“If you can’t take a punch, never throw one…”

Mena Ginika joins the family's conglomerate with so much passion for work and contempt for menfolk following a severe heartbreak. But unknown to her she'd made herself an obstacle Damijo Williams swore to remove by all means in order to achieve his lifelong ambition of seizing control over UBCI.

All Mena has going for her is her ability to Dare and her craving to Love again.
How far can she go against her fierce, faceless foes?

INSPIRATION FOR SITO
My inspiration for SITO (Something In The Offing) came about following a most spectacular event that did not only rock the Nigeria finance industry to its core, but inadvertently helped to chart the course for more mega banks that followed in preceding years as a result of mergers between and amongst banks in order to buoy up the capital bases of the successful banks.

It was in the year 2005, then I was working as a temporal staff at the law department of UBA’s head office on Marina street. Suddenly one morning, reports began filtering in that UBA, one of the foremost banks revered in Africa for its huge legacy and giant strides, had been acquired by a ‘smaller bank’ down the ladder so to say.

At first it floated like smoke that many hoped may soon dissipate. But it lingered, and eventually what many deemed as the ‘impossible’, the then MD of Standard Trust Bank, a financial maestro of a gentleman, Mr. Tony Elumelu made history – a feat that would catapult itself in many fruitful dimensions in the years that followed, both for corporate growth and unparalleled social responsibility drives through his laudable foundation established to help drive the SME engine.

That fateful day when I got home, as I sat in thoughtful silence rummaging over the event, being a creative ideas began brewing in my mind. And then I picked up my pen. So, while millions out there were busy in exciting gist about the whole episode and what it portends for the finance industry, I was busy sketching down the first draft of Something In The Offing.

Every minute of writing SITO was pure pleasure for me. Though it took a pretty while to get it published, about sixteen years after it was written, the spark of that event remained kindled in my mind. It was one event that will never be forgotten, for those especially who witnessed and appreciated the enormity of the event – an etched legacy for Mr. Tony Elumelu and his team of financial ‘hotheads’ at Standard Trust Bank, who pulled a ‘forbidden string’ that scuttled the ‘traditional peace’ of the Nigeria finance industry in order to set new standards for dynamism and customer-centric efficiency.

ABOUT AUTHOR
Ikenna Ezuma is a published writer and novelist. His writing experience spans well over twenty years. He is the founder of Studio 360Plus, a creative media content enterprise with its focus on media contents such as scripts for TV and full length features. He has an advanced Diploma in English Language and Literature and a Professional Certificate in Film Production Management.

He has worked with a couple of Actors and Producers, and has been commissioned to script two feature length movies and a few comedy skits and a TV series as well. He is open to more challenging opportunities in the creative media industry. By the side he’s earnestly working on his many story drafts with the hope of publishing as many as he possibly can. He is a lover of nature, and is also engaged in a number of charity works locally and internationally.