A former editor with Daily Times Uthman Shodipe-Dosunmu has released a book titled The Origins of Tyranny. The 30-chapter volume is the first in a series of essays that explore the destructive effects of despotism on society, drawing from decades of Mr Shodipe-Dosunmu’s reflections and scholarly insights.
As a descendant of Lagos’s Dosunmu Royal House and a direct lineage to King Ado, the first King of Lagos, Shodipe-Dosunmu’s writing is imbued with historical gravitas and intellectual depth. A graduate of the University of California and former member of The Guardian’s editorial board, he delves into the philosophy, literature, and classical antiquity of Europe, particularly the 18th century, to contextualise his critiques of tyranny and its societal implications.
“These essays are assertive and vivid explorations about the destruction of a society when a docile, indifferent people bend beneath the yoke of a despotic power. It is a riveting articulation about the imbalance of a caudillo—the one who wields the cudgel with unchallenged arbitrating largeness,” Shodipe-Dosunmu explains.
Written over three decades, The Origins of Tyranny is an intellectual exploration and a clarion call for societal awakening. “The ringing leitmotif of these essays is for the society to rouse itself in fearless grapple against those who will shackle their freedom and reduce them to chattels in the dust. A society is better enhanced in growth and liberty when a plurality of voices contest in contributory pacific measures, leading to an eventual compromise for the greater good of all,” Shodipe-Dosunmu asserts.