A SHIFT IN THE SCALE : A review of Deji Fisho’s SWITCH !

19 Aug 10, 05:41 PM, Africa/Lagos

The portable book begins to talk to its reader, ireplaying mages of personal adventures in the reader’s head. From one scene to another, the pictures switch and the reader is lowered as if into a well, but clearly into the exposition of a complex writer who has produced a simple book that is resolutely contemporary, even though it bears every semblance of a classic.

Deji Fisho is a rare breed: an experimental writer with a deep commitment to his subject matter. He renders to his readers a story that is not only emotive and entertaining but intellectually stimulating and moving. A story that is not one story but told from start to finish with the precision and appeal of grandmothers in the era of oral tradition. He tells about ten different stories in twenty four lessons, yet any of these stories that he called lessons could stand alone, and the reader wouldn't feel confused or deprived.

The chapters of his book : SWITCH ! contain common themes that work like musical bridges, or the harmony of an ochestra : the whole is greater as a bunch of conjoined intentions, read, with one desire overlapping into the other, than when read in parts.

Only a few pages into this elaborately embellished masterpiece and the reader is constrained for time. He knows that he has just started to read a book, but too quickly, he overcomes the fear of reading a boren book and his new worry become that of time: if there will be enough time to continue to read the book despite the drag from other compulsory chores.

Readers will be delighted by the fact that Mr. Fisho took his time to travel all the way from the simple eploration of what truelly is greatness in lesson one to the realisation that we are the architects of whatever we eventually become in lesson twenty-four.

The author whom I consider exceptional, is a great writer. He is a storyteller who mixes his skill with the motivational trait common only to talkers. But his combination produces an uncommon hybrid that future writers will discover and adopt as they tell their stories and write their non creative textbooks. He has written a classic for this generation and beyound, a masterpiece. His craft allows the readers to free themselves from any inner and outer sabotages; move out from any erroneous zones; uplift themselves to a level of total freedom; enjoy a perspective of the sky is not the limit; and experience daily miracles or real magic or luck.

SWITCH Clearly espouses the path to greatness and concludes that there is a drop of greatness in everyone. Starting with the rise to greatness of africa´s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the lives of other individuals (like the road side `mama put’) as well as companies like Nokia, Apple etc, the book reveals that through their dogged commitment to values, their spirit of resitience and the quest for greatness , they were able to rise above the pack and become primus interpares in their chosen enterprise.
For everyone who wants to succeed, the book recommends diversification and out of-the-box thinking.
While not denying that sometimes, luck could propel one to success, the book holds that one cannot always be lucky and that the road to greatness is to reach within oneself. The book is an exercise in self-rediscovery for those who are yet to tap into there inate drop of greatness. It is highly recommended to all students of life and those who have a passion and an insatiable quest for excellence. It would be the best of sugestions to propose here that the reading of SWITCH- a reservoir of knowledge and wisdom would be the best first step towards greatness.

One theme that runs through the book is that the average man is a development tool. The lessons put forward by the book are applicable to all sections of human endeavour, be it formal or imformal,religious or otherwise. It is as much a handy manifesto cum policy document for politicians and those in government as much as it is a guide for all enterprenuers.

SWITCH is an excellent discourse in motivation and it is a veritable daily guide for all successful men and women who desire to remain great. It is also a guide to those who are still below the rungs of success ladder and those who are depressed due to chronic failure.

SWITCH will switch your life from obscurity to fame, from failure to success, from nothingness to greatness. The use of analogies and simple but exciting stories makes SWITCH a compelling read. If you're still looking for a "big" book to carry into the night, one in which you can lose yourself without the guilty suspicion that you're slumming? Then Deji Fisho’s "Switch" is the book you want. In its powers of description, Switch is reflective and specific enough to wonder exactly about what a Mama Put does and how she does her thing. It is a tricky book, but in the best way. If you have not read SWITCH, you have no business dying because it is a book that all must read in their lifetime.