By Toyin Falola
Thursday, November 18, 2021, will go down in history as one of the most intellectually fulfilling days I have seen in a long while. To some, that may come across as surprising, given that I provided little to no direct intellectual input at the presentation of my most recent book, Understanding Modern Nigeria. I made little to no direct intellectual input but then realised I had made much indirect intellectual input, seeing as the reason for the gathering was yet another of my books. It is said of the wise that they do not always give or contribute. Sometimes, they take a seat away from the spotlight to observe the flow of discourse and fire up their wealth of knowledge. This was the position I took on November 18, when eminent scholars and concerned Nigerians from all over the nation journeyed down to Trenchard Hall, in the ancient city of Ibadan, my source and pride, for the presentation of the latest product of my intellectual repertoire.
I have written many books, hundreds of them, so much so that writing a new book should not come as a means of lasting reflections. Yet, it is. Weeks after the book’s presentation, I am here, putting words to a white background — writing yet again. What is special about another published book that, for a long time, it takes the centre of attention of the author who has written hundreds of books? Understanding Modern Nigeria is special to me, and the book presentation more than reinforced my belief in that.
In writing Understanding Modern Nigeria, I sought to do several things, one of which is to spark the flame of discourse among Nigerian intellectuals. What begins with a small group of intellectuals will spread to other members of the society till the flame is ubiquitous enough to elicit stronger reactions. Understanding Modern Nigeria was not written as just another book, and I did not expect it to be received or regarded as such. Therefore, I was joyous to see the form that the maiden reception of the book took.
It is the joy of any development-oriented author to have other people analyse their works and extensively explore the topics they have touched. For books are not only written to inform and educate but also to spark conversations and rouse the spirit of engagement and solution-proffering conversations. This was the atmosphere created on November 18 at Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan. The book presentation was like an onion, with several layers of revelations for me. I am sure it was the same for the attendees – for those who were physically with us and those who were virtually present.
A man is lucky if he is surrounded by capable people who can and would ensure that concrete plans are implemented even in his absence, and I am lucky. I was privileged to have Prof. Adesina of the Department of History, University of Ibadan, as the Convener of the book presentation of
Understanding Modern Nigeria. He worked with a wonderful team who were my eyes and hands in Nigeria; people I could rely on to hit the ground running and put things in place for the success of the book presentation. Prof. Adesina keyed into the vision of the book since the day he got to know I had it in the works, and he remained unflinching in his support.
Prof. OBC Nwolise is one of the most brilliant minds I know, especially when it comes to analysing political issues and trends. I could not have asked for a better critic and keynote speaker at the presentation of Understanding Modern Nigeria. Prof. Nwolise read the book with the mind of a learned Nigerian, truly ready to understand and help others understand modern Nigeria. And the result of his rigorous and painstaking course through the book is the beautiful presentation he made on Thursday, November 18, 2021. It is often said that no book is ever complete before it is published, for no matter how meticulously the author dedicates time to finish the work, post-publication clarity will reveal some additions that could have been made. The cerebral scholar, Prof. Nwolise, came with a basket full of comments and insights to the book presentation, and many of them have caused me to reflect and consider different possibilities. I thoroughly enjoyed his analysis of the book, particularly his examination of each aspect. Indeed, one day soon, we should have a conversation on our divergent perspectives about Nigeria.
Such valuable contributions that Prof. Nwolise made to the discourse include his comments on the absence of dialogue, the non-recognition of the Nigerian Police as the lead agency for internal security, and the disregard for education and true learning in the Nigerian space. These three problems are truly among the biggest impediments to the nation’s attempt at progress. Sadly, the people at the helm of affairs in Nigeria would rather resort to brute force than involve dialogue, thereby overriding the democratic powers of Nigeria as a free entity. Hopefully, the recent happenings and revelations will spur the leadership to follow the right path so that this entity will retrace its footsteps from the steep precipice of an anarchical abyss.
Likewise, it is saddening and even dangerous that Nigeria has no counter-culture for its large and ever-growing youthful population. There is no grooming for the youth, and they live in the shadows of the adults until they reach full adulthood and find themselves in the corridors of power, ill-groomed. Prof. Nwolise’s insight at the book presentation has helped to broaden the scope of my recommendation regarding the handing over of power to the youth. If we are to hand over power to the youth, we must first consider if they are ready, and can the youth be ready if we do not groom them or make provisions for self-grooming? In addition, there are no adequate provisions for the development of human resources in Nigeria, as opined by the learned Prof. Nwolise. Nigeria is churning out millions of graduates to its workforce and corporate space, yet these graduates underwent little to no human resources development and capacity development while in the higher institutions of learning.
I am also grateful to Prof. Olufunke Adeboye — historian per excellence. Prof. Adeboye is so unassuming that you would hardly be able to tell that the soft-spoken academic is a well-read and widely published African history researcher. It is amazing to see that we share similar research interests. I appreciate her insights into yet another way to explore the book, Understanding Modern Nigeria. I am particularly marvelled by how thoroughly she understood the thought processes and considerations that led to the writing of the book. It was wonderful to listen to another person read out insights that perfectly aligned with my thought processes on why I wrote the book.
Understanding Modern Nigeria is a personal contribution to the body of work on the Nigerian entity, as well as a call on other intellectuals to join the discourse, first, at the book presentation, and perhaps later at their individual writing desks, with books to show as products of their intellectual labours. Prof. Adeboye’s analysis was a fulfilment of one of the major reasons I wrote the book, and I am grateful to have sat in the hall that day to listen to her.
Notably, Prof. Adeboye suggested comparative studies as a means of seeking solutions to the Nigerian conundrum, which I consider a novel idea. She urged everyone to find countries that have had problems similar to Nigeria’s and see if the strategies they applied to their problems can be adopted or modified to solve Nigeria’s problems. I also got a valuable suggestion from her. It would indeed serve to the betterment of the country to make an abridged version of the book that would be easier to consume within a smaller timeframe.
The book presentation had two phenomenal keynote speakers, but it would have been nothing without the other sixteen participants who joined these two professors to form two panels. Thus, it is reasonable to say that the discussion on understanding modern Nigeria started from the book’s presentation. I am grateful to the panelists and panel moderators. To the panelists who spoke on ethnicity —Edmund Obillo, Prof. Ayo Olatokun, Prof. Yemi Aiyede, Dr. Nathaniel Danjibo, Prof. Michael Afolayan, Prof. Jide Owoeye, Prof. Akin Alao, Oluwaseun Sanwo Olu, and Kunle Afolayan — I say thank you for your immense and unreserved contributions to the now continuing discourse on ethnicity in modern Nigeria and the factors that influence how ethnicity and ethnic politicization plays out in the Nigerian space.
To the panelists on democracy and development — Seun Akinola, Prof. Tunde Babawale, Prof. Adigun Agbaje, Dr. Festus Adedayo, Prof. Francis Egbokhare, Prof. Jumoke Yacob-Haliso, and Precious Ibeh — I am indebted to you all for gracing the occasion and also making valuable inputs that have proved that we are ready to understand modern Nigeria and foster more conversations about Nigeria’s challenges. I am sure that the members of the audience had an intellectually stimulating and enlightening moment, and this is further proven by the overwhelming number of comments and messages that I have received since the book presentation.
If anything, this book presentation is an opening to an endless possibility of ways through which we can interrogate the problems of the Nigerian state, with a view to solving the country’s problems. Can things veer away from what they look like currently? Yes, it is possible, and based on this, we will continue to interrogate these issues.
