Five books as we look back at Easter, abductions and sacrifice
I have been trying to come to terms with the happenstances around us as a nation as the Easter morning broke. Easter, that joyous season where the death of one man is the freedom of all others. The resurrection of Jesus Christ which has wiped our sins away. The sacrifice, the lenten journey, the charity, […]
I have been trying to come to terms with the happenstances around us as a nation as the Easter morning broke. Easter, that joyous season where the death of one man is the freedom of all others. The resurrection of Jesus Christ which has wiped our sins away. The sacrifice, the lenten journey, the charity, the fasting, the prayers all culminate at Easter expected to make us better persons. I am saddened by the news of the abduction of an army colonel who was later found dead in Kaduna. I am distraught by the story of a young girl whose father started sexual abusing her at 12 and who has made her commit two abortions. I am beside myself with stories of appearances and disappearances of the Chibok girls and stories of more abductions, rapes and atrocities in the North East. Then there is the Queens’s college Lagos story about a purported case of sexual harassment by a male teacher. As Easter slowly moves away from our consciousness, I would like to keep us grounded on the meaning of sacrifice, charity and leadership in this collection.
1) Abandoned by her Nigerian father and given up for adoption by her Scottish mother, Jackie Kay, Poet, Novelist and short story writer is an incredible wordsmith whose psychology and longing for her father, love for her foster parents and confusion about her birth mother teaches us about life, burdens and circumstances. Her books always take us to a place of tenderness and longing, a place of reality and fiction. Awesome combinations. Always happy with a full throttle laughter, its difficult when you meet her to believe some of the things life has thrown at her. But her books always brings it, in words so nimble they drive you to tears. My recommendation this season is Jackie Kay’s collection of short stories, “Reality, Reality”. The book opens with a quote from Flaubert which is so profound “We writers may think we invent too much but reality is worse every time”. This collection is full of compassion, generosity, sorrow and joy. Fifteen extraordinary stories to inspire, repair and make real. This is a book for the broken hearted, the person in love and that person whose sorrow seems to overwhelm. An excellent collection.
2) Jeffrey Sachs,“The End of Poverty, How We Can Make it Happen in our Lifetime” is a book that should be read by all. A book about economic policies of developing countries and the various ways in which we can end poverty by 2025 and change the world forever. Sachs who was former special advisor to the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and considered “probably the most important economist in the world” (NEW YORK TIMES) has travelled and worked in over 100 countries across the globe. He lays out how poverty has been beaten in the past, how in realistic, attainable steps we can make a real difference in the lives of those in extreme poverty who make up 1/5th of humanity. The book endorsed by award winning international musician Bono, who writes the forward, is one that desperately needs to be read by all world leaders.
3) The visit by Barrack Obama to Cuba after ninety years by any American President demonstrates how the world is changing and how we must all learn that nothing stays static. I have fished out one of my favourite books of all time to provide some understanding of the Cuban American relations from the Cuban side of things. This is because America is opportuned through movies and books and sheer regional power to provide its own narrative on the Cuban/American relations throughout the cold war and beyond. Always good to have a full picture so pick up Fidel Castro, “My Life”, a book written with Ignacio Ramonet. As leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro outlasted nine US presidents and survived over 600 assassinations attempts. He still remains one of the modern era’s most controversial figures. He tells his life story in full for the first time in this book. This is a book to treasure.
4) This is the time to read up all the books you need to read in respect of the teenage years of your children. Their psychology, their needs and their fears. Sexual harassment is kept in the closet if you are not close to your children and not observant. If they are not your friend, as parents, you lose them to other people very early in life. Get books on how to mange teenagers, get books about faith and get them to come along on religious and moral values. It helps to find out their fears and listen to them. Go to the site “Above Whispers” by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi and check out “LOUD WHISPERS: The Queen’s College Lagos Sexual Harassment Allegations: Five Lessons For All Of Us”. This is an excerpt from it, “The reason why incest and abuse by known persons continues unabated is the fear of speaking up and being believed. When they do, we need to listen and act” True Talk.
5) In the face of the terrible assault on Europe and West Africa by terrorists, this is the time to read any book on terrorism and how to secure yourself while traveling internationally. Read about how they recruit, who they are, what they believe in and pick up stories about the life of arrested terrorists. Enter their minds and stay safe.
Bonus books
a) Any book on Trump at this time is a useful read. Both Time and Newsweek have provided an exciting expose on the man Trump.
b) The Secretary: A journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the heart of American power by Kim Ghattas is an important book on Hilary Clinton’s shuttle diplomacies for America when she was Secretary of State.