Assistant Editor, TERH AGBEDEH sat with Dr. Raphael James who turned 50 recently to get a glimpse into the true essence of the man behind Centre for Research Information Management and Media Development (CR/MD)
If a dream is truly the highest point of a life, then Dr. Raphael James has had numerous highpoints in his five decades on earth. One such is his dream to build a library in the 774 local government areas of Nigeria. Many will consider his setting up of the Centre for Research, Information Management and Media Development (CRIMMD) to be apt, considering that he worked as a researcher at NewsWatch magazine and as special assistant in research and documentation at the presidency. But he waves that aside, saying the dream predates the two jobs. He has always wanted to do what he is doing now, even the only N500 rent money did not deter him. Even that N500, he recalled, he did not have, over 10 years ago, but his landlord then was benevolent enough to hand him the keys to go ahead until he could come up with the money.
Today, CRIMMD is a storehouse of knowledge, pictures and whatnot that may be difficult to find in some national archives in the country. And many a local kid has benefited from its four walls to become a national champion.
But to hear James tell the story of the centre’s little beginnings is to experience euphoria at the art of determination for which he is an expert. For when he started, more than 90 per cent of the people who walked into the door were in search of service only a business centre can provide. But being the kind of person that does not fail to learn from any situation and even impart knowledge in the process, CRIMMD stands tall today not just impacting the community where it is located but countless people nationwide and beyond.
Asked if he thinks people are more aware because he started CRIMMD, and the answer is a double-edged ‘yes and no’. That is when he tells the story of the early days that now look so far in the past next to the bustling centre of research.
When he started CRIMMD, he said, the first year of running it was a disaster, in the sense that people did not understand what he was doing.
“In fact, 90 per cent of people who walked into my office then wanted to know if it was a business centre. Somehow they controlled my mind to turn my research centre into a business centre. That was how I ended up running a business centre, doing photocopy, typing and all that. In the course of doing it, probably that is the way God wanted it to happen anyway, I saw a whole lot of younger people who would come in with their brother’s or friend’s results, demand for Tip-Ex® to erase the person’s name and now type their own name and make photocopy. I would ask them: what do you what to use it for? They would say that they were job-hunting and were asked to bring a certificate,” he recalled.
The teacher in him would at such situations change into gear and demand from the culprit how he would defend such a certificate, should he get the job. Why not read up and understand what you have read on the job, then present yourself to the employer as someone who can do the job, instead of appropriating someone else’s certificate? He would ask.
Reminded of the certificate culture in the country, he lamented that that was what was spoiling things and stated that since the day he left university, he has never had to present his certificate in the places where he worked.
“I have seen adverts in the papers and they say you must have a first class. In the universities today, we all know what happens. The ladies know how to get a first class; the guys also know how to get a first class. So you go and buy a first class degree, go to look for a job and present it but cannot perform. Why don’t companies look for people who are qualified to do a job without backing it with a certificate?” he wondered.
He went on to explain that there are a lot of people in the world who are making a difference without ever obtaining a certificate like Richard Branson, who is doing extremely well in the business world.
“I am one of those who believe that you do not necessarily have to go to the university to get your certificate qualification, but if you stay within the four corners of your house and read books a lot, you will probably perform much better than somebody who has been to a university,” he declared.
The archival content of the centre is at best surreal and better experienced than imagined. It is a good thing that school children are getting opportunity to tour the place in their numbers. Those who come get to see a wide range of pictures, books on various subjects, stamps, coins from all over, bank notes ever produced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and that of Biafra and a host of other paraphernalia.
Perhaps, the only thing missing is a Bank of Biafra five pounds note, which James says he is still searching for. He would certainly find it, considering that shortly after he opened shop, a benevolent old man he had never met donated a set of encyclopaedias to him.
To hear him tell the story is to trust in the amazing. According to James, the man, whose name he regrets not recalling, told him he had one book he would give the library if he was truly running a library. Upon convincing the old man and accompanying him home, he discovered that it was one half of a complete set of the encyclopaedia the man had been referring to as a book. He had promised to also donate the other set to him if he stayed open for a year. Unfortunately, a fire incidence that gutted the old man’s house and the encyclopaedia did not allow that to happen.
Sadly, that is the only donation he has been able to get since he started CRIMMD. And this is not because what he is doing is not appreciated – to look at his office wall crowded with awards is to think again, as there are letters of appreciation and commendation from far and near. There is even one from Queen Elizabeth of England for doing such a good job on a biography he did on General Aguiyi-Ironsi.
Interestingly, James, who said he is open to collaborating with the government and other well-meaning organisations to better bring libraries to the general public, had started out as a collector of things including fish teeth, which he no longer has in his possession. Perhaps, this is what is responsible for how organised the centre is. There is now also a bookshop in the CRIMMD premises, declared open early this year by Alex Akinyele, which would have hosted a reading on Valentine’s Day but for the general elections that were expected to hold on that day. CRIMMD holds such readings with writers and the general public from time to time, to no doubt bring people even closer to the book. It must be this love for books that makes James lament the inactivity on the part of the organisers of the Bring Back the Book initiative of President Goodluck Jonathan launched four years ago.
“I feel bad that there has not been a consistency on it and that is because I used to tell people that I sleep books, I dream books, I eat books; books have been part of my life and books have changed me a whole lot… So when the president came up with that concept, I felt delighted. In fact, from our office here, we started playing a role to be part of it. I was like, at last, there is going to be a whole lot of changes in the nation,” he said.
But it has been the same system we have been experiencing since the 1960s, he said. When an idea comes up and it is presented to the public, we all rush and welcome it with two hands, and before you know it, it moves out of our hands and nothing is done about it.
“But I pray that since he is still in power, that he will do something about it and really bring the book back,” said the author of 11 books.
Another enduring dream of the renowned researcher and author is to own a zoo. According to him, that dream is on the verge of dawning, and all he needs now is a partner who can advance him N20 million to set up.
Those who think that James’ life revolves round CRIMMD alone must think again. He is the publisher of African Dame and The National Biographer magazines which are both still very much in print. The former, he said, focuses on women, especially young women, while the latter, which he insists is the very first of its kind in Africa, focuses on biographies. Before now, normally we hear about books, biographies.
Only last year, The National Biographer featured President Jonathan on his 57th birthday. The same magazine has told the story of people like former President Ibrahim Babangida, Sirleaf Ellen Johnson of Liberia, the late Dora Akunyili, Jim Nwobodo and a host of others.
So why is CRIMMD located in Lagos and not in the eastern part of Nigeria where he traces his origin?
“To me, where I am is home. For now, Lagos is home for me. A whole lot of my friends have come and said: “Hey, you remember the case of the civil war and a lot of people had their properties destroyed, why don’t you move the library to Abia State?” And I said it does not really matter; rather, what I think I should do is to probably have a branch in Abia, not just move in this one. This one is going to remain in Lagos,” declared James, who said he set up a research library in Abia State Government House when he served in the administration of then Governor Orji Uzor Kalu.
James is married to Princes Folasade, a published author from Ogun State and together they have produced three children, two of them already published writers in their own right. He is a graduate of psychology from the Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti, where he also undertook his national youth service. He holds a certificate in conflict resolution from the California State University and other qualifications including in desktop publishing and journalism, among many others.
