Sunday, December 15, was an eventful evening when distinguished personalities, led by Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; family, friends and well-wishers gathered at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos to launch yet another book, written by Munachi Mbonu.
The book, Fathers Will: woven around a Super Cop who consistently solved earth shaking cases that shook the country was yet another incisive book written by the 12-year-old, JSS 2 Atlantic Hall student, after previous ones, titled Concealed and Chidubem authored by her 2 years ago.
The books which were products of leisurely exercise done while telling stories to her cousins, centered on a group of young friends in school learning what is valuable, moral values and love, was inspired by TV drama series, Friends; while Chidubem, which features a boy adapting to city life after relocating from the village, was influenced by her interactions with her cousins who had similar experience. The book quickly became a best seller in schools particularly among her peers and parents.
A visibly impressed Governor Sanwo-Olu commended Munachi and encouraged her not to relent, noting that she is on a path to greatness.
According to him, very few people realise their chosen career path early. “Munachi has defined her own path and I must say without a doubt that beyond the sky is her limit”.
“Speaking on how she realised her passion and gift for writing. Munachi said, “I started by putting down my thoughts into a paper, when the house got noisy, my Mummy tells us to go to our rooms and read and do book reviews. She doesn’t like us faffing round”. So from there what initially felt like punishment resulted into a fruitful passion”.
“The first book was from TV drama shows; the second book was inspired by my cousins who moved from the village to Lagos. They did not like some things we liked here but were willing to learn new things and adapt,” she said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police and Commander IGP’s Intelligence Response Team, Abba Kyari, who inspired the book was full of praise for Munachi, noting that her zeal and determination to stand out at this age was one that should be commended and supported by all.
“If we start encouraging young ones like this, the brain drain gradually experienced will become a thing of the past also crime will reduce drastically because our young ones will become more purposeful and aim for their personal growth,” he said.
While giving the vote of thanks, Munachi’s Mum, Ifeoma Mbonu said, “She’s been writing from seven. I got her first laptop at five. So she would sketch some things and write about them. At age seven, she started writing. During the holidays I buy a lot of books and tell her to do a book review. She has written about five or six books.
“I remember when she first started, she was scared at first but I encouraged her. We met with an editor who saw the manuscript and she was impressed,” said Mbonu.
Advising other parents, Mbonu urged them to invest in their wards, “I will advise parents to invest in their children first before investing for their children. Expose a child to multiple activities and through that you know what the child likes,” she said.
Publishers of the book, Frank Momoh, called on parents to support and always encourage their children whenever they notice similar zeal and passion in them, adding that they never can tell one might just be nurturing them to becoming great writers the world will come to look up to.
“I want to say to Mum and Dad, this girl is doing something great; encourage her. I have travelled all over the world and encountered very few young minds with this much zeal and willing to impart their society and by extension the world with her own creativity. This is indeed worthy of encouraging and should be supported,” he concluded.