The Deputy Senate Speaker, Ike Ekweremadu on April 27th made the daring step of publishing his book titled ‘Who Will Love My Country’.
The book took upon itself the “Herculean task of starting a national conversation on ethnics, values, rebirth and love for country.” As described by news agency, Sun News.
With the former Head of State and war veteran, Yakubu Gowon present along with other dignitaries including the representative of the President, Lai Mohammed, economists, politicians and others, the Deputy Senate President started by explaining the ‘Why’ behind the book.
“Let me state that I stand here today, not as the Deputy President of the Senate, not as a card carrying member of any political party, but as a patriotic Nigerian concerned about Nigeria’s future,”
He added that: “This book, Who Will Love my Country, is my good faith effort to examine Nigeria’s problems, provoke discussions about how Nigeria can overcome its challenges and build a better country for our children. It is also an encapsulation of most of the things I have said before. I lay no claims to having the solutions to Nigeria’s problems. I simply want to challenge and inspire Nigerians to rise above ethnic, partisan and selfish interests and focus more on how to build a better country for us and our children. If you are on a journey and you find out that you are travelling the wrong road, the right thing to do is to turn back and take the right path.”
“I remember vividly a verse in our old national anthem, which challenged us “to hand onto our children a banner without stain. I urge everyone here to think for a moment the state of the banner we intend to hand over to our children. Are we going to bequeath to them a banner stained by corruption, bad governance, ineffective leadership, ethnicity, slacking moral values, decadence, mediocrity, and sloth? God forbid!
“The state of this banner inspired the title of this book. A country that has given us so much, provided the platform and avenues for us to live out our potentials now begs us to reciprocate its love for us. Nigeria deserves better treatment from all of us. We can and must do better to demonstrate our love for a country that has given us so much. The greatest honor and tribute we can pay to Nigeria is to love it.
“To love Nigeria requires us to fundamentally revise and reexamine our attitudes, our values, and how we treat one another. It demands of us some sacrifice. We must subordinate our ethnic interests, partisan ambitions, and personal preferences to the overriding interest of the nation and posterity. We must be ready to surrender our perceived advantages to the general good. We must let go, for unless you release the man you are holding to the ground, you would not also be able to move an inch. Now is the time to offer one another a hand of comradeship and together we can move to the Promised Land.
“Leaders must govern effectively, use powers wisely and in the best interests of citizens. They must show fidelity to democratic imperatives of accountability and transparency, respect the laws of the land and respect the rights and liberties of citizens.
“Nobody can save or help Nigeria but Nigerians. As Timi Dakolo rightly points out in his thought-provoking song, Great Nation,
“We are all we have That is the message of this book. There is nothing that Nigerians cannot solve if we act in good faith, guided by the nation’s best interest. That is why I invited different contributors to express their views on the issues I raised in the book. Ultimately, I hope that this book Who Will Love My Country will inspire Nigerians to take stock of realities, recalibrate accordingly, and chart a productive way out of our present challenges and difficulties.”