Chuks Emmanuel Nwazojie, a United States-based criminologist and businessman, is the author of Fixing Nigeria, a book that chronicled all the administrations in Nigeria – right from independence to the present day – their achievements, shortcomings and offered a pathway forward for the country.

In this interview, he spoke on what inspired him to write the book, how the military destroyed Nigeria`s reading culture, how poor reading culture is affecting Nigerians as a people, among on other issues.

Who are you and what inspired you to write this book?

My name is Chuks Emmanuel Nwazojie. I am from Abatete in Anambra State, but living in New York, United States of America. I am a criminologist by training and also an entrepreneur. Down here they call it businessman. I was born in Nigeria and spent the early years of my life here in Nigeria. Even now that I am living in the United States, I still keep a tab on developments in Nigeria because I don’t have any other country that I can call my own. Fixing Nigeria is a book that took me time to write because it involved lots and lots of research. It is about the causes of the problems in Nigeria and how they could be fixed. The book was borne out of my passion and patriotism for Nigeria and I see it as a way of contributing to the development of the country. I have painfully watched the spate of suffering in Nigeria while there is a deafening silence on the part of those who are supposed to know and provide solutions to the myriads of challenges plaguing the country. Those who are supposed to know, our so-called leaders are playing the ostrich while the country is rotting away. Instead of providing solutions, they would go religious by saying let us pray for Nigeria, as if the super economies like United States, China, Singapore, Malaysia and others were built on prayers.

As an author, what do you have to say about Nigerian reading culture?

Well, the truth is that the military, the regime of Gen Olusegun Obasanjo in particular, destroyed our reading culture with his obnoxious polices of indigenisation and naturalization. In the sixties and early seventies, Nigerians were reading. The reading culture was very high. The bookshops and libraries were filled with good books because the white men were here. As a young man then, I used to go to CMS (CSS) Bookshop, (Broad Street) here in Lagos most of the time to buy books; because, as youngsters then, we were even doing reading competition. By reading competition I mean we would come together and begin to mention the novels that we have read. But when Gen Obasanjo came on board in 1976, after the assassination of Gen Muritala Mohammed, he banned foreign books as part of the indigenisation decree that he inherited from Gowon and Muritala Mohammed. So, because of the decree, foreign companies were leaving en masse, Kingsway Stores, and the rest, they were going with their money and the economy was going down. In fact, I wept bitterly the day CMS Bookshop was shut down. I went there to buy books and I saw the place under lock and key. Libraries and other bookshops also followed suit because the Europeans who were bringing the books have left. That was the beginning of what is happening today.

I know that the young ones today don’t know about this story. As an American-trained criminologist, I know that if you want to destroy a people quietly, first remove books from them. In the next 20 years, they would have reduced from human beings to animals and then you would see them fighting and destroying themselves. This is exactly what has been going on in Nigeria for decades now. What everybody is saying is that the military bungled our economy. The military destroyed our economy. The big story is that the military destroyed our reading culture because no country can develop beyond its scholarship.

How has the lack of reading culture affected our development as a nation and as a people?

I just said that no nation can develop beyond its scholarship. So, reading is everything. If you don’t read, you cannot lead. The solutions to most of the problems in the world are buried inside books, and for you to find them you must read. Nigeria is the way it is today because we are not reading. What is Nigeria’s annual budget for education? In other climes, substantial amount is set aside annually for education. But here in Nigeria, education is treated as a footnote instead of headline. Go to most of the schools across the country and see the deplorable state they are in. Their environments are not conducive for learning. And when you graduate from those institutions, what can you do in the society? You cannot compete with students from the other climes. That is even why some companies in Nigeria say that they don’t employ graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions. Because our leaders are not reading, they are not leading well and everything is falling apart. Even now with the hard-biting economy, people must struggle to eat; and as they are struggling to eat, the desire to read is continuously being pushed to the background. You can agree with me that if things continue like this, there would be no hope for the country.

What would people benefit from reading your book?

My book is a true story of how Nigeria fell from state of hope at independence to a state of hopelessness 50 years down the line. It is a true book of how Nigeria can stand on her feet. It is a story of the reforms that are needed to bring Nigeria back to her feet. It is a book that chronicled all the regimes and administrations that we have had in this country, their achievements and shortcomings. So, it is a book that all the leaders that we have had in this country should read to know their mistakes, because I know that when they were in office they may not be seeing everything. It is like footballers on the field. They don’t see all the mistakes. It is the coach who is on the bench or standing by the sideline that can point out their mistakes. It is also a book that the would-be leaders need to read so that they would not follow the path of those that they are trying to take over from. An adage has it that to be forewarned is to be forearmed. So, if they read it, they would follow a different direction because you cannot be doing the same thing and be expecting a different result. The book is something that will correct most of the ills in the country. Look at the mess that is currently going on in South Africa. This is a country that we gave our all during the struggle against their colonial masters; but today we have become their worst enemies. So, it is not just about Nigeria, it is a pan-African book.

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