A stimulating notion of how to keep Nigeria together.
Owhoko (Career Frustration in the Workplace, 2016, etc.) takes a hard look at Nigeria’s future.
The African country of Nigeria includes a hodgepodge of ethnicities, drawn together into British-created administrative zones. While imperial state divisions gestured toward the regional identities of various tribes (predominantly the Hausa-Fulani in the north, Igbo in the southeast, and Yoruba in the southwest), the amalgamation of Nigeria into a single independent state was as much a product of England’s colonial legacy as it was the desire of Nigerians themselves. As Owhoko puts it, “British colonial masters failed both in intelligence and capacity to know that the country called Nigeria was not going to work due to the heterogeneous nature of the people.” Various groups lobbied for increased independence until a coup and secession in the 1960s erupted into civil war. Even now, following the 1970 reunification, the author says, “there is so much fear and anxiety rising from unhealthy competition and rivalry amongst ethnic groups.” Implied in Owhoko’s history is the idea that Nigeria’s people will continue to push for regional independence and that the best way to resolve these issues harmonically is by adopting a federalist system—not unlike the one that was practiced at the country’s founding, between 1960 and 1966. The author acknowledges that such a system wouldn’t be viable unless a majority of Nigerian citizens voted for it, but he thinks that’s possible, and his book is a road map for getting to that point. Owhoko impressively, if selectively, marshals his evidence; for example, he gives more space to historical figures that voiced the kind of federalism that he supports than he does to their opponents. And given the current state of oil prices, it’s unlikely that residents of a semi-independent northern region will content themselves with the proceeds of “groundnuts, hides, and skins” that sustained them decades ago, as the author argues. Nationalists and separatists will both find much to quibble with here, but Owhoko is an eloquent spokesman for his cause. Readers who still dream of a pluralist democracy will find this manifesto to be energizing reading.
A stimulating notion of how to keep Nigeria together.Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5320-2496-2
Page Count: 112
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An assessment of the first year of Bill Clinton's presidency with no major scoops but with long-term insight into Clinton's style and character. Brummett, a veteran Arkansas journalist and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, here competes not so much with fellow Arkansas reporter Meredith Oakley (On the Make, p. 614), who exhaustively portrays Clinton's gubernatorial reign, but with ur- investigator Bob Woodward (The Agenda, not reviewed). Though he can't claim Woodward's access or propound verbatim conversations, Brummett did move to Washington and spoke to Clinton, former chief of staff Mack McLarty, and other White House officials. ``Bill Clinton is a man of awesome talent and troubling personal weaknesses,'' Brummett declares at the outset, and his account of Clinton's major efforts and crises bears that out. He grounds Clinton's cautious liberalism and winning personal style in home- state politics and shows how Clinton thrives extemporaneously and dies by TelePrompTer. America needed either ``a great moral leader or a clever policy synthesizer,'' the author argues, and Clinton is the latter, as shown in his budget plan. Brummett's treatments of missteps like the Waco disaster and the White House travel-office scandal add little new. He finds himself sympathetic to Clinton— ``a victim of his own optimism''—regarding his withdrawal of the Lani Guinier nomination. Brummett is more pointed on the suicide of White House chief deputy counsel Vincent Foster: He discounts talk of a scandalous cover-up but argues that any veteran of Arkansas politics should have been prepared for Washington nastiness. While his defense of Clinton's foreign policy performance is weak—he blames subordinates—Brummett notes credibly that Whitewater pales in comparison to previous executive-branch violations of the public interest like Iran-contra. Ultimately, Brummett is optimistic that Clinton will grow into the job—or, if defeated in 1996, return ``Ö la Nixon for us to kick around some more.'' Weaker on policy than politics, but with nuance and psychological truth.
Pub Date: Nov. 8, 1994
ISBN: 0-7868-6046-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
A solid primer despite its opening rant.
A detailed how-to on lower-cost computer-system organization.
Hughes is a specialist in the Virtual Memory System computer platform, a big-budget server system used by corporations, and here he demonstrates how to lower the cost of service-oriented architecture (SOA) by creating it in-house. SOA is structured so that companies purchase the basic platform and buy additional accoutrements, called services, during the life cycle of the computer system. In the first five chapters, Hughes passionately argues that this a la carte model, though practical, has been used to the advantage of major computer companies like IBM, which make dollars hand over fist on unwitting businesses. According to his history, modern-day computer-system providers haven't had such a market advantage since the '70s, the last time SOA was in fashion. The author recommends the first, largely non-technical chapters be read by business management, but his overzealous soapbox speech isn't likely to convert people not already in agreement, especially considering that they may have made these so-called unwise investment decisions themselves. Meanwhile, SOA implementers probably don't care about the bigger picture or, if they do, are not in the position to make management decisions within their company. The first five chapters could have easily been edited down to a precise introduction. Nonetheless, the book is meant for programmers–those actually setting up the business SOA–and the meat of the book is C++ programming language code. Thankfully, Hughes includes a CD with all pertinent code and extensive instructions. With The Minimum You Need to Know, Hughes is attempting two books: One, a scathing indictment of big SOA providers, and another, a precise overview of do-it-yourself SOA. Only one is really effective.
A solid primer despite its opening rant.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-9770866-6-5
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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