Five books in the face of hopelessness

I was certain that my books on sober reflection at Easter last week will lead me to a new set of guests with happy books but now I cannot play them on the page because of the many happenings around the world that challenge humanity and bring us all to our knees. We have as far as we know managed fairly well in science, done great things, discovered many things and reduced the burden of man, from electricity, to flying, from internet to biotechnology. In spite of all of this, a planeload of human beings disappeared off the face of the earth over a month ago. It has been heartrending to see the relations in a place of such sadness and the Malaysian government unable to cope. The world has stood as one in the search for the plane which has continued to challenge authorities, science and all competencies related. Just as we thought it cannot get any worse, a ship off the coast of South Korea sinks and about three hundred persons mostly children are still missing. At home, the bomb blast in Nyanya just blew us away. Ordinary Nigerians on their way to work to their businesses, school children on their way to school, mothers children, pregnant women, a mini-Nigeria, decimated

2) The Poem About Life by Paulo Coelho is one of my favourites. Inspiring, hopeful and knowledgeable. All books by Paulo Coelho are good for the soul. Needful at this time which seems very dark across the world.

on an ordinary morning that became extraordinary. We cover ourselves in ashes as we mourn our dead and worry much about the wounded. I have always said the death of one Nigerian diminishes us all. In all of this the North East is still under siege and people are being attacked and killed all over the world. In between these deaths is the new fear for girls worldwide; rape, abduction, violence everywhere you turn. Girls are now endangered species. News from Chibok of a hundred abducted girls sent chills down my spine. I am gobsmacked and shocked that girls continue to be a target around the world and now we need new ways of protecting our girls and new words for describing the world. In the face of hopelessness, let us turn to books that give hope, that help us with our faiths, that talk about nations who have gone through the fire and came out better after the storm. This is Easter time, a time of renewed hope and re-energised spirits. It is in the middle of near hopelessness that humanity always finds a glimmer of hope. All things will be made good a gain because Nigerians are people of hope. It is well.

1) Cornell West’s Hope on a Tightrope is an incredible book for such a time as this. The New York Times bestselling author of Race Matters and Democracy and recipient of the American book award, Dr West, is a man whose books are all collector’s items. In this book he gives perspectives of someone who did not grow up watching too much television. It has 12 chapters on courage, philosophy, family, music, freedom and wisdom. Described as a book which will satisfy readers in search of deep wells of inspiration and challenge that marries the mind to the heart, this book will inspire all, especially in a world full of seesaws between unconditional love and acceptance and blind hatred and exclusion. Hope on a Tightrope makes its second appearance on this page. Here is a quote to lead you into the book. “You can’t lead the people if you don’t love the people, you can’t save the people, if you don’t serve the people.”