{"id":272844,"date":"2011-01-05T16:45:16","date_gmt":"2011-01-05T16:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/?p=44859"},"modified":"2011-01-05T16:45:16","modified_gmt":"2011-01-05T16:45:16","slug":"day-president-jammed-with-musicians-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/01\/05\/day-president-jammed-with-musicians-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"Day President jammed with musicians, writers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-30850\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2010\/11\/06\/d%e2%80%99banj-parts-way-with-glo\/dbanj\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-30850\" title=\"dbanj\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/dbanj.jpg\" alt=\"d'banj\" width=\"300\" height=\"385\" \/><\/a>By SOLA BALOGUN<br \/>\nMany people actually found it difficult to believe but the                      book presentation that had neither chief launchers nor buyers                      was made possible by President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos.                      For over three hours, the president was seated before his                      friends, savouring good music amid tributes that eulogised                      his virtues as a leader who listens to the people.<br \/>\nThe formal presentation of My Friends and I: Conversations                      on Policy and Governance, held at the Eko Hotel in Lagos,drawing                      a mamooth crowd among whom were youths and students. The president                      aptly demonstrated his passion for books, and used the occasion                      to launch his project; Bring Back The Book. He asked Nigerians                      to embrace books, noting among others that the knowledge and                      vision needed to change society can only be obtained through                      books.<br \/>\nThe two-in-one project also saw a wedlock of literature and                      music, just as writers mingled with musicians in a colourful                      display of talents. First to storm the stage was D\u2019Banj,                      the Koko Master whose stagecraft and lyrics set the pace for                      the event. He was soon trailed by Zakky, who was accompanied                      by two female dancers. Zakky thrilled guests with his rythmic                      commercial, which endorsed Jonathan for next year\u2019s                      presidential election.<br \/>\nA few minutes later, young Mochedda mounted the stage with                      her rap and Christmas songs. The young musician enjoyed her                      show while dancing and dazzling the audience with renewed                      confidence. She was soon followed by TuFace Idibia who stormed                      the stage amid a tumultous ovation. Tu Face\u2019s show was                      however shotlived as he was only able to thrill in two numbers                      before he relinquished the microphone.. The next star on the                      bill was P Square, the enigmatic duo who sent the hall partying                      with such popular numbers as No One Like You, E No Easy and                      Do Me. The singers\u2019 show was trailed by motivational                      talks by Nana Ashma, T.Y Bello, Ken Saro Wiwa\u2019s son                      and Toyosi Akerele. These speakers urged the youths to embrace                      change by believing in themselves and voting credible leaders                      into ofsfice come next year.<br \/>\nFor President Jonathan, it was a rare passion that forced                      him to encounter Nigerians through Facebook. The experience                      afforded him opportunity to meet and interact with youths                      who offered suggestions on leadership styles and policy creation.                      It therefore became inevitable for him to document his Facebook                      experiences in a book form. Besides, his interest in books                      prompted his love for education, believing that functional                      education cannot be obtained without sufficient interest in                      books and literature.The president also stressed the need                      to return the golden era of quality education which could                      galvanise economic prosperity and socio-cultural advancement.<br \/>\nWhile reviewing the book, Dr Reuben Abati, Editorial Board                      Chairman of The Guardian underscored President Jonathan\u2019s                      unique style of leadership in interactingwith the people through                      Facebook. For having been inspired by US President Barack                      Obama, Abati extolled Jonathan\u2019s virtues as a leader                      who values digital democracy and uses it to communicate effectively                      with the Nigerian people.<br \/>\nThe reviewer also commended Jonathan whom CNN dubbed \u2018Facebook                      President\u2019, noting that the medium adopted by the president                      has afforded him opportunity not only to create people\u2019s                      parliament and build a strong democracy, but also to get feedback                      from people aside creating a new pattern of relationship between                      him and the people he rules.<br \/>\nHowever, Abati was uncomfortable with certain jargons and                      spelling mistakes that abound in the book as posted by the                      various friends of the President. According to him, Nigeria                      cannot grow without a population of people who can read, write                      and generate new ideas.<br \/>\nFor Odia Ofeimun, President Jonathan\u2019s willingness to                      read books to the children was a demonstration of his humilty                      and a leadership quality that is needed in Nigeria today.                      His passion for books and knowledge equally amplified his                      mission to provide basis for building a sense of commuinity.                      Ofeimun also observed that Jonathan was the first Nigerian                      leader to have openly identified with books and knowledge,                      hence he has created a new approach based on pragmatic considerations                      to generate policies.<br \/>\nMeanwhile, the book presentation also dovetailed into a political                      forum of sorts, as notable dignitaries and top officials of                      the Jonathan administration were present. Some of these were                      Speaker House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, Chairman,                      Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Campaign, Alhaji Seriki Tafida,Minister                      of National Planning, Dr Shamshuldeen, Minister of Information                      and Communications, Labaran Maku and Minister of Tourism,                      Culture and National Orientation, Alhaji Sadiq Mohammed. Also                      in attendance was Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Ogun State Governor,                      Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Joe Trippi, Ben Bruce, Oronto                      Douglas, among many others.<br \/>\nOn the writers\u2019 list were Nobel Laureate Professor Wole                      Soyinka, Professor John Pepper Clark, Professor Ebun Clark,                      Jerry Agada, Helon Habila, Sefi Ata, Lola Shoneyin, Simidele                      Dosekun, Ayodele Olofintuade, as well as Bibi Bakare of Cassava                      Republic and Muktar Bakare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By SOLA BALOGUN Many people actually found it difficult to believe but the book presentation that had neither chief launchers nor buyers was made possible by President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos. For over three hours, the president was seated before his friends, savouring good music amid tributes that eulogised his virtues as a leader who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Day President jammed with musicians, writers - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/01\/05\/day-president-jammed-with-musicians-writers\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Day President jammed with musicians, writers - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"By SOLA BALOGUN Many people actually found it difficult to believe but the book presentation that had neither chief launchers nor buyers was made possible by President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos. 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