Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has explained why he decided to chronicle his years in office under the late President Muhammadu Buhari in a new book titled “Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration.”
In an interview with AIT, monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mohammed described the book as his personal effort to document contemporary Nigerian history from the perspective of someone at the centre of government.
He said the work captures pivotal decisions, crises, policy battles, and communication challenges that shaped the Buhari administration during his nearly eight-year tenure as Nigeria’s longest-serving Minister of Information and Culture (2015–2023).
“It is a compelling insider account of governance, communication and nation-building during the Buhari era,” he said. “The book documents my stewardship of a vast and complex ministry—information management, cultural development, tourism promotion and national orientation.”
Mohammed noted that he was driven by the need to provide future generations with an accurate understanding of how government truly works, beyond the distortions of public discourse.
“This book is my personal effort to tell contemporary stories from the inside. I would be failing posterity if I do not document my experiences and what I went through,” he said, adding that history often repeats itself because public office holders fail to share lessons from their journeys.
According to him, the book reveals how major decisions were taken and how misinformation at times overshadowed facts during the Buhari years.
Mohammed emphasised that Africans must take responsibility for telling their own stories to prevent misrepresentations by outsiders.
The former minister also disclosed that the book will be formally presented on December 17 — a date he intentionally selected to honour Buhari.
“It is the first posthumous birthday of President Buhari. If he were alive, he would have been 83 that day,” he said.
He added that he began writing the book in June, about a month before Buhari’s death, which he described as a devastating loss.
