Dafinone: An Uncommon Life

Title: Dafinone: An Uncommon Life
Author: Udu Yakubu
Year of Publication: 2009
ISBN 978-35639-0-4

Pages 382 + xii

“Biographies as a genre of literature serve at least three purposes. They may tell the story of an individual life and when done competently, can serve as a mirror through which we can espy the social tapestry with all its tumults and triumphs in a given era or generation. In the unusual case that the mirror has depth and acuity, it could provide a worthy role model for succeeding generations. Indeed great biographies unwittingly sign-post their age and often provide the raw material for the history of a period or even of the nation. Dafinone: An Uncommon Life fulfils all of these functions. It is a worthy addition to this genre of literature.”
                              – Professor Anya O. Anya, FAS, OFR, NNOM

Dafinone: An Uncommon Life is the story of the politics of governance and development in Nigeria in a period that spans over fifty years. Senator David Dafinone has participated elaborately in the formulation of major government policies in the country since the First Republic. He traversed the entire geo-political landscape of contemporary Nigeria in his search for a thorough appreciation of the comprehensive Nigerian experience. Significantly, his journeys and encounters simultaneously embody and symbolise an understanding of the Nigerian political economy and the tortuous search for national self-knowledge. His story proffers vivid and valid answers to several disturbing questions about the possibilities of success regarding Nigeria as a contemporary project.