At book launch, academic tasks youths on reading culture

Professor of English, Digital Linguistics and Digital Cultures and Director, Centre for Digital Humanities, University of Lagos, Tunde Ope-Davies, has advised the youth, and by extension, Nigerians, to re-discover the culture of reading with a view to promoting their ability to expand their horizon of skills that would be of help to them in future.

Ope-Davies was chairman at the launch of a book, titled, House Of a Stranger, written by Olaomo Owo-Oluwa, a third year Mass Communication student of the University of Lagos, which held at the Caleb International College, Ketu, Lagos.

“Based on our observation, reading culture is dying among young people which is very important because as someone said: “If you do not read, you will not be read.
“If you do not read, you will not have the knowledge, experience, exposure to also help other people and you will equally not be informed about social values and things around you and how to proffer solutions to some critical issues. You will be bereft of ideas of handling challenges of life when they come against you” he said.

Ope-Davies, who commended Olaomo for starting early to manifest developmental skill in writing, raised the need to handle emotional relationship between two opposite sex, supplying wisdom and experience that would guide against their destruction.

Olaomo said the inspiration to write the book just came on a particular day and she firmly believed that it was from God.

“Basically, it is all about handling teenage crush, how to handle emotion which apply to children and parents. Children need parental counseling. Parents should be strong pillars for their wards at such a period. Teenagers would be able to overcome this important segment of life if their parents are very close to them to give them guidance.”

The Reviewer of the book, Human Resource Manager, Caleb University, Adedayo Olawuyi said the closeness of parents to their children when this inevitable period of crushing comes to the teenagers life cannot be undermined, adding that Nigerians should also imbibe the culture of adopting children to make those in orphanage homes feel the actual love between the children and their parents..