As Ifedigbo presents The Funeral Has Not EndedINSTEAD of continuously bemoaning lack of reading habits amongst young people in the country, parents have been urged to start reading to their children from an early age so as to stimulate a reading appetite in them. While doing so, parents must endeavour to read materials that have strong local content and flavour to deepen their knowledge of Nigerian culture with a view to preserving the nation's heritage.Proprietress of Leaves Green School, Ikeja and author of a new children's book, Ranga, Yetunde Fawehinmi made these observations at the presentation of the book to the public in Ikeja, Lagos two Saturdays ago. The event also marked her 40th birthday.Fawehinmi, who had previously managed a nursery school in England before relocating to set up Leaves Green School in Lagos, lamented the paucity of suitable, local storybooks for children aged 5-10, with the result that only foreign books were available for use in schools, which parents are forced to buy. She argued that such a situation was not good enough for the cultural education of Nigeria's children.She stated that it was this perceived gap which she noticed in children's books that motivated her to write Ranga, the story of a naughty, little rabbit, who drums a little too loudly and gets into trouble as a result. As teacher of little children herself, Fawehinmi thought to herself that 'it is high time something urgent was done about this situation, hence the publication of Ranga.'Having grown up within the vicinity of Idanre Hills in Ondo State, where the Marie Festival for tourism is situated, Fawehinmi employed the opportunity by the environment to set Ranga amongst such idyllic place, with the cocoa farmers as characters.Such rural setting and the lifestyles of the cocoa farmers, she affirmed, would serve as the cultural education that child readers would learn about the place and be richly fascinated.She noted, 'Parents and teachers have a big role to play in deepening children's interest in reading and learning about our culture. In our school, we try to teach children about our culture, which is very engaging and engrossing. Children should know about their heritage. So, there is a need to use local animals, settings, things, and not snow that is in Europe which they are not familiar with.'Although the name Ranga, which she arrived at for her book sounds more foreign than anything local, Fawehinmi stressed that Ranga would serve as a brand name for subsequent children's books she would write. As part of the Ranga brand, she plans to produce the Ranga song and have it on CD.Fawehinmi expressed how excited she was at turning 40.ALSO, Silva Nze Ifedigbo presented his collection of short story, The Funeral Did Not End at Kongi's Harvest Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos. His father, Silva Nze Ifedigbo, was also in attendance. Set in an informal style, art personalities read excerpts from the book while Ifedigbo was engaged in a conversation. First to read was radio personality, Wana Udobang of Inspiration FM; then David Nnaji read.After which two of his bosses at Mobitel, Ken Ezenwa and Tony Davies commended Ifedigbo for his brilliance and writing skills. Ezenwa praised Ifedigbo's versatility and intelligence. Davies, who brought Ifedigbo to man Mobitel's corporate affairs unit, said he fell in love with his writing online and described him as a life-changer and influencer.Guest artist and spoken wordsmith, Efe Paul Azino, dished out his usual punchy, revolutionary poetry that takes a swipe at the dire fate that has befallen justice in Nigeria as a victim of kidnapping.In his piece titled 'Justice has been kidnapped', the Delta-born fiery poet lamented the fate of justice in the hands of so-called leaders; he decried how civil society members, ordinary people and activists alike were unwilling to rescue justice from those who had 'kidnapped' it in a country such as Nigeria. He had first rendered 'Dignity of labour'.Azino also praised Ifedigbo for his writing and his publisher, Ayo Arigbabu for sticking his neck out in a business as endangered as publishing in peculiar times and society like Nigeria as going against the odds. Leader of Crown Troupe of Africa, Segun Adefila, also read 'Share of the Money' from Ifedigbo's The Funeral Has Not Ended. So, too, did Sage.In a conversation anchored by David Motutu, Ifedigbo stated that title for his collection The Funeral Did Not End was 'a metaphor for our country where we're perpetually mourning.'He noted that the ostentatious lifestyles usually displayed at funerals even when the deceased died poor and hungry fueled his imagination. He decried such practice where so much is spent for funerals, a situation he called feast-making for the living at the expense of the dead, with its attendant woes like going into debt or bankruptcy.He also shed light on the story 'Share of the Money', saying, 'We're a country of sharing money. We don't produce anything; we just share. Governors go to Abuja every month to collect their share of the money (federal allocation). This story is about the corruption in our country.'His father said Ifedigbo was born on the day he was being given a chieftaincy title, saying his son started writing early. But he later tore what he had written because they were not good enough. He thanked everyone for attending his son's book event.Nwosu Osondu introduced his new online e-book site, www.takada.com, where several publications on Dada Books, publisher of Ifedigbo's The Funeral Did Not End can accessed.
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