Intentional Becoming

Being a Book's Publicist

Dear Fellow,

I got my copy of the book on Friday, 28th April 2023. It was at the University of Jos Library during an event organised by the university's Public Integrity Club (PIC) chapter. My copy was signed by an acquaintance on behalf of the author, yet it felt special. Little did I know that this book short of fifty pages by one would turn me into its publicist. Becoming Intentional by Truth Osumareton Egbe is like a confirmation message for a discovery I had made not long before I got my copy.

It was the conversation about purpose. That topic plagues every human heart. I had troubling experiences with it. It caused me worries. I wanted a definition for it. I wanted to have it set in stone. I tried to figure it out in a moment and let it remain so for the rest of my life. Until I learned that being alive is part of the purpose of my existence. That every moment is a part of the big picture. I only needed to know Who decides what happens to me every second, and that settles it. I now understand that living is faith.

Truth’s book emphasises this point in a different style. Precisely chapter two entitled “Here’s the Big Event!” stresses the point. She narrated how without good fortune she sought after her purpose in life. “Purpose,” she wrote, “sounded like such a big word and for a good part of my life, just the thought of it left me feeling overwhelmed.” Her redemption came when, in a conference, one of the speakers used the word assignment as a metaphor for purpose. And the definition? Here goes: “Now ‘assignments” are basically having a correspondent that knows everything about the big event that you’re supposed to attend and is giving you step-by-step instructions on how to prepare for it.”¹ And that event marked the end of her quest to grasp the word purpose.

The book resonated with me. I was so moved, I wrote her a letter of 3,400+ words after reading it. In the letter, I explained how I got a copy of her book, followed by seven paragraphs explaining similarities between details in her book and some of my own experiences, and the third section of the letter contained four different initiatives I believe her book would prove useful at. I had learned she was distributing the book for free at the time.

In April 2023, she sent fifty copies of the books from Abuja. Some of the books were displayed at The Library Picnic, an event initiated by my friend Ogochukwu Abumisi, a final-year student of library and information science (LIS) at the time. Some were used for a summer course I organised for teenagers called #Bookmatics. I used some for training in reading and writing at my church’s youth fellowship. And some I gave out to people who read and wrote reviews in the form of letters to the author.

Truth Osumareton Egbe, author Becoming Intentional | Image source: LinkedIn

Before the mail that came on Wednesday, 2nd August 2023, I received another fifty copies of the book from her. Half went to my friend for an event she was organising on campus again. The other was to go down to my village based on a request by my father to share with the young people he’ll meet during an assignment. My father read the book more than twice.

The mail that came in August last year was an invitation to be a team lead for an initiative called Becoming Intentional Campus Ambassadors Programme (BI–CAP). The programme, a collaboration with Rovingheights Bookstore, was designed to give free copies of the book to 2,000 undergraduates in universities across Nigeria via the agency of twenty students each given 100 copies to facilitate readings of the book on their respective campuses. At the time the mail came, I had finished my undergraduate programme at the University of Jos, so I couldn’t take up the role. However, Truth still sent down copies of the book—forty-nine copies this time—to give out as I deem fit. Those arrived on Friday, 27th October 2023. And were distributed wisely.

Five months ago, she reported on LinkedIn, that 3,000 copies of the book had been distributed to readers for free. What’s more, she hasn’t received any negative reviews yet. I wonder what is the story now.

This piece is a recollection of one of the beauties of sharing our stories and of the internet. My connection with Truth is in the story she shared in her book. I haven’t met her in person, but the internet has made it possible for us to talk and exchange ideas. Over a hundred people, through me, have read her book, and are finding a connection to her story—the story of all of us. You can say it started from Truth’s intentional becoming—choosing to write down her story after, she writes, “a vulnerable moment of me picking myself up after a disappointment and penning my thoughts and reflections down has become a template for others to do the same.”

I hope you intentionally become, good Fellow.

Your LetterMan,

Tongjal, W. N.

1. Truth Osumareton Egbe, Becoming Intentional (The Black Eke Media, 2022), 13.