Book Unveiled to Celebrate Kolade, Anyaoku in Lagos
Ayodeji Ake
Former Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade and former Secretary-General of The Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, recently launched a book titled, ‘The Spirit Of Our Treasures.’
The book was compiled by the Founder-Secretary of the Heritage for Life Foundation, Mr. Lemuel Iyalla.
Speaking the launch, the Bishop of the Diocese Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, commended the duo being leaders to leaders and mentors to mentees.
He said: “l accept all the accolades that have been poured on the lives of these wonderful men but I think we must also take cognisance of the fact that for building a nation, the challenges are far more than we can understand and the success of the challenges lie in if we use relay race as a metaphor. Because no matter how good you are as a relay team, your success depends on the quality of your collaboration and cooperation and how successfully we pass the baton.”
“And yet there is no greater guide than history because without history, our lives will be an endless, frustrating chain of accusations and counter accusations; ball passing, praise singing and condemnation.
“In reality history is a contest of ideas, because it continues with a culture of interrogation and the more we interrogate the events of history, the better it is for us. But of course, if this interrogation is not sustained, memory lapses.
“The late Professor Obaro Nkime, who was the president of the Historical Society of Nigeria, perhaps one of the world’s greatest historians, actually did say that nobody took history out of a syllabus.
“But what happened was that over time in the 1990s, as the banks with this artificial prosperity made in Nigeria, fewer and fewer and fewer young people decided they wanted to read history. People who are looking for courses that will help them in future.
The chairman on the occasion, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, represented by his wife, Bola Obasanjo, who also doubled as the Chief Launcher, commended the efforts of the duo for being models and impacting the society at large.
In reciprocation, the duo during the cutting of the cake expressed unlimited joy appreciating all the attendees.
