Five books for elected leaders of 2019

So the President’s inauguration alongside that of the Vice President has taken place in Abuja. While President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo were taking their oaths of office several other governors across the nation also got sworn in, in their respective jurisdictions. Congratulations to all! These ceremonies are colourful and ceremonial but the real […]

So the President’s inauguration alongside that of the Vice President has taken place in Abuja. While President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo were taking their oaths of office several other governors across the nation also got sworn in, in their respective jurisdictions. Congratulations to all! These ceremonies are colourful and ceremonial but the real work then begins immediately after. For those who are newly elected, it’s the beginning of getting off to a good start while those in their second and final terms have to now hit the ground running and consolidate their positions, address election promises and be involved in legacy projects. Both at the centre and in all the states, Nigerians are seeking some cushion to their many challenges and there is no better time to address them than now. I am confident that from the federal government to the state governments, the yearnings of Nigerians have been largely met at the elections. It is now time to reward the people for their steadfastness and their loyalty. This is time for us all to make Nigeria better, to spread joy and make the citizens smile, while governance should become that which Nigerians show off and followership is honest and robust. The led and the leaders would do well to take Nigeria to the next level. To underscore our collective interest in taking Nigeria higher, I present five books for the new leaders, from Abuja to Lagos, from Yola to Katsina, from Ogun to Nassarawa, all across the nation.

1 Primary Health care in Cuba, the other revolution by Linda Whiteford, a medical anthropologist and Lawrence Branch, a social psychologist. Cuba is recognised as a paragon of health care and praised by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF. Both writers present their findings on a health care anomaly from an unusual source and examine the highly successful model of primary health care in Cuba, following the 1959 Cuban revolution. During a time of dramatic socio-political change, it created a preventive health care system to better provide equitable access to health care. This book enunciates lessons learnt by both authors in Cuba to stimulate reconsideration of these practices in public health to be replicated in other countries. This Cuban medical internationalism is worthy of emulation. In 2007 Cuba had 42,000 medical workers in international collaborations in 103 countries. 30,000 of them were Doctors. And the numbers are rising. Cuba’s most important export commodity is medical Doctors. Amazing stuff. With public hospitals in dire straits and patients across the nation lost in translation, the Cuban model anyone?

2. Teach like Finland 33 simple strategies for joyful classrooms by Timothy Walker. In 2018 Finland was leading other nations as the country with the best educational system anywhere in the world and continues to dazzle in the field. Timothy Walker who came to Finland from the United States taught 5th graders in a Helsinki public school and was intrigued by the teaching style in Finland which included brain breaks and a peaceful learning environment which promoted a message of Joy. Completely taken in by this teaching method that has earned Finland many stripes among the comity of nations, Timothy decided to put together 33 strategies that has made Finland the envy of other nations where 15 year olds scored the highest in the Programme for international school assessment, PISA. I believe that it is important for governments across board in Nigeria to be concerned about the many gaps in our educational system, including exam malpractices and the poor state of educational infrastructure as well as poorly trained teachers. With the gift of bright minds in Nigeria, it is time to harness them, encourage them and provide the necessary requirements to prevent the capital flight that comes with acquiring tertiary education outside Nigeria. The costs are mind-boggling. Nigeria should really be an educational hub. Let’s take a harder look at this challenge.

3. Infrastructure in Africa, Lessons for national development Edited by Mthuli Ncube and Charles Leyeka Lugumba. This is a must read for anyone holding the reins of government. We all know how infrastructure propels development, from highways to aviation infrastructure. Often times the budget is not sufficient to take care of all the needs and older infrastructure is not well maintained. This challenge affects infrastructure development across Africa and innovation taking place more rapidly in developing nations leaves Africa gasping for breath and playing catch up. Only two weeks ago, I was privileged to be on a panel to discuss Infrastructural deficit in Nigeria after a brilliant paper delivered by former Director General of Debt Management Office, Dr Nwankwo, organised by a social organisation, Just Friend’s Club. The question remained should we borrow to develop our infrastructure and whether public private development was the way out. The bottom line by all erudite panellists was that whatever is decided, Nigeria cannot be standing on the same spot and infrastructural development should be treated as a national emergency. This discourse should be of great concern to governments at all levels. The media should help carry the people along as governments begin a race against time infrastructural development for the benefit of all.

4. The little book of Kindness by Bernadette Russell is a book that simply requires that we all re-humanise ourselves. We are slowly eroding those things that in time past we took for granted. For a harmonious world all we really need to do is to be kind to one another. With Nigeria facing security challenges, it is time to halt the trolling on social media and educate the youth and elders alike on the benefits of kindness. That route can heal our land. There is too much ethno-religious vitriol. Let us make our diversity count for good and be kind to one another.

5. It is depressing when you hear some citizens tell you why they are not impressed by the corruption war of the government while others tell you, those who are corrupt should be left alone, there are other things we can be doing to make Nigeria better. Corruption denies children treatment and drugs leading to a high infant mortality rate in Nigeria, pregnant women die needlessly with Nigeria again having one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Education, infrastructure etc. are all short-changed and hospitals have no drugs to treat the simplest ailments. Indeed, it is corruption that got Zainab jailed in Saudi Arabia and she could have died even though she was innocent. Who says corruption should be left alone? Please step aside. The book to read this season is, Nigeria, the way through corruption to the wellbeing of the people by Abdullahi.Y. Shehu.