The Chief Executive Officer of the Cyprian Ekwensi Foundation, Georges Chiedu Ekwensi, has called on parents to inculcate the habit of reading in their children as a way of improving reading culture in the country.
Ekwensi, who is the son of legendary novelist Cyprian Ekwensi, said parents had a greater role to play in passing on the habit of reading to their children through demonstrating the same and having a book-friendly environment.
He made the plea during the signing of an agreement for the production of two autobiographical works of the late Cyprian Ekwensi with Mazariyya Books Ltd in Abuja, titled: “My Time: An Autobiography of an African Writer” and the reprint of Nigeria’s first published English fiction: “When Love Whispers.”
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“The children should take after what they see around them; parents expect the schools to train their children for them, but it is the other way around, as it has to happen in the homes,” Ekwensi said.
“During COVID, I read about 20 books because nobody could go anywhere. I just read all the genres, whatever it might be. I always picked a hard, soft cover; and my children saw me doing that; including some of the ones I wouldn’t allow them to read, even when the youngest is 23. But they see me and borrow from me. We exchange books. If they use phones, they can buy some of these books on Amazon,” he added.
The chairman of Mazariyya Books Ltd, Ahmed Maiwada, also emphasised the role of parents in encouraging reading habits among children, adding that colourful books can encourage children to read.
While expressing their readiness to sustain the legacy of Ekwensi, he pleaded with the government to fight piracy, make printing materials affordable and encourage reading among Nigerians.
In his remarks, a children’s fiction writer, Patrick Oguejiofor, said he was excited to meet a family member of Ekwensi, a man he said he had been a big fan of, and to witness the publication of his autobiography.
The legendary author’s family also expressed appreciation to a former governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, who dedicated a library in honour of Ekwensi at the Government House and acknowledged reading more about northern Nigeria through him. They also commended Prof Wole Soyinka, who attended the library opening ceremony, Prof Ernest Emenyonu, who edited the autobiography, a former Chief of Army Staff, General Yusuf Burutai and Dr Elizabeth Iheanacho of the TY Buratai Literary Initiative, whose posthumous award led to the rediscovery of the autobiography manuscript.
“My Time” is a life story as narrated by Ekwensi himself, which begins with his birth in Zungeru in the present-day Niger State. He proceeds to Jos for studies, then wins a scholarship to Ibadan. He departs from Jos by train after a huge Igbo community sendoff at Terminus Station and arrives in Ibadan one month early and misses his way to the school until a Good Samaritan comes to his rescue.
“When Love Whispers” is woven around the relationship between a man and a woman and their romantic experience.