Simon Kolawole to release debut book on Oct 3

Simon Kolawole, founder of TheCable online newspaper and THISDAY columnist, will release his debut book on Monday, October 3, 2022.

The book, Fellow Nigerians, It’s All Politics, is a collection of essays on Nigeria’s nationhood, dealing with topics on leadership, democracy, national integration and the economy.

The book is published by Cable Books, an imprint of Cable Newspaper Ltd, and will be sold in Nigeria by Roving Heights Ltd and other leading bookstores. It will also be available on Amazon.

“I am excited to finally publish a book after so many years of thinking about it,” Kolawole said in a press release announcing the release of the 336-page book.

“The central theme of the essays is the role of leadership in national development. My basic argument is that we have all ingredients required to make Nigeria great but our leaders have proved over time that they are more passionate about politicking than delivering good governance.

“I often argue that if the politicians devote as much passion to governance as they devote to politics and politicking, Nigeria would develop. The essays explore this key proposition in different ways and through different events and anecdotes.”

‘Vision of society’

The book contains previously unpublished articles, one of which is titled ‘The Value of a Nigerian Life’. In it, Kolawole argues that “the day Nigerian leaders begin to value the life of an average citizen, something major will shift in the way they govern”.

Kolawole, writing on ‘The Search for a Perfect President’, warns ahead of the 2023 elections that although Nigerians desire and deserve a world-class leader, the stark reality is that human beings are flawed and no one candidate will tick all the boxes.

“We are never going to get a president who does not have underbellies, contradictions and failings. It is now left for us to decide what failings we can live with and how we are going to engage, positively and constructively, with the new leader to focus on the things that matter the most to us,” he argues, adding: “I would say the economy and security are our biggest worries for now and we should keep that in mind when we vote.”

The book also contains a selection of his most popular articles since he started writing a weekly column for THISDAY in 2003.

Kolawole often identifies politics, or “politicking”, as an obstacle to Nigeria’s progress. All other problems, he argues, derive from the wrong form of politics. This, he says, is often manifest in the manipulation of ethnic, religious and regional differences for political gain.

The ultimate solution to getting Nigeria out of underdevelopment, Kolawole contends, is the enthronement of competent and patriotic leadership committed to playing “the politics of purpose” and implementing a development-oriented “vision of society”.

About the author

Kolawole, who founded TheCable in 2014, earned a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos in 1992, and a master’s degree in Governance and Development from the University of Sussex, UK, in 2006 as a British Chevening scholar.

He was named among Africa’s next generation of leaders by The Banker, a publication of the Financial Times of London, in 2009. He was a Mo Ibrahim Fellow on the Governance for Development in Africa Initiative at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in 2010. In March 2012, he was named young global leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Kolawole started his journalism career at Complete Football magazine in 1993 and went on to work at TheNews/TEMPO group and City People between 1994 and 1996. He joined THISDAY in 1997, rising to the position of features editor before moving to Financial Standard in 1999 as the founding deputy editor. He returned to THISDAY in 2002 and was appointed editor of the Saturday newspaper, a position he held till 2005 before taking a study leave. He was the daily editor of THISDAY from 2007 to 2012.

He and former Miss Abimbola Sherifat Ojikutu got married in 2001 and they have a daughter, Naomi.