Reclaiming Hope is a riveting read on contemporary Africa, delivering an urgent message on renewing hope and rebuilding the African continent for a prosperous future. It is challenging and inspiring.
Reclaiming Hope is a charge to the African to believe in himself and in his own ability to drive change and ultimately transform Africa. As Africans, we often look outwards, hoping that a Messiah will emerge to solve our problems. Reclaiming Hope is a challenge for the African to become his own Messiah and deliver the change we all seek.
In this book, Boluwaji takes the reader through an inspiring journey - delving into our root as Africans as the necessary starting point for reclaiming our collective identity, which is crucial to fostering an African Renaissance. He navigates the subject of Unity, and argues that our experience of slavery and colonialism planted seeds of division that must be deliberately uprooted in order for Africa to move forward.
Boluwaji reflected on our shared values as Africans and argues that reaffirming those shared values which are foundational to African societies is an inevitable requirement for a prosperous future. On the touchy matter of religion, Boluwaji offers alternate perspectives that encourages the African to question what he accepts as religious, noting that society always evolve, and so must religion. Boluwaji also explored the subject of leadership, reflecting on the nature of leadership that Africa require to evolve as a prosperous continent. He notes further, the need for the African to invest in his mind, arguing that the mind is where the new Africa will be fashioned.
Reclaiming Hope ends with a stirring message in the final chapter: change is possible and it is upto citizens to march for it. It provides a complete toolbox for the changemaker to mobilize his community for the march for change. It is a bold call for change - challenging the African to pick up the mantle of leadership and inspire change in his community and nation. That is where the transformation of Africa must begin. There is hope for Africa, and that hope reside in her people.
Reclaiming Hope is a must read for anyone who believes in the future of Africa and aspires to lead change in their communities.