By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
For those who know him, Commodore Sunny Emmanuel Akintomide ‘SEA’ Olamilokun (retd) fits the definition of a soldier-scholar, leader of men and a fine administrator. And those traits became the theme of the three books he recently launched.
The books – About This SEA, A memoir of Leadership Steps; About This Sky, a memoir of Opportunities and Growth and A Scholar’s perception of governance, politics and military strategy, were all launched on March 14 at the Admiralty Conference Centre in the Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The attendance at the event was massive, a testimony of the kind of legacy he has built and the impact he has made.
At the Naval end, it was the Flag Officer Western Command, Rear Admiral Oladele Bamidele Daji, that led the delegation. He wore two caps at the event, representing the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas and himself.
He extolled the leadership qualities of the author and the kind of impact he made while in the service until his voluntary retirement in 2008. He said his kinds are rare to come by.
Former students of the Nigerian Navy School, fondly called ex-Navy Boys, could not be missed at the event. They came in their numbers to celebrate their former commandant and to also offer their solidarity. Many of them launched the books with huge amounts but not without first expressing their deep love and respect for the author who was the pioneer commandant of the school in 1990.
The attendance also includes people from academia, business, public service and clergies.
The reviewers of the book include; Dr Bolupe Awe, Rear Admiral FD Akpan and Prof Dayo Ajala.
Admiral Akpan reviewed ‘A Scholar’s perception of governance, politics and military strategy’ where he quoted the section in which the author used his mathematical strength (he has a masters degree in mathematics) to situate Nigeria’s politics.
“There are three musketeers in Nigeria’s internal politics. These are the North, West and the East. In the geometry of Nigeria’s politics, the North represents the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle. And according to Pythagoras, its square is the same as the sum of the square of the other two (East and West). That has been the politics even after Gen. Gowon created the 12 states structure. Therefore, the best strategy of any of the southern parts to defeat the north is to cooperate among themselves,” he quoted.
The reviewer said the book recognised that while Nigeria has 36 states’ structure, the hegemony and the existence of the centrifugal forces of the three regional structure persist.
The reviewer said the author believes that often in policy, Nigeria exports what it does not have and imports what it has in abundance.
“We import petroleum products with our vast reserves of crude oil. We distribute electricity to neighbouring West African countries while we are in darkness and acute shortage of liquefied gas. That is the paradox of the Nigerian state.”
The reviewer said in the book, the author advocated consocialisation, a democratic system of government that would involve proportional representation, principles of federal character and rotational leadership.
“This package will reduce the tendency of ‘do or die’ politics as practised now and will, therefore, make the elites less adversarial,” the reviewer quoted from the book.
Professor Ajala who reviewed About This Sky, a memoir of Opportunities and Growth, said the author has provided this generation and the generation to come with materials about his life, experiences and career in the Navy.
Dr Awe who reviewed About This SEA, A memoir of Leadership Steps, said the book shows how the author’s ability to think outside the box resulted in many of the successes he achieved.
