L-R: Nwodo, Ike Abonyi, Peter Obi, others at the book Launch
It was a gathering of egg heads in Abuja, on Wednesday, and Nigeria’s Situation was thoroughly x-rayed at the presentation of two books written by renowned Nigerian journalist, Ike Abonyi.
Speaker after speaker took on the political situation in the country from different perspectives, all unanimous that Nigeria is not moving in the right direction. The chairman of the occasion and renowned banker, Alhaji Mohammad Hayatudeen, kicked off with a stress that Nigeria could be better than it is as he praised the author for the good job.
The former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Nnia Nwodo catalysed the discussion with his exhaustive paper, titled, ‘How We Got Here? In his paper, Nwodo provided a historical look at Nigeria’s past and the steady decay of the political system.
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state, who was the Chief book Presenter, represented by the Director General of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors Forum, Dr Emmanuel Agbo, praised the Author of the book for putting his thoughts together for posterity. The 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, in his short remarks, reiterated his concern for the growing poverty in the land.
One of the books, ‘Wadata Wonders: Memoirs of a Partisan Journalist,’ was titled after the building housing the PDP national secretariat. Obi’s presence at the event, held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, is coming just days after the PDP publicly admitted it was making concerted efforts to bring the former vice-presidential candidate back into its ranks ahead of the 2027 elections.
Although he remained tight-lipped on the matter, Obi’s attendance at an event overwhelmingly populated by PDP leaders may be fuelling fresh speculation about the possibility of a political realignment. Former National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, was more blunt, declaring that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is steering Nigeria towards liquidation.
The two books were reviewed by a foremost Journalist, former Managing Director of the Guardian Newspaper, Martin Onoja. Other personalities that attended the occasion included former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Celestine Omehia; former national Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus; Bala Buhari, Senator Austin Akobundu foremost academia, Prof Udenta Udenta, among others.
Ike Abonyi, a former Group Political Editor of THISDAY and pioneer Deputy Managing Director of New Telegraph, served for over four years as Media Adviser to two PDP National Chairmen, an experience detailed in one of the books ‘Wadata Wonders.’
