James Akpandem Reignites Spirit of Tradition at LRF Monthly Reading

James Akpandem reignited the spirit of custom and tradition during the August book reading at The Literary Renaissance Foundation’s (LRF) monthly reading.

This event was hosted by the founder of the organisation, Babatunde Oladele, on 3 August 2025.

Akpandem James is a media and communication expert with extensive experience in strategic communication and corporate governance. He was the adviser on media and communication to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, head of Media and Communication at the 2014 National Conference, CEO and managing editor of Independent Newspaper, and many more. He has multiple national and international Awards.

He read from his book Echoes of Traditional Society. The story was born out of the deep fascination with how traditions shape not only our communities but also our sense of self and belonging.

According to the author of the month, Echoes Of Our Traditional Society looks into how our tradition shapes our identity.

James Akpandem read three chapters from Echoes of Traditional Society during the Monthly Reading.

The first chapter, titled “Tree That Tell Tales”, is basically about some trees in the Eastern part of Nigeria that have mystical stories behind them. There existed trees whose narrative attracted more than passing attention. They are regarded as totems.

There are some communities, especially in communities that worship and pay tributes to these trees like deities. These trees were regarded as ancestral gods.

The second chapter is titled “90 minutes at Yenogoa”. This chapter talks about an incident that happened on Monday, 20 July 1999. On that fateful day, 100 youths popularly known as Ebosi boys stormed the government house on a mission to rescue their leader, Tikese Ogoriba, who was detained by the State Military Administrator, Captain Omoriyi Olubalade.

After the first and second reading, an impressed member of the audience, Dr Samson, requested a bulk purchase of 700 copies of the Echoes of Traditional Society.

James Akpandem added that his inspiration to author the book came when he was serving as a correspondent for Punch News and later SA to the Minister.

According to him, he was working on a different project when he came across the story of mystical trees, the major inspiration of his book.

The section drew comments and questions from the audience. Everyone appreciated the engaging, educational, and inspiring reading from James Akpandem at the LRF monthly reading.

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