Five books to take into 2018
As 2018 berths, there is the need to reposition oneself and prepare to be more resilient than ever before. It was a fairly stormy past year and the world is changing significantly. 2017 had many milestones but also had many violent downsides. The wars continue to rage in Syria, Yemen and kidnappings and abductions ravaged Nigeria. Many more men violently killed their wives, and before the year ended, some women were also reported to have killed their husbands. Children attacked parents, disappearances and missing persons returned with vengeance, and the terrible migrant deaths haunted us all worldwide. Then of course, the NorthEast insurgency, bombings and road accidents. It is not an easy world we live in, and daily, the news is about capsizing boats, murders, hailstorms, war and fire. It is so bad that one of my children told me that she was going to stop watching the news as it made her very sad. It is against this tough background that I bring you five books to arm yourself with as you go into 2018. While we pray that 2018 be better than the year before, one must always prepare for what life throws at us, which are often unpredictable. May 2018 be better, but as you journey, here are five books to keep in view, keep in mind that would help to keep you going.
1) Strategy, A History by Lawrence Freedman. Here is a book you should proudly display on your office table or by your bedside. This is a colossus of a book that gives an exciting insight into the history of strategy and how it has come to pervade everyday life and all professions. The writer’s extraordinary narrative covers the broad stretch of human history from biblical times to the present to include military strategy, political strategy and business strategy. This incredible book written by an Emeritus Professor of War Studies at Kings College, London, is described by The Publisher’s weekly as a “tour de force.”
Everyone living in todays complicated world must get a copy of this book, which gives insights into David’s use of deception against Goliath, Clausewitz’s revolutionary theories of warfare to the modern use of game theory in Economics. A highly recommended addition to your 2018 book tome.
I thank our dearest friend, General Bala Saleh and my sister, Croshelle, for introducing us to such a formidable book to kickstart the new year.
2) Loud Whispers by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi. I was at the reading of this amazing book, and the author, whom I have known for many years, remained steadfast in her continuous lookout for women.
Standing in the gap and answering as many interesting questions as the interviewer, author and columnist, Segun Adeniyi put to her, she said men had to treat their wives better as we now hear that women are also able to do them in. While she did not subscribe to the murder of anyone, she reminded the house that there were hundreds of bodies of women murdered by their husbands to perhaps one or two men murdered by their wives.
When asked if she believed women feminists were aggressive, her reply was spot on. When men stand up and talk and women do the exact thing, same body language, same tone of voice, the woman is considered aggressive. I bet Segun would have found her an exciting interviewee.
The author of this must-have book has always been formidable in her own right.
Odia Ofeimun adds his voice to the blurb when he says, “Bisi Fayemi’s flawless instinct and keen sense of fellow-feeling intervenes to make every word in this book a salvo of hope, and a protective shield for women and yes men, whom gender inequality traumatizes.”
For me, the conversational nature of the book, the themes she chose, including the Queen’s College, Lagos’s sexual harassment issue and solutions to tackling these issues in our schools, makes this book a worthy compass for all. If you would give a book this season, let it be Bisi Fayemi’s Loud whispers. It is frank, readable, friendly, but takes no prisoners.
3) Eliminating Poverty in Old Age Edited by James Calleja. This publication by the International Institute on Ageing, United Nations, Malta, is a book for all seasons. My latest passion is how we age - active ageing and intergenerational ageing. Add this to other related issues like healthy ageing, dementia and memory loss, you will understand how having spent time at the institute in Malta, I am now encouraging everyone to take an interest, not only in our ageing population, but how we will all go south someday.
The experts on ageing who we spoke with were all keen on letting us know that it has been scientifically proven that those who spend time with the ageing population with senior citizens have their lifespan increased by seven years. It is time for you to take more than a cursory interest. This book should show you how to connect ageing with poverty, especially because as you grow older and retire, health insurance closes its door, pension is difficult to access and everyone kind of leaves you to your devices. Older persons are worse off in the rural areas because there is rural urban migration and most children are either too poor to help aged parents or simply forget about them in the village. According to George Hyzler writing on the blurb of the book, “Our commitment should, therefore, be to restore the dignity to the very poor, and at the same time to strengthen solidarity; in our case, among older persons and generations. In understanding poverty in old age, we must be aware of the fact that people’s basic needs are inalienable rights…”
Just remember that old age is the destination of everyone. Take time to care for that senior citizen around you in 2018. As it is, most nations have an ageing policy; Malta even has a junior minister on Ageing. To my complete embarrassment, Nigeria has no policy on Ageing.
4) Hilary Clinton, What happened. This is a book for all who wonder how Hilary lost to Donald Trump. This is Hilary’s account of What happened. Grab a copy.
5) Show Stress Who’s Boss, The Essential Guide to Managing Stress, Plus 4 Easy Steps to Beat your Stress Today by Carole Spiers. This is one book everyone should carry along into 2018. If you can’t get hold of this, get any stress busting book. This book by Spiers sitting beside my bed has simple techniques to release tension, easy ways to build resilience to pressure, proven steps to help you sleep soundly, key strategies to achieve a healthy worklife balance, among other things. It is again proven that our health is hinged on managing stress and most non-communicable disease feed on our stress levels to devastate us. This is a true health support for 2018. Minimise your stress levels, or try to eradicate it completely for a healthy lifestyle.