Olugbenga Ben Ogunmoyela (2023), Memoirs Of A Cow Without A Tail. Writables Creative Solutions. ISBN: 979-885-292-852-8
The metaphoric title of “Memoirs of a Cow Without a Tail” by Olugbenga Ben Ogunmoyela invites readers to a rich narrative and provokes thought about the book’s promise.
Ogunmoyela draws on his experiences and knowledge as a teacher and leader to explain complex ideas using a metaphor. At first glance, the reader imagines another poverty narrative in the mould of the shoeless former president. Not so, however, as his usage of the phrase is more profound.
Memoirs of a Cow Without a Tail is mostly a growing-up narrative. It tells of Ogunmoyela’s journey into adulthood and is a tribute to Government College, Ibadan, his foundation. The GCI experience gets more play than his time at the University of Ibadan. The book harps on virtues Ogunmoyela fears the Nigerian society is losing.
Ogunmoyela’s industry experience is thrilling for its courage and detailing of intrigues during his long experience at Cadbury Nigeria and relatively short but impactful stay at Honeywell Flour Mills. His Cadbury experience with his GCI classmate as MD is bitter-sweet, but this is his account.
A Cow Without A Tail is a 70th birthday marker by the author “to immortalise the phases and facets of my sojourn on this side of the divide”. He affirms, “One thing that has stood out each time I go down memory lane is that while my life typifies the proverbial Cow Without A Tail who is vulnerable and often defenceless against the swarm of flies who perch on it from time to time, God has continued to be my Helper and Defence.”
Over 400 pages, Memoirs of A Cow Without A Tail takes the reader through a prologue, foreword, six sections and an epilogue. The sections are The Dreamer (chapters 1 to 9), The Explorer (chapters 10-12,) The Builder (13-19), The Mentor (chapter 20), The Disciple (21-23) and Ten Life Lessons.
We meet Ogunmoyela’s paternal grandparents, parents, siblings, schoolmates, and children. Ogunmoyrla was one of nine children of Elder Victor Babatunde Thomas Ogunmoyela, a civil servant who served as an Education Inspector. We feel the pain of the loss of his first wife and his joy in remarrying well.
His father made him repeat Standard Six despite his excellent results. The foresighted man thought Gbenga was too young to be in secondary school. A year later, he entered GCI and was better prepared physically and psychologically. At GCI, he learned adaptation, resilience, time management, focus, and discipline.
The author shares his educational and professional journey. The book addresses these two sides of his life while the religious seeps out of every page.
Ogunmoyela turns his experiences into reflections and insights on life. Underlying everything is the place of values, principles, and faith.
The title creates the impression of a life of struggle with the metaphor of a cow without a tail. It overwhelms the book with pathos rather than exuberant celebration. Yet he recounts a household that was a shelter for many from the storms of life. The author affirms, “God helped us along the way, and we were never lacking” (p.30). Or on his admission to Government College, Ibadan: “I was grateful because although this cow had no tail or special privileges, God secured a spot for me in the school. At the time Kayode, my older brother, and I were entering secondary school, our father did not have to seek any connections whatsoever.”
Without a nuanced view, the reader would ask, pray, which cow had no tail? Ogunmoyela was born into a solid middle-class family. His father was upper middle by his status then. The author and his siblings maintained that socio-economic status.
Before turning to the Ten Life Lessons, a must-read, Ogunmoyela offers the reader many lessons throughout the book. Here are five:
1. “You are responsible for whatever changes you want in your environment and community.
2. Life will always offer you the opportunity to make a difference. It is up to you to seize it or let it pass.
3. Sometimes, you will suffer for being a voice of truth and change. Taking a stand for justice in matters of integrity will always come at a personal cost to you.
4. Everyone has a seed of leadership, and you are already a leader if you care to allow that seed to germinate.
5. I quickly learned that a leader must be exemplary in conduct, carriage, and every ramification”.
Memoirs of a Cow Without A Tail is a profound book of reflections and deserves reading by young and old alike. It will guide young readers and cause older ones to pause and review.
Olugbenga Ben Ogunmoyela achieved renown as a food science and technology expert. His illustrious career spans 48 years in research, academics, industry and development. It includes work as Senior Research Officer and Head of the Crop Utilisation Division at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Lecturer at the University of Lagos, and professor the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and in industry at Cadbury Nigeria Plc and Honeywell Flour Mills. He was a senior manager and department head in Cadbury. He was one of the consultants who superintended the building of Nigeria’s first private airport terminal, MMA2, for Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL).
