There would be no me, without

you lord; I could not have done

this without your divine

enablement. I dedicate this first

effort to my peerless master

and king, my lord, Jesus

Christ, who loved me, when I

was unworthy of love. And…To

the Holy Spirit, my counsellor

and my guide, whose might I

rely on, each day of my life….

THANK YOU FOR HONOURING ME

Unyime-Ivy King

Author

BURNING HURT

As I write this tribute, to all who have helped me to get to

this point of fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming an author,

I cannot help, but say, ‘a big thank you’ as I go down memory

lane…

There are just too many people to acknowledge, as different people

impact on one in different ways.

If I have not mentioned anyone directly, it is not deliberate. I am

grateful to everyone, who has played a big or small part in

encouraging my aspirations

iven an option between writing and speaking I would take

the former to express what I need say, but here am I,

standing all alone on this platform this beautiful Thursday

evening to speak about what I have written and

acknowledge a need, an outcry and a convention for

understanding in the issue of “sowing wild oats”

First of all, I want to thank everybody that has showed up

today to join me in making this history in our dear state. I strongly appreciate

your presence today, and duly observing all protocol, I say, may my God bless

you for me in a way that only He can. Everyone‟s presence here, is a strong

labour of love, which I do not take for granted. At this juncture, I want to

publicly thank my husband, my best friend, my confidant- Ubong King, whose

love and generosity has given me the wings with which to fly at my fullest

potential. I could never have asked for a better soul mate; his encouragement

for me to give full vent to my passion for writing, has caused this vision to

expand in ways which I never envisaged. He is truly God‟s man for me and I do

not take that for granted. Also, all the things we have witnessed this evening,

from the book trailer, to the theme song, the graphics-everything, is proudly

Akwa Ibom, and I want to thank God for giving me a great strategy team, under

the able Coordination of Miss. Mmanti Umoh, a formidable Social Media

Consultant and Strategist. Watch the screens for the closing credits- I have no

hesitation in recommending the team to anyone who needs their

services/consultancy. Mmanti and her team interpreted the vision excellently.

G

Many have asked me, „Why Akwa Ibom?‟ And today, I stand here to say, „why not

Akwa Ibom?‟ I am proudly Akwa Ibom, proudly Nigerian, and I have never

wished I was from any other place. I may travel to other climes, yes, but my

heart is here, in the land of my birth. This is rooted in my firm belief that God

does not make mistakes. He situated me in this state for a purpose, and I am

not ashamed of my roots. I went to some of the best schools in this state, and

Cross River State, beginning from Charles Walker International

Nursery/Primary School in Calabar, Union Secondary School Ibiaku, a

reputable/renown educational institute for girls in its time, and then, the

University of Uyo, where I graduated from the English department of the

Faculty of Arts. Yes, why not launch my first published work in a place that has

given me so much?

I want to emphasize that the greatest legacy

a parent can leave his or her child, is not a

house or car, the greatest legacy is that of a

godly heritage and strong, positive, moral

character. When you train up a child in the

way he or she should go, that child would

never depart from it. I thank God for giving

my siblings and I the privilege of being born

into a home where we were raised with a strength of character that no money

can buy. My parents, Elder& Deaconess Eno Ikpe, were not the world‟s

wealthiest parents, but they bequeathed a rich legacy of positive/strong moral

values, to us, which has helped in forming our moral character, thereby giving to

us the riches that truly matter in life. I do not remember my paternal

grandfather , the late Elder Benjamin Ikpe, too well as I was just a baby when

he passed, but I understand that he was an avid diarist and writer; I‟m told

The consequences of some of our

wrong or ill-advised decisions in

life may not always play out the

way it did in this story, but if all I

succeed in doing, is make many

people have a re-think, before

embarking on an irrational course

of action, I would be fulfilled.

that in his childhood days, when other homes boasted of the gramophone, Aladin

and Tilly lamps, which were elitist items in those days, theirs boasted

newspapers and magazines-Daily /Sunday Times, the Eastern outlook, and the

Eastern express. My maternal grandparents were officers of the Qua Iboe

church of Nigeria, and my maternal grand mum, Deaconess Olive Uko, was a

pioneer women‟s fellowship leader of the church, where she is still an active

member, well into her 80‟s. With such a strong heritage, I believe we got a

positive head start in life that surpasses money- which leads to the emphasis of

my book- the importance of the family unit, and the issue of sowing wild

oats.

I beg to lean on the shoulders of two great men that I may see further

from where I stand. My left foot leans on Martin Luther King Jr. who

said “a nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded

men purchases its own spiritual death on an instalment plan” and I

stand firm on my right with John F. Kennedy’s thought…. There are

risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than

the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.

To Sow Your Wild Oats is a phrase applied to the chase of rough, perhaps

unlawful and unquestionably decadent practices while in the full bloom of youth.

The expression has been in use for over four eras, originating from the concept

that thoughtless young men would disseminate only wild and uncultivated seed

here, there and everywhere. Wild oats (or wild seed) produce weeds that are

hard to get rid of and consequently cause many problems, but a man of

experience has learned how to avoid all of that. There are times when people

want fun, void of emotion, but isn't an emotional connection more fulfilling?

After you sow enough wild oats, you might reflect back and find that your

experiences haven't amounted to anything outside of temporary exhilaration.

As I heard stories of such heart break, caused by people who were simply said

to be „sowing their wild oats,‟ it made me wonder about cause and effect, which

birthed the idea for this novel. The consequences of some of our wrong, or ill-

advised decisions in life may not always play out the way it did in this story, but

if all I succeed in doing, is make many people have a re-think, before embarking

on an irrational course of action, I would be fulfilled.

We cannot continue to let our young men feel they will not be held responsible

for their irresponsibility as we would be purchasing the mortuary spaces for our

consciences by our actions therefore leading to the burial of this great nation;

neither can we sit in total abandon in view of the prevailing circumstances in our

present society. I stand here this evening and humbly plead that we all stand up

against incest, against child abuse, against child molestation, against teenage

rape against all the vices that make it hurtful to be a child. It shouldn‟t hurt to

be a child; these are the youths we see today fighting for a justice not from

the government, the families, the nation but the people that betrayed their

innocence, in schools, in offices, in homes, in classrooms all over the world

………………..(pause for effect) please I beg of us all let us take this book as the

first fight to stop this “Burning Hurt”.

Thank You.........