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Using Hope Unraveled to Create Change in Nigeria
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
(The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation)In Hope Unraveled:
The
People's Retreat and Our Way Back,
Rich Harwood drew upon years of travel,
research
and conversation with Americans.
What he
saw led him to believe that Americans were
retreating from public life. But, just last week, an email from
Folorunsho
Moshood, a Programme Officer for Educare Trust
in Nigeria, suggested that the insights from
Hope
Unraveled reached well beyond American
shores.
At last year's
Public Policy Workshop, Moshood received
a copy of Hope Unraveled
and saw clear and
compelling connections between the
retreat Rich describes
in the US and that the challenges facing
Nigerians. "Through
the book, I got an inspiration to write my
final thesis examining the
relationship of Nigerians to politics and
public life just like Harwood set out
to do."
The book served to
inspire academic exploration but also
action, as Moshood "used the contents of the
book, especially the issue of
having a 'false start,' in many forums.
Nigerians believe that a problem or an
issue must occur before creating a public
space. Through the book, I have been
able to distinguish between a 'false start'
and a 'genuine start'. Members of a
community should always come together to talk
and act not only on a current
issue but other envisaged ones."
The current issues facing Nigerians are
daunting and
include: "failure of past political leaders to
deliver on promises, the issue
of political thugs [who] perpetrate violence,
rigging before, during and after
elections [which] have tended to generate a
loss of faith in the electoral
process and the alarming rate at which
Nigerians retreat from political
participation and public spaces."
But, in the end Moshood believes: "The
strength of the book
lies in its ability to 'breathe' in the hand
and mind of a reader through its
lucid language. To win the present and the
future battles of re-energizing and
re-generating the nation, the book must be
read by every American and even
Nigerian."