LRF’s January 2026 Book Reading: A Journey Through Nigeria’s History and Rebranding

Reclaiming Nigeria’s Story: Reflections from LRF’s January 2026 Book Reading

The Literary Renaissance Foundation (LRF) officially opened its 2026 reading season with a thought-provoking session that reaffirmed its mission to strengthen literary culture, promote reading, and contribute meaningfully to national discourse in Nigeria. The session brought together writers, students, editors, and professionals from across the country to reflect on literature, history, and the enduring question of how Nigeria understands and presents itself to the world.

LRF’s Mission: Literacy, Dialogue, and Policy Engagement

Opening the session, Babs Oladele, Executive Director of LRF, welcomed participants and restated the Foundation’s core objectives. LRF’s work extends beyond book readings; it actively promotes literacy among young people through school visits, monthly author-led readings, and structured dialogues with educators and education stakeholders.

Importantly, these engagements do not end with conversation alone. Insights from stakeholder discussions on curriculum quality, teaching standards, and educational outcomes are carefully documented and forwarded to relevant authorities in Abuja. This deliberate link between grassroots dialogue and policy engagement underscores LRF’s commitment to contributing to Nigeria’s educational development in practical, measurable ways.

A Diverse Community of Readers and Thinkers

The January session brought together a diverse group of participants, reflecting the Foundation’s inclusive ethos. Contributors included Linus Barry Tagang, editor at the University of Jos Printing Press; Happiness Stephen, a Lagos-based student, voice-over artist, and fashion designer; Tejumade, a solicitor and writer; and LRF’s administrator, among others. Participants joined from different parts of the country, with the session also tol livestreamed to a global audience.

Exploring the Handbook of Rebranding Nigeria

The central focus of the reading was Handbook of Rebranding Nigeria: An Anthology of Context, Critical Analysis, and Counsel (Vol. 1), edited by Ofuma G. Agali. In introducing the book, Agali explained that the anthology brings together decades of writing on Nigeria’s identity, branding efforts, and national narrative, drawing on articles published between 2005 and 2022.

The project, he noted, grew out of his experience editing commentary around the 2009 Good People, Great Nation campaign. What began as a modest collection eventually expanded into a comprehensive volume comprising 59 essays across multiple thematic sections, addressing Nigeria’s formation, independence, leadership challenges, and the complexities of national rebranding.

Nigeria’s Amalgamation and the Weight of History

A significant portion of the discussion centred on Nigeria’s 1914 amalgamation and its long-term implications. Reading excerpts from scholarly contributions within the anthology, Agali emphasised that the amalgamation was primarily a colonial administrative strategy designed to benefit British interests. However, he cautioned against treating it as the sole explanation for Nigeria’s contemporary challenges.

Nigeria, he argued, possesses abundant natural resources, human capital, and historical advantages that should have translated into sustained development. The country’s difficulties, therefore, cannot be attributed to history alone but must also be understood through the lens of leadership failures, weak institutions, and unresolved political tensions.

The conversation extended to Nigeria’s independence in 1960, recalling the optimism of the era—marked by strong agricultural output, a growing educated class, and international confidence in Nigeria’s future. Yet even after independence, concerns about managing a multi-ethnic federation remained, as regional politics and ethnic loyalties shaped party formations and national priorities.

Rethinking National Rebranding

A particularly engaging segment of the session examined Nigeria’s branding efforts. Agali offered a critique of the Good People, Great Nation slogan, suggesting that while positive, it is too abstract to resonate meaningfully on the global stage. Effective national branding, he argued, requires clarity and specificity.

Rather than broad moral claims, Nigeria’s rebranding should focus on tangible, distinctive attributes: its size, ecological diversity, economic potential, and cultural influence. Drawing comparisons with countries such as Germany, whose global image is reinforced by strong industrial brands, Agali proposed that Nigeria must identify and project a clear, compelling narrative that the world can easily recognise and associate with value.

Babs Oladele supported this perspective, noting that successful rebranding is rooted in honesty, historical awareness, and a realistic appraisal of national strengths.

Preserving Nigeria’s Narrative for the Future

Beyond branding, the discussion returned repeatedly to the importance of documentation and historical memory. Participants reflected on Nigeria’s tendency to generate ideas and narratives without consistently preserving them in accessible, authoritative forms. Agali described the Handbook of Rebranding Nigeria as an attempt to correct this gap, offering future generations a documented record of how Nigerians have thought about their country over time.

This emphasis on documentation resonated strongly with the audience, particularly in light of Nigeria’s youthful population and the need to equip young people with historical context as they shape the nation’s future.

Looking Ahead

As the session drew to a close, participants expressed appreciation for the depth of insight shared and the relevance of the anthology. Plans were announced for future readings, including discussions around Volume 2 of the Handbook of Rebranding Nigeria and an upcoming dialogue on artificial intelligence and curriculum content.

The January 2026 reading set a reflective and intellectually rigorous tone for the year ahead—reinforcing LRF’s role not only as a literary platform, but as a space where literature, history, education, and national purpose intersect.