I call it my shared passion with my father, Mr Joseph Akokizi Odhegba. I am an engineer turned author and entrepreneur, a mum, a vast and avid reader. My foray into books started very early. I remember as young as 5 or 6 years, being then the baby of the house before my younger brother came along. Once my dad settled in after dinner to read his daily newspapers before 9pm network news, my favourite spot was on his lap, there started my love for the written word, we read the papers together, night after night. Then we were living in Warri, my dad would take all of us, my elder siblings and I to Leventis Supermarket to pick books of our choice. It was then I started reading far and wide.
Fast forward to my secondary school days, I discovered Pace Setters, Mills and Boons, Harlequins, Avons, oooh as a young teenager with time on my hands I’d lock myself up in my room and dream, fantasize, I travelled the world through these books, I can’t say these particular genre did me much good as they managed to give me grandiose ideas of love, romance and marriage Fast forward 6th of December 1992, everything changed from that day, I walked down the aisle of a church and gave my 17 year old heart to Jesus, I got Born Again Automatically, like lightning, my desire of what to put in my mind and expose my spirit and soul to changed, Oh I read, I read books that were recommended by my pastors and leaders, this led me into collecting vast Christian literature, I just relished going to bookshops to browse their shelves and add to my library of books to read.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU READ I was then in Christ Embassy. Once I hear Pastor Chris mention an author or book, I’d go find it and read it. Till today, my happy place is with my books. You see my father sparked this flame of love for books in me, my major gifts to him over the years have been books. And God has helped me pass on this love for books to my children. I pray they too when they have their own children, will continue the legacy. As I said and I reiterate YOU ARE WHAT YOU READ. With my children it was a case of do as your father taught you. From their early childhood I surrounded them with books. I made sure they were interesting and easy to read and captivating enough. They picked up their love for reading quite early. By the time they were pre teens, I made it our custom that once it’s the beginning of any holiday, we go to a bookshop, for us it was Laterna Ventures, at Oko Awo street in Victoria Island, Lagos. I take them there and we dedicate time perusing the aisle of books, my son began developing a passion for adventurous books, my daughter tilted more towards stories that talked about teenage years. My son particularly loved Rick Roidians books, as soon as I noticed his great love for this particular author I started sourcing for his books, they were not easy to find, but I was willing to go the extra mile as long as it would get my son reading. My daughter particularly liked ” Land of Stories” so I ordered them, as soon as a new sequel of these books came out, I got them.
I particularly want to make mention of my dear childhood friend, Mrs. Tayo Salami, who owns Stonebridges, she was my go to source for books, I looked forward to my trips to Port Harcourt because I always used the opportunity to increase my collection of books not just for myself but my children, many times, once a book comes out, because she is very proactive, she tells me ahead of time, I then order and she ships them to me in Lagos. So you see, what started from my father, passed down to me and now my children are bookies too. My son’s ability to read large books made literature a breeze for him. Today he is in the social sciences, he has to read far and wide, do a lot of research and write ups. I strongly believe that his foray into reading at an early age in life has now made it possible for him to read bulky materials with concentration and be able to interpret them.
We can never deemphasize the importance of reading. The difference between successful people and the rest is what they know, what they take out time to read. Please do not get me wrong, there is such a principle as the Grace factor, but God is the one who said that a man who is skillful in his work will stand before kings and not mere men. What book have you read in the last six to seven months that we have practically been on lockdown? The excuse used to be time, now that you had all the time in the world, did you start and finish any book. If you don’t like the idea of carrying physical books around the place, you have the option of eBooks. Let me use this opportunity to remind you that who you will be in ten years time is determined by what you read today, the decisions you make as a result of the knowledge you get from what you read, your associations and of course the God factor, GRACE. God would not do for you what you must do for yourself, he won’t read that book for you. So stop being mentally lazy, start reading. The most important book to read is in my opinion the Ultimate book, the Holy Bible. So, get up, pick up those books gathering dust and start reading.
*** Yours in his majesty’s service Ajiri Okoro Selah.
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