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KIDDIES CORNER
“Parents Should Be
Good Role Models”
Access to quality
education is the right of every child. Many viewed it as a mere
argument, but the issue is that any child that is given quality
education, stands a better chance to reproduce or defend what
he/she had had at the infant stage.
Today, writing as one
of the basic attributes of a good scholar is near extinction due
to what operators describe as lack of access to quality
education. Some blame the trend on parents while others trace it
to the invention of cell phone.
A top Manager in
Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), said he discovered with dismay
the inability of people to write and post letters. According to
him, they pay more attention to abbreviated text messages, which
in a way, is militating against writing culture in the present
generation.
But for Miss Chimenem
Nsirim, writing is something to be achieved and “worth dying
for”. No doubt, she has started at an early age. The teenager
sees the writing act as a robust deal which can even place one
in high places.
The 12-year-old Miss
Nsirim who is the last child of four shook both her parents and
siblings when she hit the writing industry with her first
published play, titled “the perfect couple”. From all
indications, she did not give it much thought before going into
the business, but discovered that the theme and characters in
the play flowed freely as she wrote.
One could be tempted
to say “ like father, like daughter” because she is the last
child of a seasoned journalist, Mr. Paulinus Nsirim, a former
Chairman of the Rivers State Council of the Nigeria Union of
Journalists(NUJ) and two-time Chief Press Secretary to the
Rivers State Government who has in no little way contributed to
the growth of journalism in the State and the country.
The “Buchi Emecheta”
in-making, who said she came into the world on April 21, 1999,
is a JSS 3 student of Jepthah Comprehensive Secondary School in
Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital.
Dreaming big to
become a lawyer, she said the title of her play “The Perfect
Couple” came after a careful observation of the friendliness
between her parents as a couple. She is of the view that her
parents closeness motivated her into writing the play.
The play which is
basically on a family setting, discusses how a couple
misunderstands each other and settles almost in what is
described as the speed of light. The young playwright did not
rule out quarrel/misunderstanding in a family, but was emphatic
about re-uniting and letting-go.
The author also
traced her writing prowess to the good foundation laid by her
teachers at Faith Baptist Nursery/ Primary School in Port
Harcourt. No wonder the Bible admonishes that a child should be
trained in the way he should go, that when he is old he will not
depart from it (Proverbs. 22 Vs 6 KJV).
In an interview with
the press she bared her mind as to why families are meant to
stay together. She stated that the family that quarrels often
will eventually influence their children by its continual
fighting and quarreling.
According to her,
children easily copy things done by their parents especially the
bad ones. Explaining one of the lessons drawn from the Play,
she said that children whose parents quarrel repeatedly, hardly
pay proper attention to their studies.
Miss Nsirim, stressed
that children are always looking up-to their parents in anything
they do, thus the need for parents to demonstrate a superior
life-style in the family that will at the end of the day create
positive impact on the children.
She went on memory
lane and called on parents to learn how to fight quietly so that
it will not affect their children. “Because in the play, when
the children got to school, they could not concentrate in their
studies because of what happened at home”
The young author is
of the view that love shown to children is medicinal to their
(children's) total development. This also explains the bible
passage that says that “and if a house be divided against
itself, that house can not stand (Mark 3 Vs 25 KJV) X-raying
her family, she pointed out that she learnt the Three Hs Guide
from her parents: hard work, humility and honesty.
The teenager,
reasoned that if one keeps to the “Three Hs” Guide and the fear
of God, it will among other things, bring success to one's life.
Not delighted in many
games, except swimming and playing badminton, she takes delight
in giving thanks to God Almighty for every new day because
without Him man is nothing. According to her, all blessings come
from God and humans ought to be grateful to God for his goodness
and wonderful works.
The publishing of her
first Book work gave her the shock of her life as she never
thought it that good. Her parents received a greater position of
the shock when her work was published considering her age and
level in the secondary school; she also hinted that her work
became a reality through the support of her peers who never
relented from contributing meaningfully each time discussions
came up.
Prepared to hit the
Bookstand soonest with another of her book “The Broken Home”,
she said arrangements have reached advanced level to ensure its
smooth landing. On why all her book titles should be centered on
the family , she informed that her family background has given
her enough upbringing to see the challenges others face, hence
the campaign for other families to provide the enabling
environment for their children to enjoy a good life.
She further expressed
the hope that the book will bring a lot of encouragement to
everyone in the society, especially those families that are at
the verge of breaking up.
The must-read Play,
is also a great challenge to those who have erroneously
concluded that the art of writing has finally gone instinct.
Her role models
remain her parents, siblings, school teachers and friends who
encourage her ideas/ambition in their different ways. She also
rained encomiums on her school Administrator, Mrs Ifeoma Edith
Chukwuogo, her Principal, Miss Comfort Oghu and English Teacher,
Mrs Modupe Ogbidi who have over the years tutored her on the
importance of hard work and creativity. She is also grateful to
the trio for using the school platform to publish her first work
thus making her one of the youngest authors in the world.### |
