Shasore discusses the birth of a nation

Former Attorney-General of Lagos State, Olasupo Shasore, will host lovers of books and guests to a discussion of issues pertaining to the creation of Nigeria as encapsulated in his new book entitled, A Platter of Gold, published by Quramo Publishing Limited.

The book session will hold on Sunday, January 15, 2017 from 4:00p.m.- 6:00pm at Simi Johnson Centre, 13, Sinari Daranijo, Off Ajose Adeogun, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Shasore took the guests through the critical period leading to Nigeria’s independence and explored the premise that the British Empire handed Nigeria over on a platter of gold, without struggle and without incident.

A Platter of Gold tells the story of the eight colonial Pro-Consul Governors and the under-celebrated, sometimes everyday Nigerians, who pitched wit and guile against them to demand their rights and freedom.

A statement from the publisher notes: “We learn about Ahmadu Attahiru I, the Sokoto Caliph and his cavalry, which violently resisted British ouster and occupation; Eleko and the Lagos chieftains, who first claimed they would ‘rather die than pay tax’; Nwanyewura of Oloko and her intelligent trio who said,
‘We will not pay tax till the world ends.’ There are the scores of women of Opobo who led the women’s war against taxation: Alimotu Pelewura and the market women, who would not ‘sell their country’ for personal gain, but instead asked for free trade; Michael Imoudu and his workers’ union, who paralysed the nation’s economy under a general strike for native workers’ rights and equality; Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and the Abeokuta Women’s Union, who demanded native participation in government and women’s liberation; the miners of Iva Valley Enugu, including the 21 killed, who mounted a go-slow strike for equal treatment and respect for natives in their work place.

“A Platter of Gold is an exciting, epic colonial biography of a nation. How did Nigeria come to be a nation? What manner of country is she? Who are Nigeria’s other heroes?

“This is a story of Nigeria’s history as well as the history of Nigeria’s story. The other story!”Shasore is a barrister, arbitration practitioner and historian. He was chairman, Lagos History Committee that produced a seminal two-volume work titled, History of Lagos from Earliest Times. He is the author of Possessed: History of the Crown Colony of Lagos 1861 – 1906, and a children’s book, The King and the Colony. Shasore lives in Lagos, Nigeria. A Platter of Gold is his second book.