In less than 10 days, Nigerians will head to the polls to elect a new leader to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
If you haven’t, it’s important you read one or two of these books before you go to the polls, it would be in no small way to realize who the heroes are and who the villains who claim to be heroes today are, so you can make better choices.
Here are seven books to read before you vote;
Against The Run Of Play
Olusegun Adeniyi in Against The Run Of Play writes on how Nigeria’s incumbent government was defeated. Published in 2017, the book takes the reader behind the scenes of the Nigerian political stage and gives a front-row account of all you don’t know about the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. With the Nigerian political scene being riddled with intrigue, this political memoir and its perspective gives the reader the opportunity to judge the heroes and villains in the Nigerian politics narrative.
Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous
What is it like fighting corruption in a country that’s notorious for corruption? Renowned economist, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in her book Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous published in 2018 answered this question.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala went through a lot of obstacles in her journey to sanitize Nigeria. Her mother was kidnapped, she was almost crippled and hounded by Sahara Reporters. However, in her book, she didn’t cower in her reporting of these events. Okonjo-Iweala didn’t keep the key players in these and other relevant events anonymous, names were named. A queen and more!
My Watch
In this three-volume autobiography, former president Olusegun Obasanjo narrates about growing up, fighting the civil war, becoming Head of State, and then becoming the President of Nigeria.
He narrates all we need to know about the farmer of Ota. You don’t know Olusegun Obasanjo if you haven’t read this trilogy.
Burden Of Service
In Mohammed Bello Adoke’s Burden Of Service, Nigeria’s former attorney general talks about growing up, studying Law at Ahmadu Bello University, and becoming Nigeria’s Attorney General in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In this autobiography published in 2017, Bello Adoke gives the reader an account of his days as the Attorney General of Nigeria and the part he played in the contentious OPL 245.
Accidental Public Servant
Before you call Nasir El-Rufai a hero or a villain, take time to read his autobiography. In this book published in 2013, El-Rufai paints a perfect picture of how he grew up in the sleepy village of Daudawa, getting educated at Ahmadu Bello University, his days in the private sector, and then getting appointed as a minister under the administration of former President Obasanjo and late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua making him a persona non-grata.
My Transition Hours
If you want to read all that happened under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, you get to hear it from the horse’s mouth in My Transition Hours.
All the key events of Goodluck Jonathan’s administration were laid bare in this book. While some persons mentioned in the book have come out to debunk some of the assertions that were made, it’s still a great read. And it gives the reader a front-row account of how an incumbent President in Nigeria lost an election.
Becoming A Nigerian
Writer Elnathan John, in this book published in 2020, employs satire in his Becoming A Nigerian to talk about the ills of Nigeria and what it takes to be a Nigerian. Elnathan paints different pictures of what it is to live in Nigeria; as a middle-class citizen, how to be a politician, how to be a pastor, how to cope as a journalist covering an election in Nigeria, as well as the subject matter of white people privilege in Nigeria.
The stories are relatable and will have the reader laughing from the first page to the last.