What Have You Read Lately?

I grew up in a home where books and the knowledge they provided played an important role in our upbringing. Mother was an educationist and father loved to read widely on subjects that were completely unrelated to his professional discipline, Management and Marketing. He believed that being learned is reflected in your ability to meet people halfway in conversations on various topics. With such guidance from a young age, I read books, mostly biographies and autobiographies that inspired me.  At that time, we had twenty-eight volumes of colourful World Encyclopedia at home. My siblings and I had great fun devouring them in rapid succession. By the age of eight, I read about how Albert Luthuli, as president of the African National Congress, became a major problem for the South African apartheid regime long before Nelson Mandela came to prominence. Luthuli was the first person of African heritage to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960, although he was only able to receive it in 1961. I enjoyed reading his book titled Let My People Go.

One day in March 2019, my son, Vincent, walks into my study and stops in front of a bookcase. There are two other bookcases in my study filled with hundreds of my prized jewels. He peers through the glass door for a few minutes before opening it. I kept on typing away on my laptop pretending I was not aware of his presence. Not wanting to disturb me, he quietly pulls out a book. I used my side eye to look at him. It was my treasured copy of GOOD TO GREAT by Jim Collins. Now he had my full attention.

Where are you going with that book? I want to read it says twelve-year-old Vincent with a smile. You want to read it? I replied. Have you finished reading your own school books? Is this one part of your school curriculum? Is it your book?

But Dad, he said, didn’t you say that all the books in this house belong to all of us? He laughed. I looked at him and asked if he was ready for his lesson teacher. Don’t you have any assignment to do? But Dad, he replied, you told me you learnt a lot from reading your Dad’s books! I paused and shook my head. This little boy is using my words against me. What do you know about Jim Collins? I asked to deflect his query. Dad, I came across one of his quotes and I thought it would be good to read more. That is why I came to check if we have the book. Do you know that I have read Gifted Hands by Ben Carson? He smiled again.

We? I replied. You and who? I laughed. Then I remembered that my intellectual curiosity had developed in the same way. I nodded and told him he is free to take any book that he is interested in. I reminded him that since the book is older than him, he should treat it with the respect it deserves. People who are close to me know that I love books. They know I enjoy reading. They know I love continuous learning. I can go on for days without television. I am good once I have good books with compelling themes to read. My study is filled with books, journals, periodicals, pamphlets and reports. I have discovered many parts of the world through books. That is why I appreciate lovers of prose, drama and poetry who have shared their love for writing and reading by opening my eyes to the hidden treasures contained in their books and gifted me other books they felt would improve my life. The list includes:

1. PERSPECTIVES ON NIGERIA’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, Volumes one & two. Presented to me by the author, Dr Pascal Dozie in 2015.

2. WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? By Dr. Spencer Johnson was presented to me in 2001 by Heather and Brenda, two passionate HR practitioners working for Tetrapak in South Africa.

3. THE ENFORCEMENT OF ELECTORAL LAW AND THE CASE LAW OF THE ELECTIONS PETITIONS JUDGEMENTS was presented to me by the author, Professor Itse Sagay in September 2013.

4. SPIRITUAL ESSAYS was presented to me by the author, Prince Tony Momoh in 2009.

5. BUSINESS ETHICS was presented to me by the author, Professor Deon Rossouw of University of Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2015.

6. INSPIRING A GENERATION was presented to me by the author, Folakemi Fatogbe in 2015.

7. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION written by Gene Krantz, a former NASA flight director for the Apollo 13 mission, was presented to me by Professor Andy Boynton of IMD Laussane in 2003.

8. SUCCESS BUILT TO LAST: CREATING A LIFE THAT MATTERS by Jerry Poras, Stewart Emery and Mark Thompson, was presented to me by the students of Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2006.

9. THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH: AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MAHATMA GANDHI was presented to me by a senior diplomat, Jadesola Adesuyi, mni, in 2010.

10. Chuma Ofoche of AlliedSoft presented me with a copy of Peter Capelli’s TALENT ON DEMAND in 2008.

11. ENLIGHTENED WRITING AND SPEAKING by Tunde Williams was presented to me by Muyiwa Ogunmolade in 2008.

12. Adeniyi Adeoye presented me with a copy of THE HR SCORECARD written by Brian Becker, Mark Huselid and Dave Ulrich in 2008.

13. Bolaji Olagunju of Workforce Group presented me with OUR ICEBERG IS MELTING.

14. THE RACE FOR CAPITAL was presented to me in 2017 by the author, Tope Fasua, presidential candidate of Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) during the Nigerian 2019 presidential election.

15. CONNECTING WITH CLIENTS was presented to me by Bode Olutunmbi.

16. Bolaji Olagunju of Workforce Group presented me with ROADMAP TO STRATEGIC HR by Ralph Christensen.

17. Carl Bates presented me with an autographed copy of his book, TRAVERSING THE AVALANCHE: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE FOR SME GROWTH when we met for the first time in Maputo, Mozambique in 2015.

18. GETTING A JOB IS A JOB was presented to me by the author, Aruosa Osemwegie.

19. JOB AND CAREER MYTHS was presented to me by the author, Oyerinde Wale-Smatt.

20. THE GOLDEN RULES OF TRANSITION was presented to me by the author, Chiefo Ejiofobiri in 2009.

21. LEADING RIGHT: NIGERIA was presented to me by the author, Philip Ejiofor in 2017. I was the book reviewer at the launch.

22. AFTER SCHOOL…WHAT NEXT? was presented to me by the author, Ayo Omomayowa in 2017.

23. A SLAVE BY CHOICE was presented to me by the author, Oluwatoyin Uteh in 2019.

24. LIVING STRATEGY by Professor Lynda Gratton was presented and autographed for me by the author in 2002.

25. DIPLOMATIC SOLDIERING by Major General Joe Garba was presented to me by my friend, Dr. Mojeed Momoh, mni, in 2010.

26. AUDIT COMMITTEE AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIAN PUBLIC QUOTED COMPANIES. Presented to me by the author, Olusola Ephraim-Oluwanuga, mni, in 2014.

27. THE EXCELLENT MANAGER DVD book by Brian Tracy was presented to me by Adeolu Akinyemi.

28. ALL CHANGE! THE PROJECT LEADER’S SECRET HANDBOOK was presented to me by the author, Eddie Obeng in 2001.

For the authors mentioned above, I experienced your thought processes, personalities and views while reading your books. For non-authors who presented me with books, thank you for allowing me to discover what I was missing. Cultivate a reading habit today and watch your confidence and credibility grow. Knowledge empowers and enriches you. We don't need to be exceptionally clever or specially gifted, let us just be very, very curious like Albert Einstein said.