A two-time minister under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Bolaji Abdullahi, has faulted perceptions of his former principal as weak and clueless when he was president.
The former Minister of Sports and Youth Development spoke in Port Harcourt during the launch of his latest book, “On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan Won and Lost Nigeria.”
The book launch was held at the Port Harcourt Club on Friday during a quarterly book reading event hosted by the book organization, The August Meeting.
The body is made up of intellectuals in the city, passionate about education and improving the reading culture.
The former minister, who also served as the APC National Publicity Secretary between 2016-2018 described former President Goodluck Jonathan as a patriot.
“The most important thing that Jonathan has to teach everyone is the love of the country and the care in the use of power,” he said.
“He was very very particular. President Jonathan did not want to break the law, he didn’t want to violate the Constitution. Definitely, he is not weak, and definitely, he is not clueless from my experience.
“He is very patriotic, he understands the power bestowed on him as the president. Some of the things he did at the time and people regard him as clueless, some other people have done the same thing or even worse. So, I think he was just a victim of the kind of politics at that time.”
Students from Secondary schools, namely Nigerian Air Force Secondary School, Tantua International Group of Schools, Seacrest Preparatory School, and Goldspring High School in Port Harcourt, reviewed the book during the event and had questions for the author, which he answered.
Among other things, Abdullahi said he was inspired to write the book because he saw every event that played out from the point of view of a journalist and a technocrat, while he was a minister.
“I saw myself mainly as a journalist and technocrat, not a politician, and realized that I was excluding myself from the mainstream.”
We Need History in Schools
Abdullahi, a veteran journalist, also called for history to be made a compulsory subject in schools. He said having History as a compulsory subject would ensure that the younger generation is abreast of the past.
“For many years, history was struck out of the curriculum but I think it was returned towards the end of the last administration, history is back.
“But the question is, how do we now go about teaching children history after so many years of not teaching history?
“What Nigeria should be doing today is to make history compulsory for every Nigerian child whether you are studying Physics or Art.”
The observer schools included the Nigerian Navy International School and Dietam International School. Technocrat Robinson Tombari Sibe was the chief witness who reviewed the book.
Two Cool-Wazobia-Info Staff Showcase Books
Two staff members of CoolWazobiaInfo FM Port Harcourt, China Acheru, and Chioma Ezenwafor, had their books showcased during the book event.
Mr. Acheru, Wazobia FM’s Programs Manager in Port Harcourt, presented his book, “A Thousand Times on the Same Road” which chronicles his sports journalism journey.
“I have been to about 16 African countries, I have been to the World Cup and I tagged it 947 games,” he said.
“I created a hashtag on Twitter. #IkwerreManOneThousand and on my one-thousandth game, it was covered by the BBC. On that day I was like, ‘Now you've done one thousand games. What next would you do?’
“I said, if you have been to the stadium a thousand times, you must have a thousand stories to tell and that's where I got the idea of my book.
Mrs. Ezenwafor, the News Manager of CoolwazobiaInfo FM in Port Harcourt, presented her book, “Becoming aNews Titan,” which advocates for equitable reporting of politics and the civic space.
“As journalists, we will become deliberate about capturing all of the genders and all of the roles they are playing in the polity or the civic space, because, ‘Becoming a News Titan’ is written for journalists, aspiring journalists, and those already practicing, just to get us really close to the core of covering politics and the civic space.
“I believe that when we give equal coverage to all of the women in these spaces, whether it is the civic space or the polity, we will all become news titans.”
The highlight of the book event was the unveiling of the Education Champions League, aimed at improving the reading culture of students in Rivers State schools.
The convener of The August Meeting, Kingsley Wenenda-Wali said the competition will create an atmosphere that will help young people understand themselves better through reading.
The quiz competition, centered around books written about Nigeria by Nigerians, will start in April.
It has a N10 million prize, half of which will go to the participating students, with 25 percent going to their schools and the rest invested in books for school libraries.
