Testimonials About WE HAVE TO BELONG

We Have To Belong is as much a terrific call to action as it is a haunting assessment of humanity’s growing inability to govern itself. At its core, this book was written from the heart and soul of an author who understands that humanity is bigger than any one individual, but who also recognizes that one individual can change humanity. Akerele-Ogunsiji has provided the blueprint and the rationale for the 21st Century leader. Her work could not have come at a more important time.

Professor Steve JardingLecturer in Public Policy, Shorenstein Center, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government

A lot here most of the time seems like a leaf in the wind. Leaders half the time are groping in the dark. The led are confused wishing they were citizens of other Nations. For the youth who constitute the bulk of the Nigerian population, the future seems to have been mapped out, cooked and served by an older passing generation that won’t be part of that future. Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji snaps us all out of this triumph over Nothing noting that this floundering must end and the reins must be handed over to those who will take the Nigerian ship to its desired destination. As you finish reading, you’ll feel like lacing your boots to start the journey, already.

Funke EgbemodeHonourable Commissioner, Information and Civic Orientation, Osun State Government and Former President, Nigerian Guild of Editors

❝ In this brilliant and rousing call to arms, Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji x-rays how the failure of leadership by Nigeria’s political class and their accomplices have delayed our country’s destiny and stifled the dreams of her youth. This book is a powerful argument for real change in our country and the role of citizens, youth and women in bringing about nothing less than a citizen-revolution. It is required reading from a prominent leader of Nigeria’s emerging generation of activists and change-makers. ❞

Professor Kingsley Chiedu MoghaluFormer Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria and Professor of International Business and Public Policy, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

❝ Nigeria now more than ever is faced with a myriad of economic and political crises which stem from poor leadership, weak institutions and lack of accountability to the people. The book is a classic – brutally gripping and objective. It provides simple answers to some recurring questions that have impaired Nigeria and other developing Countries for long and the ways in which youth education and participation in politics forms a chunk part of that solution. ❞

Audu Maikori Lawyer, Entrepreneur, Activist and Co-Founder, Chocolate City

❝ The formidable impediments to the country’s march to progress are getting progressively worse as the nation, like a ship adrift on the high seas, is buffeted on all sides by the most perniciously virulent strain of corruption, terrorism and mind-boggling violence, poverty, and socio-cultural instability and all this while the country’s political class and their collaborators are running riot! Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji’s well-crafted book is topical and timely and could not have been written at a better time. As this masterful work eloquently communicates, the poor majority of Nigerians, who have for so long been watching and complaining from the fringes, must mobilize and move to wrestle their rich country from the grip of its callous and self-centred political leaders and their co-travellers, and pull their dear nation back from the brink. ❞

Mr. Peter ObiFormer Chairman of Fidelity Bank and Former Governor of Anambra State.

❝ We have to belong – is a reminder of the urgency for a paradigm shift in the role of citizens in Nigeria’s political and governance equation. It is a clarion call on well-meaning sections of the society, particularly young people, to activate their agency and direct it to the reconstruction and transformation of the continent. The books calls for a new breed of Nigerians who are actively informed, discerning and engaged irrespective of ethnic, religious and ideological differences but united in the sole purpose of redirecting the steps of the country on the path of sustained progress and growth for good of all its people. ❞

Ibraheem Bukunle SanusiSenior Advisor – Citizens Participation and Innovative Data Use for Africa’s Development at GIZ/African Union Office

❝ Nigeria, an emerging Superpower currently enmeshed in a series of crises including Poverty, Inequality and Insecurity desperately needs authentic and audacious Leaders and Citizens. While others grumble about the rot, Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji offers practical solutions as WE HAVE TO BELONG at its finest, is a well thought exposition which should be the go-to title for anyone who seeks to understand how Nigeria got to where she is today and how her people can sidestep the conundrums that have set their great nation back for decades. ❞

Professor Juliette KayyemNational Security Analyst of CNN & Former Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Homeland Security