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Anyaoku, Abubakar task journalists on Nigeria’s history

By Seye Olumide
29 April 2017   |   4:25 am
They made the call at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) Lagos during the launching of a book titled: ‘Against The Run of Play’ authored by a former presidential Spokesperson, Olusegun Adeniyi.

Senator Tunde Ogbeha(left); former secretary general of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyanku; former minister for Communictions, Chief Cornelius Adebayo and author of Against the Run of Play, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, at the launch of the book in Lagos… yesterday

Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd) yesterday urged media practitioners to go beyond the traditional news writing and document a robust history of events in the country.

They made the call at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) Lagos during the launching of a book titled: ‘Against The Run of Play’ authored by a former presidential Spokesperson, Olusegun Adeniyi.

Barely a week after the book was published; it had generated heated debate across the country, particularly with regards to the 2015 general elections.

Abubakar, who was the chairman of the occasion, said Adeniyi has proved in his new work that journalism could actually go beyond news writing and can do more by giving Nigerians the details of what was going on in the country.

His words: “One of the striking things about Adeniyi’s work, which chronicles the details of what transpired before, during and after the 2015 general elections and the contributions of all the principal actors in the elections has generated serious and interesting debates since it was published.

“A week after it was published more reactions and writings have been done in regards to the book more than its contents. It was a must read research work carried out by the author, which would contribute seriously to the development and growth of the nation.”

He added that the book was not just about the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan and the rise of President Muhammadu Buhari but “It also contains intrigues, collaborations and details of efforts put together by the then opposition parties and how they merged that led to the defeat an incumbent president for the first time in the history of Nigeria.”

He also urged journalists to take up the responsibility of writing the history of the Boko Haram insurgents, the Chibok Girls, among other critical issues in the country.

Anyaoku said there are very good and important historical facts that could be learnt from Adeniyi’s narratives. The reviewer of the book and member of the editorial board, Thisday Newspaper, OKey Okechukwu said Adeniyi’s work is a must read for anybody who wants to understand power as “it chronicles the mistakes that led to the fall of Jonathan.”

The author in his remarks said he never betrayed the confidence of anybody he interviewed in his book.

Meanwhile, the book is already generating and some of the principal characters identified in the book are President Buhari; former presidents Goodluck Jonathan; Olusegun Obasanjo, former INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, among others.

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