Ever Obi Excites Readers in Lagos With the First Reading of His New Book

The event, which was organized by the book's publisher, Parresia Publishers Limited, had over 100 guests in attendance. Many who have read the book since it became available on the shelves of local and international bookstores and online platforms had the opportunity to question the author about the plot, theme, and characters in the book.

The excitement of the audience heightened when Nigerian singer, and songwriter, Naomi Mac, took the stage to perform live the official song of the book.

When asked what inspired the project, Obi told the audience how he met Naomi Mac and what inspired the writing of the song.

“Sometime last year, I listened to a song by Tkinzy, titled ‘The Stranger of Braamfontein’. Around the same time, Onyeka Nwelue had just published his award-winning crime fiction, ‘The Strangers of Braamfontein’. I later learned that the book had inspired the song and the song was co-written by Onyeka Nwelue. And then I saw with Chibundo Onuzo did with ‘Good Soil’, the theme song for her latest novel, ‘Sankofa’. So, I thought about it. I wanted to do something like this for my new book.

“Chibundo wrote the song and she also sang it. I can’t sing, I am a writer. I started thinking of who I was going to bring on this project.

“My friend, Ifeanyi Opara, who is a filmmaker and a big fan of Naomi Mac during season 3 of music reality show The Voice Nigeria, thought she was a beautiful singer who would be a good fit for the song. So, I told Ifeanyi that I needed to get across to Naomi. He reached out to the manager, Frank Paladini, and after a few delays and considerations, they decided to get on the project”.

Commenting on the process of working on the project, Obi said he “wanted to capture the most important themes of the book in the song”.

According to him, he focused on the theme of imperfection, which he considered the major one. “I wrote the song without any sound or melody in my head. When I gave it to Naomi, she tweaked a few things and turned my words into a beautiful song”, he said.

He added that Naomi Mac was very easy to work with because “she is such an amazing human”. “And I liked the fact that she made the song her own. We were in the studio together, during production, and when the product came out, I heard goose bumps, while listening to it. I could not believe those were my words that she had turned into a powerful song, with strong vocals. I appreciated that. It was then I knew that I made the right decision to work with Naomi Mac”.

The writer disclosed that “since the book came out, it has been enjoying tremendous success. Within two months, the book sold out and my publishers had to go back to press. It gives me joy to know that we have as many copies as possible in the hands of as many people as possible. And the one thing that people have said is that there is something for everyone. People read the book and it evokes memories from their past. People connect to the characters of the book. That is the one thing I wanted to achieve with the song. I want people to listen to the lyrics and see themselves as characters. And I am glad that I have Naomi Mac’s voice taking people through that journey. There are too many people who, for some reasons, don’t read as much, or read things that aren’t creative books. I see this as an opportunity to bring them in, to be part of this story. People can either read the book or listen to the song and connect to whatever they want to connect to.”

He expressed his gratitude to Frank Paladini, Ifeanyi Opara and Naomi Mac, for being part of the project and also appreciated his publishers and readers for the show of love and support since the launch of his first book.

Giving the closing remark, the moderator of the reading, Ijeoma Ucheibe, encouraged everyone who had not yet purchased and/or read the book to do so and to share their thoughts with the author via his social media handle @obi_ever. She also thanked everyone that attended or contributed to the success of the author reading in Lagos. “We all need to be social change agents in our communities; always kick against any form of abuse and seek mental health care when we need it”, Ucheibe concluded.