Nigeria’s youngest author writes book at age 6

[Richard Akindele]

PUPILS of Beulafield Nursery/Primary School, Ejigbo and indeed residents of the surburb scrambled to catch a glimpse of the rave-making child prodigy, Wednesday last week, when the book titled Freedom written by a six-year-old Oluebubechukwu Sharon James was presented to the public

Indeed, those who gathered wondered till no end how a six-year-old can write a story book of any kind. To many, it was simply unbelievable. The programme was part of the end of term party for the school. But Sharon ended up stealing the entire show as residents thronged if only to confirm first hand what had earlier started as a rumour.

The venue was filled to the brim as what ordinarily would have been the usual gathering of pupils, parents and teachers of the school attracted dignitaries from all works of life including the supervisor of Education of Ejigbo Development Council, Honourable Emmanuel Osinowo who represented the chairman of the council. Chief Reagan Ufomba was the chief presenter of the book in the programme that was punctuated with cultural displays.

In her welcome remarks, the proprietress of the school, Deaconess Elizabeth Afolabi thanked "God for the life of the little girl whose gifts of writing is manifesting quite early. When I read this book, I wondered how the girl was able to re-tell the story in that fashion.

"As a pupil in my school, I see her as a very shy girl without knowing that she has a bundle of talent within. I tried to assess her to see if she was the one who wrote the story and she proved it beyond reasonable doubt. If you ask her about what happened to Freedom , she immediately tells you and she knows the book inside-out. To God be the glory".

For Reagan Ufomba, "I feel very delighted that the little girl has caused us to all gather here. When I heard about the launching, I wondered how true it would be that a six-year-old child would be writing a story book. Part of my reasons for coming here is to confirm and with the little interview I had with the author, I have every reason to confirm that what I heard was correct."

He called on the government to support child prodigies like Sharon so that the "catch them young" phenomenon would "help us build a better society for our children."

In the words of Osinowo, he was "sent to represent the chairman of the Ejigbo Council" and would carry the story of what he saw back to him. "Nigeria is a very big country with talents," he said. "This is not the first time such a story is coming out of Ejibo. A few years ago, a little boy of five years won a scholarship from a veteran educationist S. O. Apata for exhibiting intellectual prowess. I definitely would pas the message of what I saw here to the council for necessary action," he said

The father of the kid author, James Rapheal was a special project researcher for Newswatch magazine before working as the Corporate Affairs Manager of SLOK Airline and later Media Assistant to Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia state. His stint at Newswatch got him closer to world class library services which caused him to set up a free library for the Ejigbo suburb under his NGO, Centre for Research Information Management and Development (CRIMMD).

And for Ebube, what her father did not achieve as a writer and researcher, she is set to tackle at the tender age of six. He tells Saturday Vanguard: "I have three children and Ebube happens to be the first. I always try to tell them bed-time stories every night to get them to sleep. I have a book which contains the stories but I also coin some of the stories myself.

"One of the stories was the one I titled Freedom. As someone who does plenty of creative writing, I often keep papers on the stool and everywhere in their room because I have always believed that you could stimulate them to write and draw by so doing. I also check out these papers. Some would have been torn apart, some are ruled with different kinds of jaga-jaga drawings but the fact is that I use that to gauge what they are capable of doing.

"One night, I was trying to tell another story when Ebube reminded them that she had completed the story of Freedom. She said she wanted to tell me of Freedom’s friend called Stubborn. I was shocked. But before we could do anything, they slept off."

Continued hr father: "It was days later that I was tinkering with my computer at night and she asked what I was doing. I told her I was writing a book and she said she would also write her own book. When I asked her which one, she said Freedom.

"By the time I returned from work, she had written a page of what she called her book with the title Freedom. Her mum said later that she couldn’t let her be until she spelt the word ‘freedom’ for her. If anyone had told me that what we started doing as a mere joke to help stimulate her intellect and interest in reading and writing could develop into this, I would not have believed

"It was when I saw the page that she had done that I told myself that I had to encourage her. I noticed that she was writing in her own language and some of the spellings were far from what they should be. So, I brought in a teacher and told him to guide her. Her mum later edited the book and typed it and we decided to make it into a story book.

"I believe when she sees the book after she must have been grown up, then she may be challenged to do better. So, what you find in Freedom is her recollection of the story I had told them in the house in her own language even though it was retouched."

And what kind of child was she from birth. Again, James provides an answer. "Ever since she was born, she has been a very active child who is very vocal. If you scold her, she would cry for the entire day without stopping. Neither would she say a word to anyone for the entire day.

"She is passionate, emotional and very deep. She is a very organised girl who immediately dresses her bed as soon as she rises from it. Whenever their playground is littered, she re-arranges it before leaving."

A proud father, James tried to play down the achievement of his daughter. Said he: "However, what Ebube has done is only news because of her very tender age. But then, other kids had tried it before now. In1987, there was the case of Adragon Eastwood Demello, the American boy of eight years who was writing computer programmes for fun, built a computer-controlled robot using an engineeing drawing.

"A few years ago in Nigeria, there was also the eight-year-old Innocent Junior whom many called Nigeria’s Micheal Jackson. Also, even though Tosin Jegede is now an adult, her name still rings a bell in the hearts of several Nigerians who heard her music in those good old days.

"In 1989, the story of the six-year-old Reverend Utitofon Jackson who was later nicknamed Minister at 6 made waves as he stormed several crusade grounds. There was equally the story of the two Yakubu sisters, Hamdiyya and Rafiya who were able to recite the Holy Koran from cover to cover at ages six and five respectively.

"The list is endless of children whose creative gifts are recognised quite early in their lives. I only worry that I should have allowed her to do the illustrations in the book because she draws very well for her age. I would readily encourage whatever she wants to do but I won’t influence any thing"

For Ebube’s mum, Shade James, there had been signs of whatever is happening to her little kid today since she was a baby. "She has always shown very peculiar traits," says the mother. "Anytime her father was on the computer working, she won’t ever sleep because she would be at his side watching attentively. At the age of four, his drawings of fish, chair, water bottle, house and so on were near perfect for her age. When she started writing, what we saw was amazing. You didn’t leave any paper around and she wouldn’t be recopying what’s written on it, even recharge cards. Her drawers are filled with papers which I often clear of the junks as regular as possible. You would cause a row if you told her to go to bed because she saw it as punishment and would doze off with her pencil in her hand."

But kid author or not, she remains a child and still does those things which her age mates would always do. When Saturday Vanguard visited the home of the James, Thursday last week, Ebube, the kid prodigy was crying at the top of her voice!

But after she had consoled, she wiped away the tears and had this brief chat with this reporter.

What is your name?

My name is Oluebubechukwu Sharon James.

How old are you?

I am six years old.

What is your own name, uncle?

My name is Fred Iwenjora.

What is your book all about?

It is the story of a young boy called Freedom. He was doing well in school that he even got a scholarship. Everything was going well until he met a bad boy called Stubborn who misled him. He led Freedom to the river to fish when he should be in school. Freedom fell into the river and was swept away. This is the story my father used to tell us before we sleep. I think other children should learn from it.

How long did it take you to write?

Five days (Her mum interrupts and corrects her to say that it took five months).

What do you want to become when you grow up?

I want to be a doctor.

Why?

Because I want to help sick people.

Source : Vanguard