Inside Nyaknno Osso’s “Against All Odds, My Testimony”

The Boy Who Loves Books

Being a review of the autobiography of Nigeria’s Legendary Librarian, Nyaknno Osso, titled AGAINST ALL ODDS, MY TESTIMONY, By Dare Babarinsa, August 31, 2024, during the 70th Birthday Anniversary of the brand new author.

Nyaknno Osso’s life is an adventure in the search for knowledge.

He grew up as his mother’s only child, and then destiny seized him and escorted him on a life journey that would take him to all the corners of the earth, dining and winning with the high and mighty and ultimately leading him into self-discovery as a child of God who has been favoured in many special ways.

Nyaknno Osso has revealed his true self in this enthralling autobiography, Against All Odds, My Testimony, published by Biographical Legacy and Research Foundation. In this 400-page book, you will discover that Nyaknno Osso is a long-distance runner who started from a truly humble beginning to become a man of global consequences.

Fate singled him out from the start. How can he be the only child that survived out of eight children if not the hand of a benevolent fate? His parents, afraid that he may suffer the same fate as his older siblings, gave him the name NyaknnoAbasi, which means “I leave him in the hand of God”.

It was a prophetic name that seemed to have guided Nyaknno Osso in his life adventures. His uncle wanted him to be a doctor, but he wanted to be a soldier instead. He got his admission to the Nigeria Defence Academy through its commandant, the late Major-General Adeyinka Adebayo. God chose a different path for him, and our country and humanity are richer for it.

Nyaknno Osso is not a man to boast about his achievements, and this book is written in the plain language of a seasoned journalist. There is no bombastic, no beating of the chest and no flourish. Just be ready to be entertained with facts and information.

After working with journalists for many decades, Mr Osso has imbibed the reporter’s skill of just plain reporting. It is the simplicity of this book that is so engaging and enthralling. You cannot put it down once you begin. It is an autobiography, but also a bit of our country’s interesting contemporary history, the sociology of his native people of Akwa Ibom State and a classic exploration of the power-play in Nigeria with the ebullient and enigmatic General Olusegun Obasanjo at the centre of this narrative.

As a young man in search of his future, Nyaknno Osso was invited to Ibadan by his uncle, a university teacher. His uncle wanted him to become a doctor, but Mr Osso drifted into information science. He loves books and thus begins a lifelong romance with the library.

It was in Ibadan that he met many interesting people and learnt to become a disc jockey, like the unforgettable Tunji Marquis and Alex Conde, both of the Western Nigerian Broadcasting Service, WNBS, Ibadan. He enjoyed the high life. But then, in 1975, he took a trip to Calabar on the promise that he would get a job in the library of the new University of Calabar, but instead got a job with the public library where the great Ray Ekpu, then editor of the Sunday Chronicle, happened on him one day.

Nyaknno Osso was precocious, even daring. He accosted Mr Ekpu and gave him a piece of information that struck an unforgettable chord. “I know your girlfriend in Ibadan, Uyai,” he told Mr Ekpu. “She says you are going to marry her.” Simple; straightforward. That is Mr Osso in a single sentence.

Thus began a lifelong friendship and mentorship. Mr Ekpu was invited to join the Federal Government-owned Daily Times by President Shehu Shagari on the recommendation of Governor Clement Isong of the then Cross River State. Mr Ekpu became the editor of the highly-rated Sunday Times, and from that pedestal, his sun shone across the land. He was cerebral, engaging, daring, informed and fearless. His Sunday column was a must-read, and the circulation figure of the Sunday Times soared.

But the owners of the paper were displeased, and they decided to knock him off his high horse, and he was posted to edit the staid Business Times. Even then, he resumed his irreverent column in the Business Times until he was forced to resign and took employment with the Concord Group of Newspapers, where he served as the chairman of the editorial board. It was at the Concord that Mr Ekpu teamed up with two other editors, Yakubu Mohammed of the National Concord and Dele Giwa of the Sunday Concord, to start the pioneering news weekly, Newswatch, with Dan Agbese from the New Nigerian stable.

With Newswatch in incubation in 1984, Mr Ekpu told his colleagues that the man to make a difference was Nyaknno Osso. Mr Giwa travelled to Calabar and brought him in tow insisting that Mr Osso must start work immediately to build the best media library in Nigeria. Mr Osso was the first staff employed by Newswatch and he was perhaps the best. He pioneered the practice of the library opening almost 24 hours daily, especially during the production period. He would be the first in the office in the morning and the last to leave.

Newswatch understood the critical role of accurate information in the enterprise’s success. To learn more and bring the trophy home, Osso was sent to the best media houses in the world. During those tours, he met many media legends, including Lance Morrow of Time magazine. He had so many unforgettable moments in Newswatch. It was in Newswatch that he produced and edited the great book Newswatch Who is Who, which was to win him worldwide acclaim.

One day in 1986, Nyaknno Osso went to the office and met Giwa, who was in a morose mood. He had just returned from a disturbing interview with the State Security Service, SSS, at Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. “My brother, I don’t know why anyone would want to kill me,” Giwa lamented. The following day, Giwa was killed by a parcel bomb.

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It was Newswatch that provided him with the opportunity to meet General Obasanjo, who had retired to his farm in Otta, Ogun State, after his service as Nigeria’s military Head of State. It was a meeting that was to change the course of Nigerian history and Osso’s odyssey. The general was surprised when Osso brought 20 files of information about him (Obasanjo) to his Otta during their first meeting. Osso’s fame was spreading rapidly as a first-class media librarian, and it was not Obasanjo alone who courted his friendship.

In 1991, he was invited to work with a Nigerian Head of State and was offered an initial payment of 10 million naira, a princely sum in those days. He was advised to return the money. He did not join the team. After General Sani Abacha seized power, Nyaknno Osso was invited to come and head the national library. “Please don’t go, “Obasanjo advised him. “They would frustrate you. They would reduce you to nothing!”

He declined the offer.

Then Abacha decided to reduce Mr Obasanjo to nothing. It was a dark period for Nigeria and the author until Abacha died suddenly in 1998. Mr Obasanjo rose from prison to become the landlord of Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja. Nyaknno Osso was with him throughout his eight years in power. It was then that the idea of the first Presidential Library in Africa took form. Today, the Olusegun Obasanjo President Library, OOP, is standing on many acres of land in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State. It is a lasting monument to Nyaknno Osso’s service to Nigeria and humanity. His ideas and efforts have made the library possible.

The village boy from Ete has done well.

Dare Babarinsa is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Gaskia Media Ltd.