By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie and Sampson Unamka
It is not every day a governor attends events by private individuals not to talk of the the launch of a book by a child author.
However, Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu graced the launch of Munachi Mbonu’s third book, “Father’s Will” on Sunday at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
In his remarks, Sanwo-Olu praised Munachi for finding her path early.
“Munachi has defined her own path and I must say without a doubt that beyond the sky is her limit,” he said.
The Governor purchased 1,100 copies at twice the price of the book, which he said would be distributed to over 1000 schools in Lagos.
Speaking about her book, Munachi, a JSS2 pupil of the Atlantic Hall School, Epe said the story was about a young girl who followed her father’s footsteps and became a super cop.
“The story is about a young Nigerian woman named Ezinne who graduated from University. Her father was the commissioner of police so he wanted her to follow his footsteps as part of the police. A Nigerian Actor got kidnapped so it was up to her to find him”, said Munachi.
Father’s Will is not Munachi’s first book. Last year, she launched “Concealed” inspired by a TV drama series Friends, and “Chidubem” inspired by her cousin’s transition from village to city life, two years ago.
Speaking on how she developed her love for writing, the 12-year-old said her mother, Ifeoma, helped.
“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 does not like us faffing round. So from there what initially felt like punishment resulted into a fruitful passion,” she said.
Also speaking, Deputy Commissioner of Police and Commander IGP’s Intelligence Response Team, Abba Kyari, who inspired the book, praised Munachi and urged Nigerians to support young ones exploit their talents as a way to check crime.
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“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.
In her vote of thanks, Mrs Mbonu said she encouraged her daughter to write.
“She has 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.
The mother counseled other parents to nurture their wards’ talents.
“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, lauded Munachi’s creativity.
“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 willingness to impart their society and by extension the world with her creativity. This is indeed worthy of encouraging and should be supported,” he said.
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