By: ‘dayo Adedayo
There are days when gratitude pours out of the soul like a sunrise over Zuma Rock, brilliant, unstoppable, and divine.
And today, a quiet Sunday, with the world catching its breath, I find myself caught in the gentle tide of reflection.
When I think about the journey, the path I’ve walked, the valleys crossed, and the mountains moved, I whisper one word again and again: Hallelujah.
Fifteen years ago, I released *Nigeria 2.0* into the world. I didn’t know how far it would go or who it would touch. I simply followed a calling, like a river obeying gravity, flowing into purpose.
Today, the echoes return like a sweet refrain. Friends. Family. Strangers. Calling, texting, smiling: “We saw your book, on coffee tables in embassies, in boardrooms abroad, in the living rooms of people who’ve never met you but know your vision.”
That, my friends, is grace at work. Not hustle. Not hype. But Heaven’s fingerprint on every page.
And now, oh yes, now, the drums are rolling again. The pen is dancing. The shutter is clicking. I’m preparing to gift the world a new volume, a love letter to Nigeria, grander in scale, deeper in spirit, and richer in colour.
This is not just a book. It’s a celebration of us, of our scars and stars, our ruins and rise. It will be double in size, bursting with glamour, grit, and grace. From the whispers of Eredo in Epe to the golden dunes of Yobe, from Makoko’s floating dreams to the mystic hills of Idanre, this book will sing.
To the generation under 40, it will be a revelation.
To the seasoned hearts, it will be a resurrection.
To all, it will be a reminder: Nigeria is more than news headlines. It is poetry, it is power, it is potential.
There are places I’ve returned to that took my breath away anew, blooming with unexpected beauty. Others, sadly, dimmed by neglect. But each space, each story, deserves its place in the grand narrative of our beloved nation.
Like the great Wole Soyinka and Tunji Oyelana once harmonized: “I love my country, I no go lie, na inside am I go live and die.” And the ever-classic Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey put it soulfully: “No place be like my country.”
When those melodies float through the air, I feel it in my bones, I was born Nigerian, and proudly so. This land, with all its thunder and sunshine, is my heritage, my heartbeat, my home.
So this Christmas, skip the fruit baskets and flower bouquets. The greatest gift you can place in the hands of *Alhaji Dangote, Femi Otedola, Otunba Mike Adenuga, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Folorunso Alakija, Tony Elumelu, Jim Ovia,* and everyone you hold dear, is this upcoming masterpiece on Nigeria.
It will spark conversations. It will be passed from hand to hand, heart to heart. The young will be enchanted by the pictures. The elders will linger over the history. And everyone will find a piece of themselves within its pages.
May Nigeria rise like the morning sun over the Niger.
May Nigeria succeed beyond imagination.
And may we all live long, strong, and proud to dine at her table of blessings, again and again.
As always, with a soul wrapped in patriotism and a heart bursting with joy,
I remain your loyal son of the soil.
