Publisher's Synopsis
Conventional books by historians usually provide either a panoramic recital or a deep-dive into the "who, what, and when" of the days gone by. Like treasure hunters, they tend to tiptoe around the "why" question to avoid second-guessing or rattling the bones of ancestral ghosts.
The author is a plucky researcher with an acute but quizzical disposition towards history. The spotlight on his homeland, Nigeria - spanning the pre-colonial through the colonial era, independence, disarray, civil war, military regimes, and democratic rule - backdropped by a wrenching resource curse, is contextually broad. The book's foray into counterfactuals is a special treat. And, although chronological, it can be read in any order.
Principally, the author seeks to uncover why a nation with so much promise is stuck in motion, perpetually spinning its wheels. Disappointingly, Nigeria's socioeconomic scorecard has been grim and unsettling. However, rather than fixating on the past, he challenges Nigerians to break free of their reductive, zero-sum outlook on life. Rain or shine, the future beckons.
