For a nation ever in the quest of grappling with the meaning and the import of the twin concepts of enterprise and heroism, Olakunle Abimbola’s book, Captain: In The Storm Of Life, is a reflection of the old time virtues of character, commitment, courage and faith. The author uses the archetypal grass-to-grace story of an outstanding entrepreneurial trailblazer, indeed one of the nation’s many unsung achievers, Captain Israel Ademola Gbadebo Haastrup.

Captain Haastrup, the subject of the 631-page biography, is one name that ordinarily ought to ring a bell in a nation said to be in perpetual deficit of exemplars of wealth creation, particularly those with grace to combine it with modesty and virtue. That this is not the case is, of course, the singular tragedy of the nation which tends to promote shadow over substance, and where achievements are denominated by how much uncritical attention some have garnered in a segment of the fawning national media which often times, pays very little heed to these virtues.

Abimbola evidently found a rare subject in Captain Haastrup, founder of Haastrup Line (West Africa) Limited, a pioneer indigenous shipping company which has since grown to become an octopus with tentacles in banking, manufacturing, real estate, hospitality business and aviation. The Haastrup story, in all of the elements, is one of an individual’s struggles, frustrations, grim determination, and ultimate triumph, nurtured in integrity and sustained by an unswerving faith in Divine Hand even when the treacherous and unpredictable terrain of the nation’s business got perilously close to aborting his dreams. It provides invaluable lessons for today’s youth.

The enthralling book of three main parts traces the roots of the subject to the revered late Oba Frederick Adedeji Kumokun Haastrup, Owa Ajimoko 1 of Ijesha-land, a foremost traditional ruler in Yoruba-land. That first section aptly entitled The Cradle, precisely locates the ancestry in the vortex of the nineteenth century Yoruba wars, up till the time the subject was born into the Spartan disciplinarian family of Emmanuel Adeitan Haastrup, a.k.a Lajimbiti, his early school days in Ado Ekiti, up until he finished his West African School Certificate in Division Two, that would launch him into the phase of what would become an illustrious career as Master Mariner.

We are here interested in the subject’s foray into business. Riding storms is, of course, the Mariner’s specialty. The turbulent world of business is something altogether as the Captain was later to discover. Not even when the weather appears fair and clement enough. The Captain may have assumed that he was on top of his world when he elected to join the elite class of seafarers in the service of his fatherland, which committed fortunes to sponsor him. He probably thought that in the end he would be able to pay back the debt he owed the nation that gave him so much. What he least bargained for was that the bitter rivalry between the newly commissioned indigenous professionals and their erstwhile masters in post independent Nigeria would sooner scuttle the prospect; of course they had ready allies in the locals, the minions who would rather that the erstwhile order remained.

In the situation, Nigeria’s loss was to be Ghana’s gain. The bubbly Captain sought refuge in the newly independent nation, which offered ready sanctuary and opportunities for other Africans to live their dreams. In between, a new dream was born. The professional somehow caught the entrepreneurial bug. The master mariner was set to launch sail beyond his comfort zone and the storms were about gathering. First port was Kuta Shipping- a partnership that was soon to flounder on account of treachery, and bad faith on the part of the partners.

Soon to follow was Haastrup (West Africa) Line. The story of how the Captain acquired and eventually put the vessel M.V City of Truth to sail is one fascinating story of courage, perseverance, belief and trust in God. The business blossomed nonetheless, in spite of the odds: From Lagos, the business moved to Port Harcourt, diversifying into new terrains of industry- particularly cement manufacturing that would later constitute its main hub.

The experience of the Captain’s foray into business, and the attendant frustrations would no doubt underscore the peculiar challenges in the nation’s business environment, which tends to reduce the entrepreneur to endangered specie. While in other climes, government considers it priority to put in place policies to enable entrepreneurs grow their businesses, the reverse is the case, as the example of the Haastrup chains of businesses illustrate.

The author is at pains to draw lessons using nearly a dozen examples of how changing policies of government capsized many a-dream nurtured in the sweat of the promoters, leaving the poor hapless folks to sulk. Examples abound in Haastrup Jetty, built in 1980, forced to close down after two years of operations during the civilian administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari.

Two years after the project had gulped five million pounds in both foreign and local equity, the government of the day woke up to announce the closure of all private jetties in the country, by fiat. Lost was the investment; wiped in one fell swoop were the jobs and the livelihood on which the thriving jetty depended. To share a similar fate was the Haastrup group’s venture into cement business, which despite its modest success, is also no stranger to the topsy-turvy policies of government.