After facing personal failure and several setbacks, AbdulBasit AbdulSalaam has returned with a new novel, Becoming Again, offering solace to anyone feeling broken, lost, or ashamed, while showing how to rebuild and reclaim their life through practical guides and life lessons.
The book, which was unveiled on January 2, 2026, contained 130 pages with each chapter, exploring the silent struggles of young people in a society obsessed with success.
Speaking at the virtual unveiling, the author said the book highlights hidden challenges facing Nigerian youth as they navigate failure and personal setbacks while reminding them of the need to demonstrate to resilience and ambition to rise up irrespective of challenges they might be facing.
He said: “Social media celebrates the finished version of people, while very few talk about the falling, the breaking, the nights spent questioning yourself. In Nigeria, young people are struggling silently. Examinations fail them, businesses collapse, relationships end, spiritual lives feel empty. And society tells them: “You must move on. Don’t stay down.” But moving on is impossible when you don’t know who you are anymore.”
He noted that the book speaks to this reality, guiding readers about how to deal with life after collapses, shame, regret, and confusion have taken over.
“This book is not about pretending life is easy; it is about learning how to rebuild yourself when the world has told you you’ve failed,” he stressed.
Sharing what motivated him to write the book, AbdulSalaam said that the book was from his own personal failure.
“I failed badly — I was asked to withdraw from university after years of effort, and suddenly, everything I thought defined me was gone. I was crushed, ashamed, and confused. I felt small, invisible, like I had disappointed everyone — and worst of all, like I had disappointed God,” he said.
According to him, “the hardest part was that nobody teaches you how to recover when your identity collapses. Nobody tells you it’s okay to fail, to grieve, to feel lost, or to rebuild slowly. I had to figure that out myself.
Becoming Again is the book I wish I had in that moment.”
He described the book as a conversation with anyone who feels broken, disoriented, or ashamed, reminding them that their stories are not over, and they can rebuild, piece by piece, starting with themselves.
AbdulSalaam urged Nigerian youths not to see themselves as worthless whenever they fail on their life journey, stating that the lessons in failure is to allow them reclaim their self-esteem, rebuild identities, and find direction again without shame or shortcuts.
He called for reorientation in the way failure is being treated in our society, noting that, “we need to stop shaming it and start creating spaces where people can rebuild, where people can start again without fear, where identity and worth are restored before performance. Falling does not define you. Shame does not own you. Rebuilding is possible — and it begins inside.”