Eghosa Imasuen’s ‘The Challengers’: A review

By Kunle Kasumu

LADIES and gentlemen. I feel honoured to be in the presence of you all. I want to thank my friend, Dr. Eghosa Imasuen, for this invitation. I have known Eghosa since 2013 and I’ve always been drawn to his brilliant, analytical and creative mind. But it was in November 2025 when we both spent about two weeks together in the United Arab Emirates, attending the Sharjah International Book Fair, that I really experienced the incredible depth of his intellect. I am truly honoured to be associated with you, Eghosa.

I will try and cut through the chase here because one does not need to spend much time analysing the writing style or literary technicalities of one of the best writers and publishers of his generation. From a purely technical perspective, there is little to fault in this book ttitled, The Challengers (Narrative Landscape Press, Lagos; 2026). The errors you may discover as you read, are the types that are often fixable in second editions. This is no surprise considering the admirable reputation of Narrative Landscape, the publisher of this 221 page book.

The Challengers reads like a thriller. It’s pacy, intriguing and moves from one story to another seamlessly. When a book gets you talking about characters, plots, settings, themes, conflicts and tones, you are often thinking about works of fiction. But this is no work of fiction. It’s a narrative non-fiction that feels very much like fiction and this is the highest compliment one can give to the genre.

While the central and sub-stories of this book are compelling, it is its characters that make it a most instructive and interesting read. Imasuen’s characters are Nigerian super heroes, perhaps because I have always been fascinated by those who create value within business climes that are extremely difficult to operate in. Nonso Okpala, Adeniyi Adenubi, Azubike Emodi, Gbenga Omolokun, Mobolaji Adewunmi, and others. These dreamers, thinkers, adventurers and risk takers are the protagonists of Eghosa’s book. Through The Challengers, we meet these founders of the VFD Group, perhaps the most remarkable investment firm in Nigeria that uses its own proprietary funds to invest in and build businesses.

The Challengers gives the reader a peep into the minds of the founders as they developed into becoming entrepreneurial stars, shrewd investors, excellent negotiators, world class business managers and corporate seers. The Challengers is essentially about people. The stories of these pioneers and investors needed to be told and I am happy they are being told in this book. In Imasuen’s book, you will find how Nonso Okpala and his partners, from a single idea, started changing their own lives, creating brands, building businesses, transforming lives and impacting their country.

Imasuen’s book is also about the immense value of establishing corporate governance, leveraging on partnerships, identifying talents, resolving disputes, raising funds, dealing with failures and winning. As former president Olusegun Obasanjo wrote in the book’s foreword: “The story that Eghosa Imasuen tells in The Challengers is, therefore, not just the story of a company. It is the story of a generation. These young men and women represent the best of what Nigeria can become: a country where talent and hard work are rewarded, where people from different parts of the country can come together to build something greater than themselves.”

I couldn’t agree more.

It is not common to find what the VFD Group partners achieved and Eghosa hints that the critical thing here is not that they built businesses but that young people with different backgrounds and from different ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, came together to build something meaningful and successful. This is the heart of the story.

Reading The Challengers was like taking a business course for me and I am guessing any reader keen on building a business, will feel the same way. From PremiumGreen, VIADAZ FD, VFD Bridge, VFD Resources, VFD Capital, VFD Limited, VFD Microfinance Bank, VBank, Germain Automobile Centre, Anchora Asset Management, VFD Tech, Dynasty Real Estate, Everdon Bureau de Change, and Abbey Mortgage Bank to others, the VFD Group partners, built one brand after another. How did they do it? You will find answers in The Challengers.

Chapter 11 is interesting. It’s the story of how Obinna Ufudo courted the VFD Group partners to attempt a corporate take over of NEM Insurance. What an effort it turned out to be and good cashing out too! In this chapter, you meet corporate Rambos in hostile corporate territory doing what Rambo does best.

Chapter 10 reminds me of how fate, diligence, and relationships can combine to create amazing opportunities. Babatunde Dada’s path to his dream is interesting to observe. His father happened to have an investment and securities firm he wanted expanded. Mr Dada met the young business adventurers and after that, enter Anchoria Asset Management.

I also enjoyed chapter 9. What happens when you take over a family business as an ‘outsider’? The VFD Group partners had it rough here. The take over of Germaine Automobile Centre (GAC) turned out to be a tough but rewarding project, at least in terms of acquisition of invaluable experience. I will not be surprised if Gbenga Omolokun shares the story of those two years in response to the question: “When was the toughest time you ever had in business?”

In chapter 8, you get to know more about the amazing, Tessy Ezeh, her husband, Chike Ezeh, Karen Abah, Gbeminiyi Shoda and other less celebrated VFD stars. But it is one sad story of paranoia, bitterness and suspicion that led to the departure of a partner that dominates this chapter. Here you will see the flip side of all the success narratives and observe that the partnerships were not rosy. In the real world, people fight and partners can become foes. It is simply human reality.

I like the confession of chapter 12. The Piggyvest story. The once young upstarts of VFD Group finally find themselves as the oldies in a room with dreamers who seemed like themselves over a decade ago. This was a partnership that just didn’t work out and there was that pain of seeing, in the future, what may have been a missed opportunity. Or perhaps not.

These are just a few of tens of stories and experiences in The Challengers that are packed with rich life and business lessons. The VFD Group founders believe they still have a long ride ahead and one would tend to agree considering the fact that they are building for legacy. I hope they will continue to build successfully and finish well. But for now, their story inspires and is therefore worth telling those who dream of creating something special from an idea.

With The Challengers, Imasuen’s incredible journey from medicine to fiction writing to publishing has now taken him to creative non-fiction writing. He should hang around this stop a bit longer because he’s really good at it.

* Kasumu,producer of Channels TV Book Club, presented this review at the 13 July 2026 launch of The Challenger in Lagos