Seeing Nigerians ‘scramble’ to get a book, or have a conversation about one on social media is uncustomary unless of course, the author is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, or the book is On Becoming. In today’s case, it is neither of the aforementioned, so what is this book rave, #AgainstTheRunOfPlay, about?

Olusegun Adeniyi, a journalist, and the Executive Director of THISDAY Newspaper has written a book titled Against The Run of Play: How an incumbent President was defeated in Nigeria. As you can guess from the title, the book is about Nigeria’s former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. While I am yet to read this book, from all indication, it is not one that paints the past president in a glorious light.

According to Adeniyi, the idea for the book was conceived in the course of his Fellow’s programme at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University back in 2011. “I decided to research into why it is difficult for incumbent presidents to lose elections in Africa,” he said at the public presentation of the book in Lagos on Friday, April 28, 2017.

“As a keen follower of the events that culminated in the defeat of President Jonathan, it was also clear to me that while a credible opposition platform that the All Progressives Congress (APC) represented helped, it was not the main reason why the election went the way it did. So, I decided to interrogate the factors that led to that unprecedented electoral outcome in our country,” he explained.

In his review of the book, Azu Ishiekwene, the Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine, describes it as “the most eloquent single contemporary repository of why former President Goodluck Jonathan had to go.”

“Against the Run of Play is, however, a poignant reminder that almost from his first day in office, Jonathan was determined not to succeed. Even though forces beyond him may have also conspired to remove him – the same way they conspired to install him – Adeniyi’s book shows that the man was the single greatest contributor to his own downfall,” Ishiekwene wrote.

If Ishiekwene, like most Nigerians right now, had been contemplating whether or not his vote for change in the 2015 elections was worth it, Adeniyi’s book tells him it was. Following the conversation on Nigeria’s Twittersphere, it appears he is not alone; many people seem to agree.

https://twitter.com/ayodygeeidowu/status/857178650403250176

However, Ishiekwene did well to point out the fact that the book is not a vindication of the present administration. But “a useful reminder that in the quicksand of politics, leaders must seize the momentum while they can. And for a government like Buhari’s, which came on a tidal wave of change, it won’t have a second chance to campaign about change.”

So far, the book, Against The Run of Play, seem to be making really good sales in selected bookstores across the country. It costs a little over N3000. If you’ve read the book, your reviews are welcome.

https://twitter.com/oakhouse78/status/857978178836606976

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