Book Review: Blind Trust

Ufodike

Trust critical in human relationships

Title of Book:        Blind Trust

Author:          Ebele Ufodike

Published by:  Betcy Media Limited for Leobelak Publishers, Lagos, Nigeria

Year:              2012

Volume:         138 pages

Reviewer:      ADA DIKE

Can one truly trust blindly? That is a pertinent question one will ask him or herself when you see Mrs. Ebele Ufodike’s book, ‘Blind Trust'.

But the answer is in the 138-page romantic, intriguing and interesting novel in which the author tells a story of betrayal.

It is divided into sixteen chapters. Bearing no topics, each chaper has interwoven narratives that take the reader into the psyche and world of a man who desires to live a fulfilled life but faces challenges of hatred and envy by his bosom friend.

Ebele provides a story of two friends, Felix and Ikem, who start a business venture, with Felix American-based, providing the capital and Ikem, Nigerian-based, supplying the entrepreneurship at the beginning. Felix’s arrival to take over the leadership of the company and his eventual marriage to a delectable Northern Princess, Zara, create a devilish sense of envy in Ikem, who connived with another staff, Amina, to weave a plot culminating in attempted suicide and near crash of a once happy home of the Obiomas.

In the opening page, Ebele provides a snap story of a US-based Nigerian, Felix Obioma who sojourned to the US at twenty-two years after his graduation from the University of Jos with a first class in Business Administration and the compulsory National Youth Service Corps.

Having spent eight years in the US, one bright summer afternoon in downtown Atlanta Georgia, as different activities were going – people going about their businesses, offices busy with human activity and banks open for customers, Felix looked out of the window of his tenth floor office, located on Peach-Tree, a busy street in the neighbourhood.

Ebele takes her readers down memory lane as Felix recalls how tragedy struck shortly after he completed his university education. His parents died in a plane on their way to Jos for Felix’s graduation.

Felix feels abandoned, lonely and hopeless by the loss of his pillars of life, being their only child. With the help of his close friend, Ikem, who cheers him up regularly by telling him stories about Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State where he’s doing his youth service programme, coupled with Professor Chile Duru’s assistance who specially requests that Felix be posted to serve in the University of Jos so as to get automatic employment, he begins to feel relieved of the pain in his heart.

Change comes to Felix when a very influential politician, the Mayor of Atlanta and also an emeritus professor from the University of Georgia, Professor Marcus Grant, came to the university where Felix is serving to deliver the annual Vice Chancellor’s Lecture Series. Being one of the protocols the august visitor chats happily with Felix and becomes quite impressed with his level of intelligence and astuteness. He asks Felix to make a wish and Felix tells him that his greatest wish is to live in America.

Like a dream or a clip of a fairy tale, three months later, Felix gets admission to do Master’s in Administration at the University of Atlanta, Georgia, courtesy of the visiting professor. After his youth service, he jets out of the country.

In Chapter Two, the author, in a very engaging style narrates how Felix meets Dr. Greg Chijindu in a plane on his way to the US. He becomes fascinated by the book “Business Opportunities for The 21^st Century Entrepreneur” with a subtitle: ‘Unravelling the Secrets of Great Enterprises in the United States.’ The title of the book tickles his fancy so he engages the man in a discussion. Greg is an entrepreneur from Anambra State based in New York. After Felix completed his Master’s degree in Business Administration, Greg offers him an employment in his airline business as the research assistant.

Chapter Three takes us into the world of Felix in his office, sitting on a spot and observing activities of pedestrians and motorists along Peach-Tree Street, downtown Atlanta Georgia. He drifts into a reverie, capturing the events that led to his coming to school and work in the US. It’s exactly eight years since he first stepped into God’s Own Country.

One day, Greg calls Felix into his office, eulogises him for his hard work and honesty. He offers him a fair share of the business ownership plus annual profit sharing and other incentives. Greg advises Felix to think home (Nigeria) and also try and settle down.

Taking a cue from Greg’s suggestion, Felix decides to register a tourist company in Nigeria called ‘F.I. Investments Limited’ with the assistance of his long-time bosom friend, Ikem, who is more like a brother to him. Felix becomes the financier and executive chairman while Ikem is the vice chairman/chief executive officer. Felix resigns and decides to move back to Nigeria.

Chapter 5 simply explores Felix trip via the Trans-Atlantic airplane to Nigeria. After retrieving his luggage, pushing them in a trolley and at the same time answering a phone call, he bumps into a 25-year-old lady, Zara Danjuma, who’s also trying to retrieve her luggage. Zara has spent her lifetime in the US before she agrees to visit Nigeria after her father convinced her to return to her fatherland. Zara pacifies her father who is angry with Felix. Felix apologises and wonders about the awesome beauty of Zara, who looks like a half-caste of Arabic origin.

Most times, what we think about manifests in our dreams. Chapter six begins with Felix dreaming where Zara is massaging him and asking him whether she should get him some breakfast.

On his way to Port Harcourt, a Caucasian man, Bill Whitewater, sitting next to Felix notices he is in love, smiles and winks at him. Felix feels embarrassed and offers a quick apology.

“I understand the feeling …when a man loves a woman, all that he sees night and day are images of her,” Bill said, placing his right hand on Felix’s left hand reassuringly.

On a Monday morning, in chapter seven, Felix holds a meeting with his employees, expressing his confidence in the commitment and loyalty of his partner, Ikem. He challenged his workers to work in harmony for the growth of the company and promises them annual vacation in any choice location in the world if they remain fraud-free. They clap and show appreciation to him. This gesture does not go down well with Ikem who ask Felix to down play his “so called motivational instinct next time we hold such sensitive meeting.”

In chapters eight and nine, Felix notices a familiar figure making calls at Abuja airport. He begs to wheel Zara’s trolley. He introduces himself, planted a kiss on her hand. After exchanging pleasantries, he proposes to her, kneels down and inserts a ring in Zara’s finger. She rejects and regards the issue as dramatic. But Zara gives him a card for a dinner her dad is organising that evening in honour of new Israeli ambassador to Nigeria. Felix also tries to give Zara that engagement ring at the dinner but she declines and agrees they become good friends.

Ebele reveals in chapter ten that Zara has fallen in love with Felix after six months of courtship. They get married in a society wedding.

Their first child arrived and they named her ‘Dianne’. Her second pregnancy was twins- two boys: Felix and Tom. Theirs was a peaceful and loving home which Ikem hates because he is yet to settle down. He then starts looking for a means to destroy Felix’s marriage. He single handedly employs Amina as Felix’s secretary to achieve his aim.

 Ebele’s  narrative in the book shows how dangerous some people can be when you have joint business with them. It opens the reader’s mind and eyes to learn how a friend can be one’s worst enemy.

The content was richly garnished with innuendos and satires. The novel invokes empathy and it is not possible for one to finish reading it without shedding tears, especially from chapters fourteen to the end due to how Felix, Ikem, gateman, housekeeper, nurses and doctors treated Zara, after she was accused of poisoning her husband to take his wealth, marry another husband and squander Felix’s wealth with her new husband. Felix sends Zara away. Being a born again Christian, she remained consistent in her faith till the day their dust-bin carrier came to greet Felix. He narrated how his gate was wide open without the gateman on duty and he saw Amina (whom Felix was about to propose for marriage) coming out of the gate that day. Amina tried to deny but later confessed that Ikem sent her to poison Felix so that they will take over the company, get married and enjoy the wealth.

Shortly Ikem returned with Felix’s children he took out for shopping and cinema. He was shocked to find out that Amina he employed as Felix’s secretary fourteen years ago to help him execute his plan has confessed all their atrocities to Felix. Amina opened her mouth to speak but was cut short with a gunshot. The bullet entered her temple and she died. Ikem turned the gun on Felix who fell on the ground, and finally pulled the trigger on his own head. Ikem and Amina were dead but Felix narrowly escaped death and was taken to the hospital where he was treated. Before he left the hospital, he invited Zara and she was surprised to see the assemblage of doctors and nurses in Felix’s hospital room. He fell on his knees and apologised to Zara with every word in his mouth. Zara wept. She forgave him! There’s excitement everywhere. F.I. Investment was renamed F.Z. (Felix Zara) Investment Limited. Zara resigned her appointment with the oil company and joined her husband to run their company. Peace returned in their home.

The novel is a well-written literary piece that arrests the reader’s interest till the

end. From the very first chapter to the last paragraph, the story is full of suspense. But there were few errors in pages 15, 62, 77, 8 and 121. Also, Felix was repeatedly written with small ‘f’.

The book is more of the triumph of good over evil in a society that is already bedevilled with a get-rich-quick syndrome, not minding how.

I recommend this book to everyone to read and learn a lesson of how one’s trusted friend and business partner turned to be his worst enemy.

Ebele Ufodike is the Headmistress of Kamba-F international School, Shomolu, Lagos. She has authored a number of children’s books such as: Best Way Handwriting Book 1-5, Colouring is Fun 1-3, Prayer Book, Copy and Colour ABC Books 1-3 and Copy and Colour 23 Books 1-3, but Blind Trust is her first novel.