Such is Dr. Odine’s experience with life and he has held fast to inevitable challenges on his journey to success. The path ahead of was rugged, and sometimes dreadful. Yet, success was the appellation he carved within himself as a remedy for the future, otherwise misery and desperation would persist to wreak havoc without meaningful tools to fight back for survival.

He learned early on that poverty symbolized the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money, hence he was perpetually broke or was without earthly clothing or things that made life exciting for children going up. In fact, it is a truism that he was extremely poor, also known as living in abject poverty. “This explains why I got my first pair of shoes during my last year in primary school,” recalls the author. His grandmother, after the mother’s death five years before, and the father’s when he just only a few months old, was quite pleased with his first place performance in the final year.

The fact that he made it through secondary school is historic and remarkable. In fact, it is by relentlessly challenging odds to success, and making the best of every opportunity, that paved the way to a Ph.D. in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; an M.A. in Radio-Television from Ball State University; and B.A. in Communications from the State University of New York at Geneseo. Dr. Odine gained international/cross-cultural communication experience in the United States; Africa; West Indies and Middle East, including serving as United Nations Chief Information Officer in Sierra Leone and Communications Specialist for the US Agency for International Development in Botswana, Lesotho and Haiti. Dr. Odine was also Senior Journalist for Radio Cameroon. He was Professor/Associate Dean of School of Journalism & Graphic Communication at Florida A&M University; Professor/Associate Dean of Language and Communication at United Arab Emirates University; Professor/Head of Mass Communications at Gulf University for Science & Technology in Kuwait; Professor/Head of Communications at Tennessee State University; and Associate Professor/Chair of Mass Communications at Winston-Salem State University.

Dr. Odine is multiculturally versed and fluent in English, French, Pidgin English, Krio, Douala, and Bakundu. He has acquired wide experience in electronic and print media and served on the boards of WNPT-TV 8 in Nashville, Tennessee, and Texas Broadcasters Association during his tenure as professor at Sam Houston State University.

Grantsmanship is a specialty of Dr. Odine and includes the US Department of State’s 10-month Fulbright grant to host a Scholar-in-Residence from the University of Zambia at Texas Southern University in 2019-2020, and another Fulbright grant to host a Scholar-in-Residence from Kenyatta University at Tennessee State University. Dr. Odine acquired $10 million for the construction of a Performing Arts Center at Tennessee State University; $500,000 for instructional equipment; $62,000 to direct an International Curriculum Development Seminar in Cameroon; $160,000 to direct high school communication skills program; plus $350,000 and $485,000, respectively, to increase radio station wattage and to acquire state-of-the-art equipment for training and service.

Dr. Odine is a prolific researcher and considers knowledge discovery and dissemination as vital scholarly activities within the realm of quality performance and excellence. Thus far, he has sole-authored 26 refereed, peer reviewed articles in highly reputable internationally recognized journals.
“I leaned that poverty doesn’t govern if you fight it with every muscle you have,” said the author, adding, “poverty has no illusions about success because the two are mutually exclusive.”

Read the book. It’s an exhilarating experience you won’t soon forget. Keep the dream alive. Above all, be steadfast on the journey to success because someone else will back in your glow. In 2020-2021, Dr. Odine successfully chaired a Master’s degree in communication thesis for a rising student, Oluwatunmise Okufuwa, entitled, “Role of social media in facilitating organizational socialization effectiveness among new hires.” And he was recognized as institutional leader on February 17, 2020, in Washington, DC, by the US Department of State’s Fulbright Program for his success in internationalization. “A journey to success implies a call to serve,” Dr. Odine said.