Parents urged to stop giving children voluminous books to read

An author, Ms Oghenekevbe Ogufere, has warned parents and guardians against giving children voluminous books to read

Ogufere, the Founder of African Writers Tribe (AWT), gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

She also advised Nigerians to develop reading and writing habits as a strategy to maintain emotional health.

According to her, reading and writing are two important elixirs that can help in overcoming emotional health problems, including depression.

Recalling her experience, Ogufere said that some years ago, she was clinically depressed and went to see a psychologist but couldn’t afford the consultation fee.

“I went home sad, but within me, something said, ‘Why don’t you write about your experiences.’

“I began to write about my experiences and I was able to come up with my first published book,” she said.

Ogufere said that writing her experiences motivated her to publish eight books.

She told NAN that reading would help people to get information that could inspire and motivate them to become better.

She said that the Bible was among the books that helped her.

“I would read and cry, read and cry, until a time came, almost two years, I was able to recover,” she said. (NAN)