing has always been my hobby, becauseI enjoy writing and
putting together thoughts that would otherwiseappear incommensurate.
R. Knight:To a lot of us non-historians,we wouldnothave thoughtof writingthe historyof the Obudu
people throughthe lensesof the Bendi group. Whythe subtitle: "Reconstructedthroughthe lensesof
the Bette-Bendi groups"?
Hon. Mike U. Adie: Firstly, we should know that apart frombeing the most
homogenous groups in Obudu, the Bette-Bendi groups areregarded as a
microcosms and caricatures of all the other groups in Obudu- the Alege, Ubang,
Ukpe, Abonlikwu and Utugwang groups so it serves historicalexpedience to writ
fromthis perspective. However the book is not aboutthe Bette-Bendi groups
alone as the sub-tittle may suggest, butabout all the groups in the old Obudu
division. But one needs to usea smaller group to representthe macrocosm. To
borrow professorUzoigwe’s words, to understand the whole, a study of the
components of the whole and how they relate to each other is important. The
groups in Obudu belonged to a composite whole, each affecting and relating to
each other in the political economic social and religious domain in the pre-
colonial, colonial and post-colonial times.
R. Knight:You have come undercriticismfromsome quartersforchoosingthe time limitsyoudid,yet
youventuredoutside of themin mentioningthe currentsittinggovernor,Senator,ProfessorBenAyade

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whois an Obudian.Howdoyou rationalize the timelimitsof your coverage from1600 to 1959? and still
include the overlapbeyond1959.
Hon. Mike U. Adie: An author mustalways periodiseand create boundaries
to his work in order to maintain controland focus and to prevent the book from
becoming unwieldy. Itis for these reasons that the limits of inquiry have had to be
set apart as 1600 on the one hand (coinciding with the postulated great bantu
migration of the last 300-500yrswhen itis presumed the groups in Obudu
dispersed fromthe great lakes region in the Congo basin.) and 1959 ( the end of
colonialism.) I do not want to venture into the postcolonial period, yet certain
prescriptions and suggestions areimplicit in mostof the historical analysis going
beyond 1959, justlike a medical doctor would prescribemedical remedies by
correctly diagnosing a patient’s condition based on an accurate case history.
Beyond the river lies the wide ocean beyond 1959.
R. Knight:What isyour targetaudience andwhatdo youhope to achieve withthisbook?
Hon. Mike U. Adie: I am targeting everybody who is interested in knowing
our past, our origins, our traditional institutions and how the groups in Obudu
related to one another. The book is highly academic and can be understood only
by people in the upper and middle levels of the intellectual matrix. People at the
lower level of the matrix will find it hard to understand. I would presume, libraries
will be interested in carrying it as a reference volume for research by students of
the History of the peoples of Southern Nigeria
R. Knight: Is thisbookdefinitive asregardsthe historyof the Bette people?are the historical enquires
complete,orare othervolumesstill tocome?
Hon. Mike U. Adie: No it is not a definitive or final study, only a point of
departureto take the enquiry to the next level and be modified in due time as

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new evidence produces fresh facts worthy of more sophisticated and more robust
forms of reconstruction. This book would have served my purposeif it challenges
and provokes others to either join, correct or complete the enquiry. Besides the
theory of the bantunisation of all the groups in Obudu is still at the tentative
stage. I was able to trace the migration of the people fromsouthern Cameroon.
There is need to complete the enquiry by moving into southern Cameroon and
locating the precise place wherethe people settled before migrating to Obudu,
similarly, there is also need to visit the Congo basin to try to locate the origin of
the people before they migrated to southern Cameroon. This is justthe first leg of
the enquiry, two other legs are left to be covered- in southern Cameroon and in
the Congo basin and of coursethe post colonial era will requireanother book .
R. Knight:Howdo youintendtomake the bookavailable toscholarsandpeople of Bette
extractionoutside the countrywhomightbe curiousaboutthe material,especiallysince so
manyof themwere eitherfeaturedinit,ortheirpictureswere includedasshapersof Obudu
History.
Hon. Mike Adie: I am in talks with a competent Print on demand company
Creative Artist Press, to digitize and put the entire volume online for both
physicalfulfillment and kindle-enabled downloads to reach those in the
Diaspora. I believe that company is headed by another Obudu man, your
good self, sir.
R. Knight:Yesindeedwe have beenretainedforthe onlineproject.Creative ArtistPress
specializesinthissortof fulfillment,notonlyforscholarlybooksbutforbooksof all genres. The
companycan deliverbooksfroman online platformtoanypartof the globe throughits
partnershipwithamazon.com, democratizingpublishing.Gone are the dayswhenauthorswith
great ideashadto coughup huge sumsof moneyinorderto be published andread.WithCAP,
any authorcan become publishedforthe price of a mere copyrightandbeginto enjoythe
benefitsof worldwide distribution.Michael'sbookwillbe available soononamazon.comfor
bothphysical fulfillmentworldwideaswell asonGoogle BooksenabledforscholarlyCitations

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and referencing.Itwill alsobe listedonwww.creativeartistpress.comMichaelcanbe reached
for commentat adiemikel@gmail.comandCreativeArtistPresscanbe reachedat
gnbo101@gmail.com