By Chukwuma Ajakah

Known for making forecasts of global significance, the Gulf War and the Niger Delta uprising which were documented in his book, Terrors of War, prolific author and historian, Nnamdi Agbakoba makes amazing predictions and revelations in a new book, “The Stabbing of Nigeria”. 

The author who expressed his concerns for Nigeria during the media preview of the new book on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, explained that The Stabbing of Nigeria addresses cardinal issues such as the history of corruption in Nigeria, new theories on education and the divine nature of Peter Obi’s presidency.

While proffering solutions to the myriad of seemingly intractable problems buffeting Nigeria since the 1914 amalgamation, Agbakoba proposes the rechristening of the country as a panacea, arguing that the nation’s woes are traceable to the name foisted on it by colonial imperialists after its coinage by a British journalist, Flora Shaw (Lady Lugard).

According to the pundit, the book discusses the dynamics that provoke name change as found in the Bible and the Koran with the Creator handling name changes in situations that warranted them. “Most Nigerians will be wondering why we should think of changing the name or ask: Who came up with this crazy idea of name change? All I will say is read the chapter on name change for Nigeria in the novel and judge for yourselves.”     

Giving reasons for his proposition, the author said: “I said in the book that all other West African countries are happier than us though we are richer. Look at Rwanda and Sierra Leone, for instance. Egypt might have suffered what they suffered because of what they did to the Israelis for 430 years. That might have affected the whole of Africa. We are talking of 430 years before Christ, almost 3000 years ago. Africa is still struggling. We don’t produce anything. We’ve been eating ‘akpu’ since the 16th century. No change.  No new innovations. This book, I call it the book of the moment. The President, governors and all citizens should read it to see where we got it wrong.”

Pointing out that leadership failure is one of the major problems of Nigeria, he remarked: “Vanity has overtaken Nigeria. Many political leaders are not there to serve. They like the convoy, policemen and opulence. They do not have the hunger for people-oriented service.”

On what he thinks of Peter Obi’s candidacy, Agbakoba said: “Peter Obi has the medicine that can help governance. It is his precedent that is powering him. How he handled Anambra State and what he left in the state coffers. Yes, if he wins, so many things will change. He is going to stop wastage. Wastage has caused Nigeria trillions of Dollars. He knows the small details that can help governance, to make it good.

“You are not there to serve yourself. You are there to serve the public. But they are going there now to serve themselves. That is what they are there to do. They do it brazenly and rub it on our faces. Such things are easy to change or correct when everybody know that they are wrong.”      

“Why are we the only nation in ECOWAS answering a name that is a coinage of a terrible racial slur or insult, ‘Nigger’ generated centuries ago in the slave plantations of America and Europe?” he wondered, saying: “Nigeria is a coinage or derivative of the word ‘Nigger’ or ‘Niger’ The three words are identical apart from the double ‘g’ in ‘Nigger’ and the ‘ia’ at the end of ‘Niger’. The word ‘Nigeria’ is part of the problems of a dwarfed growth and development in all areas of nation building. It is a mystery how the name of someone or something can determine the destiny. Name change has always been part of the way God operates and other nations of ECOWAS changed theirs.

“That Nigeria was named by Flora Shaw makes it more unacceptable. In African culture and even the Bible, women don’t give names. Now, for an unmarried woman to name a nation, such name attracts a curse. So, the name is a curse name. If the name is really rotten, why keep it? We have to get back to the cradle. Anyone arguing that the name is not cursed should tell us what it is that is driving Nigeria backwards. Let us do like other countries. Any other constitution review should have that name as a part of the structure.”

The author explained that everything in the book pertains to “stabbing the nation” in one way or the other, saying: “Why we talk about name change is because it is the most sensitive of all the things I wrote in the book. What is in this book reflects what happens in Nigeria. Whether it is how I lost my son, Daniel to suicide or the way they bring expo for our students to see and the Minister of Education and the commissioners say they have not seen what is happening.”    

Moreover, the reading culture crusader also spoke on some personal experiences he shares in the book, revealing how the rut in the educational system destroys Nigeria: “The heart and heartbeat of Nigeria is under serious attack. This informs the title of the book, “The Stabbing of Nigeria”. When the brains and creativity of millions of WAEC candidates are sabotaged by exam questions leakage, year after year, candidates can easily browse the internet and find a host of sites selling WAEC questions and answers. That is a direct attack on the academic system.  Youths and even parents use huge sums of money to buy such. Invigilators collect money from the students to look the other way as they take out textbooks to copy answers. That is like ‘stabbing’ Nigeria. WAEC is the first major external examination candidates must scale through for academic authorities to know their strengths and weaknesses, but the whole system is shrouded in corruption. The government is managing a blind academic system.”

Emphasizing the importance of a healthy reading culture, he revealed that he had postulated two new theories, “Brain DNA” and “Gene Pool Evolution” in the book, saying: “The reading culture is to the brain like a lubricant. When you are building a muscle through weight lifting it does not swell up overnight. It may stay up to one year before you see anything. God is the owner of knowledge. He won’t release certain information to us until our brain is ready to receive such.

“With time, using technology, a small object will lift a man from the ground and have him flying like a bird in the air. Many of the things we have today were unthinkable 60 years ago. It is just like magic as you see Michael Jackson flying. That is how important the reading culture is. The repair that this country needs is humongous. If you look at the western world, you wonder why Africa is the way it is. Nothing is evolving. We didn’t make ice cream, not that we didn’t have milk. We didn’t make cornflakes, not that we didn’t have corn. We didn’t make sugar. Though we had sugarcane we used honey.”