A former presidential spokesperson and Chairman of THISDAY Editorial Board, Olusegun Adeniyi, will today (Monday) release his new book, The Ghost of June 12, to the reading public. However, the release of the book will be devoid of his occasional reading events to sign copies and draw attention to his books.
The Ghost of June 12 is a compilation of four of Adeniyi’s previously published titles on Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha’s transition to civil rule written between 1992 and 2005, the author said in a statement on Sunday. The books are Fortress on Quicksand, published in 1992 on the 23 presidential aspirants of the defunct and military-created Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) who were all disqualified and banned from contesting elections; POLITRICKS: National Assembly under Military Dictatorship, published in 1994 to detail the intrigues of having a civilian legislature with General Babangida as a military president; Abiola’s Travails, published in August 1997 to mark the late M.K.O. Abiola’s 60th birthday at a period he was in detention, and The Last 100 Days of Abacha, published in August 2005.
Adeniyi said the book is targeted at “members of a generation that do not know what Nigerians went through under the military” or the significance of June 12, a date now marked as Democracy Day in Nigeria.
“The period between 1992 and 1998 was one of betrayal, resistance, and hope. It was a time when the Nigerian people demanded democracy but were repeatedly denied. It was also a time when individual sacrifices played a crucial role in shaping the future,” Adeniyi wrote in the introduction. “This book is therefore more than a recounting of events. It is a reminder of where we have been and how easily history can repeat itself if we are not vigilant.”
On why he decided not to host a public presentation and book signing session for The Ghost of June 12, Adeniyi said it was deliberate in order not to politicise the book or “create a platform where politicians would come and be making false claims or attacking some of the military actors of the era”.
“Ordinarily, I don’t launch my book because I believe the whole idea of ‘launching books’ debases writing which I consider to be a serious business,” he said.
Other books by Adeniyi, who served as spokesperson to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, including Power, Politics and Death and Against the Run of Play. These books continue to shaped public discourse around governance and political accountability in Nigeria.
The Ghost of June 12 is available for preorder at RovingHeights for N15,000-N25,000 and will also be available in other bookstores, as well as on Amazon and Kindle.
