By JAPHET ALAKAM

To me, today’s event is a combination of education and healthcare, which represents the core of human capital development. This was the words of Governor Babatunde Fashola, the executive governor of Lagos State during the launch of a book, Heroes and Others, written by award winning author and the outgoing Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr. Femi Olugbile at the conference hall of Protea Hotel, Ikeja.

As it turned out to be,  at the well attended event, the two issues took the upper seat as prominent Nigerians including Governor Fashola, his deputy, MD of Emzor Pharmaceutical, Stella Okoli and others paid glowing tribute to the author for his contributions in the field of health and education.

Speaking in his capacity as the chief Host of the occasion, the Governor Fashola commended the author for his contributions as a public servant, especially in the area of his specialty which is mental health. The governor said “when I appointed Dr. Olugbile as GMD LASUTH, I knew he made a First Class in Medicine, but I did not know he was also a great literary writer. To me, today’s event is a combination of education and healthcare, which represents the core of human capital development.”

*From left; Jide Idris, Gov. Babatunde Fashola (Chief host) GMD of Emzor, Mrs. Stella Okoli; Dr & Mrs Femi Olugbile, author of the book; Mrs Yewande Adeshina SA on Health to Gov.Fashola and Hon Tunde Alokan, rep. of Ekiti Deputy governor at the book launch.

He noted that there is no special mental health care centre in Lagos, the only one is the Federal Government-owned psychiatric hospital. And since that one could no longer meet the needs of the state’s over 21 million residents, there are plans to establish a psychiatric hospital at Ikorodu.

Continuing, he stated that since the state has a facility at Ikorodu, the hospital would be built there to accommodate the needs of various psychiatric patients.

“Olugbile’s life is a message that you can be anything you want to be in life provided you know what to do with your time. I have benefitted immensely from his work. His advice is assisting us make good decisions and we will still tap from his knowledge in the next 11 days before he retires,” He added.

The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Stella Okoli who described the event as a unique said that people came in with love and the entire environment radiated with love. She described the author as a perfect gentleman, a great contributor to anything he is asked to do. “Writing is a very special gift and those who are blessed with it are special people and Femi is one of them.” She added.

Continuing, she stated that “We owe ourselves a duty to tell our story for the unborn generation. The Western world have been doing that for us at our own detriment. That is why writers should be encouraged and celebrated.”

Mr. Kunle Ajibade, Executive Editor of The NEWS/P.M.NEWS in his review, titled The Truth of Femi Olugbile’s Fiction, said that the book which he is presenting on the eve of his sixtieth birthday, is a gift to himself as a young senior citizen.  Ajibade who has followed Femi right from when he won the ANA prize in 1986 said that as you read Olugbile’s stories, the irresistible power of his style will remind you of some of the masters of the short story form.

The stories in Heroes and Others are, essentially, an inquiry into the dark side of human nature, what pushes humankind inexorably to the dark corner, and how everyday heroism can redeem human beings and propel them to greater heights. “Olugbile paints marvellously the aches in the heads and hearts of his characters. He is not just a near-perfect describer of things around these characters, he is an excellent painter of their interiorities.”

Odia Ofeimun, who was the secretary of ANA  when he won the ANA award said that when he won the award, the judges did not debate on his work. He described him as a serious writer, “Femi took his writing skill to a level that we were worried how he can manage in his career.”

Odia who observed that Femi did in a fictional work what he can do in the medical field said that the book has strong female characters in a manner that informs us about what women can do.

The award winning author of Lonely Men, that won the ANA award in 1986 who confessed that he felt privileged to have the regards of others said that “the story of the people is the story of all, if we don’t tell the stories others will tell it for us.”

Continuing, he stated that he found the title only after he found the stories. “It speaks of the common theme of the story, the story of everybody’s life, which is ultimately the story of finding heroes within themselves and not finding it as the case may be. The strive to become a hero is the predominant theme of the story ,every human being, whether you are talking about the life of a driver or a president, the issue might be different but in all they want to be heroes.” He added.