For proper parenting, Adekunle releases two books

Femi Adekunle is a lawyer and writer. He spoke to GREGORY AUSTIN NWAKUNOR on his two new books – Inspirational Parenting and Busting Parenting Fallacies.

Are these your first effort?
HE smiles. First effort? Maybe. He added a caveat: “I have always loved to write. However, in terms of publishing a book, these are my first. I have always been a writer since when I was in secondary school. I used to write short articles and poetry for fun. Writing is natural to me and I believe it’s one of the God-given gifts that I have. Even when my friends or anyone close to me writes a book, it’s always a delight for me to help proofread, edit and/or review,” he said.

Adekunle actually started taking writing seriously sometime in 2018. “I am extremely busy at work, so, I use my spare time to write, mostly, at night. I was almost through when my car was burgled and my laptop and external hard drive containing the manuscripts were all stolen. At this time I was 85 per cent through. It became extremely difficult for me to start all over again from the scratch. However, during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, I was able to give attention to it, start all over again and that was when I wrote both books,” Adekunle, who also loves farming and travelling, said.

A member of the Nigerian Bar Association and the IBB International Golf & Country Club, Abuja, having had over 20 years of parenting experience, he discovered that the task of parenting is indeed a very delicate one. “It is one for which providence has thrust on our laps the onerous responsibility of moulding other people’s destinies. In the process, we often make mistakes, especially young parents, who are often either confused as to what direction to go or misguided on how to parent. Either way, parenting has become a default activity that just happens without a purposeful mindset. Inspirational Parenting was, therefore written, first to inspire and encourage parents that they can get it right, and secondly to provide invaluable information required to parent, especially for young parents.”
And for Busting Parenting Fallacies, he discovered that there were a lot of parenting myths that people had imbibed, which operated in the subconscious to impact the parenting experience, albeit negatively. “All I did in that book is to identify some of them as the fallacies that they are and debunk them. This will make young parents have a rejuvenated mindset toward parenting. This is a mini-book, which can be finished within hours of picking it up,” he revealed.

Inspirational Parenting is divided into seven sections – General, Toddlers and Preschoolers, Siblings, Discipline, Single Parents, Hurricanes and Teenagers.

Both books are interesting to read because there is no dull moment. They are anecdoted with interesting real-life experiences that parents can connect with.

On the inspiration for the books, he said: “I have three children, all young adults now – above 18. Among them are twins, both boys. So, I not only have twins, I have both genders. This has made me have a unique parenting experience. As I watch them grow from infancy, I learned a lot from them. The experience of the privilege of being their parents has been my greatest inspiration. I also love children a lot. I interact with them, in the process of which I learn so much. I run a foundation for vulnerable children known as The Adekunle Child Foundation. Interacting with children from all social strata has been significantly influential.”

He added: “My upbringing also inspired me so much. I come from a family whereas siblings we bonded so much that we had an eventful upbringing under the roof of our school-teacher parents.”

Beyond all these, however, he is of the opinion that the rot in society is traceable to wretched parenting, and one of the ways to correct this anomaly is to address it from the root, that is, from the home. Yahoo boys, ritualists, criminals dot the landscape, “and they are increasing, geometrically, which speaks to the fact that something is wrong in the domestic space. If we get it right in the home, we will get it right in the outer society. It’s therefore imperative to take on the vanguard of informing and enlightening parents who have the primary responsibility for their children.”

Writing runs in his family. Aside from his elder brother, who is an author, Adekunle’s wife, Adenike, is a prolific writer and author. She is the author of about four published books and several unpublished works. “We all write excellently. Dad was a very good writer, even though he never authoured a book,” he stated. “She inspired and motivated me to write these books, more so since she knows I am also a good writer. She’s been an invaluable support system.”