A review of the book, Yomi A. Davies’ book, Biography of a Media Icon: Yemi Farounbi — His World, His Works, His Words.
EVERYONE already knows Chief (Dr) Yemi Farounbi as a broadcast professional par excellence, a diplomat, a politician and a man of the people; however, not many have had the opportunity to move closer to him on a personal level and this is what Chief Yomi A. Davies has done with his book, Biography of a Media Icon: Yemi Farounbi: — His World, His Works, His Words — is set to achieve.
Simply going through this book will lay bare the life of this erudite gentleman who had, and is still impacting the people in different areas of life.
The book opens with the author, Chief Davies, asking Dr Farounbi how he has been able to make such huge impact in the lives of the people and his response was not unexpected as a man of humility, “It’s just divine. I always tell people there is nobody who does not want to be good. There is nobody who doesn’t want to leave behind monuments of excellence, of good performance and of good inter-relationship. There is nobody. But there’s only one person who decides who will and who will not, and that is God.” This response summarises Dr Farounbi’s life; he credits everything he has achieved to God.
The book then takes the reader on a journey into Dr Farounbi’s early life, the opportunities he had to go abroad but had no passport, his journey into WNTV, among others.
Published by August Publishers, with the Executive Publisher being Evangelist (Mrs) Lillian Bademosi, the 10-chapter book also details the God factor in the life of the subject, as well as his sojourn into politics through the Chief Obafemi Awolowo-Bola Ige connection, as well as pressures to be governor.
His period as Nigeria’s ambassador to The Philippines is well-documented, as well as how he exited the NTA.
The tail end of the book features how Chief Farounbi met his wife, Adenike; he was then at the University of Nigeria Nsukka and used to spend some holidays at Ijero-Ekiti, where he had once taught at Doherty Memorial Grammar School, Ijero-Ekiti. Adenike was then at Ayo Babalola Memorial Grammar School, Ilesa, but her mother was based in Ijero-Ekiti and she used to man her shop whenever she was around. The rest of the story can be found in chapter seven of the book.
The following chapter details how the death of Adenike affected Dr Faounbi, and how he met Evelyn in 1999. The meeting, according to Dr Farounbi, was divine because Adenike was everything to him and he never really planned to take another after her exit, but man only proposes.
Also included in the book were Dr Farounbi’s reflections on a number of national issues, including on Chief Awolowo’s speech in court before he was sentenced to prison, Justice Sowemimo’s statement before pronouncing sentence on Chief Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro’s consistency as a progressive, among others.
There were also tributes for Dr Farounbi by certain individuals he had met in the course of his life in the area of politics, broadcasting, among others.
The book is, therefore, recommended for students of journalism, politics and every Nigerian who loves to read biographies of geniuses the country has produced.
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