Nigeria at 52

Happy Annnivesary to all of us as Nigeria clocks 52 as a nation.

God decided to shower us with the rain of Blessings(it is raining in Lagos right now). And as I listen to the President's speech on TV I can't help to pray for this nation, join me as we pray;

Dear Father in Heaven, please watch over us and our nation, may our hearts be turned back to you.
May we grow in our love for each other and let go of all tribalistic resentments but rather be our brother's keeper.
Give our leaders the wisdom to guide us aright and have our interest at heart,help them understand the need to make us secure in our everyday lives.

Help us to understand that 'The earth is yours' and we came naked and will not take anything along when we pass on,so acquiring wealth that even our great grand children cannot finish spending is of no use.
Thank you so much for loving us despite our failings. Thank you for answering our prayers IJN. Amen

Have a great week.

Ps. I could not upload a photo as I don't know how to using this iPad thing. Nothing compares to my laptop....lol.

Happenings

How have you all been? It's been a while.

I have had a lot happening on my side lately that I have not had time for to smell the coffee.

I lost a big brother 2weeks ago who has battled to live for the past 6years,it was sad and painful knowing he is no more but we also been grateful for the past few years that he spent with his family and am grateful God's will has been done in Uncle Ayo's life. I am especially grateful for the care of his wife,all her care and sacrifice to care for him,she is truly one in a million. He was buried on Tuesday may he RIP and may the God Lord remain with his wife,children,his mum and the rest of the family.

We also lost a beloved member of our family,one of our dogs, Matlock. We've had him for the past 10years,actually he was my older son's dog and he just dropped dead without being ill and the vet suspected a heart attack due to old age. It really broke our my son's heart as he was going off to secondary school the next day and my house is so quiet now, no more welcoming barks when I get home and playful wags and licks.

And finally, my older son started secondary school, another phase of life just began for us. I pray that the Good Lord will be with him as goes on this new life's journey and may he be successful in all he does. Amen.

Have a great weekend.

MONEY

Money, money, Where are you?
It seems the more I run after you,the farther you run.
I miss you, please come back.

ps: I am broke

Summer Trips

Hi,

How have you all been?

I have been away 1st to Accra and then to the Hope Youth Corps camp for a week. It has been quite stressful, especially my trip to Accra, you see, I had to go by road as I took along some of my books for the conference and also my boys came along for the ride.

Lagos to Accra by road took about 12hours using ABC, they were so slow but I guess safety is important and it took longer coming back, we got to the Seme boarder by 6pm but did not get to the bus pack in Festac until 11pm and did not get home until after midnight.I swore never to go Accra by ABC again or come back back by road again.

The trip was FUN as well as I made the trip with my sis in law, several girlfriend and our children and we took over a wing of the guest house, The Rest Inn, they were really nice to us despite the noise the children made.

HYC camp was fun as well, it is a week long live in camp for teens and preteens. I was there last year and was so looking forward to this year's camp and it was even better than last year's camp.

So, how have you been?

Is Our Reading Culture Dying?

I decided to write about our reading culture today because of how it affects me as retailer of books.....lol.

As you know,(I hope) I started a bookshop a few months back and I have to read and review a number of books I sell,so, I read more and for me reading is the best part of my job, reading and forgetting my worries and the world in general is bliss.

My best customers are children, it pleases me when children come to my book tables in church on Sundays(I make quite a lot of sales this way and I get to personally interact with my customers). They are always eager to buy new books and I have seen children who save their pocket money to buy books, even my boys are reading more and are always the 1st to buy from me as soon as I get new stock. I believe we have a new generation of readers and schools are becoming more aware of encouraging reading as a past time.

Some Adults too are good customers I enjoy recommending books and reviewing with my customers.I have regular customers who come by every week and ask me to recommend a new book and they don't mind the cost.

I also have people who tell me they don't like reading and will rather watch a movie than read a book

Nigerians are not known readers and there is a lot of fears about our reading culture. I met a lady buying some gifts for the prize-giving day of a school and she did not think to buy books as gifts until I pointed it out and this is a teacher.
My questions are;
How do you see our reading culture?

What are you doing about it?

What book(s) are you reading right now?

When last did you buy a book for yourself or as a gift?

Do you read to your children? Or encourage them to read?

Would you rather watch a movie or read?

Why don't you buy books?

Does the cost of book determines your choice?

Do you buy pirated books and why?

I will be very grateful if you can give me honest answers by leaving your comments as this will help me and other booksellers.

Hello

How are you all,

Just checking in and hoping you will have a wonderful weekend.

I also pray for a Peaceful and terrorist free weekend in Nigeria.....Pray with me on this one.Hope we will not weep over our citizens again and may God give our leaders the wisdom to lead us right. And may they have the humility to ask for help from the rigth sources when confused. In Jesus name I pray. Amen

Today is my birthday.

So, I just wanted to say thank you to all my followers and readers of my blog.

Thank you for taking time to read and sometimes comment on my posts.

Thank you for allowing me to share some of my life with you.

Thank you for the friendships and encouragements to take my dreams higher, I openned my bookshop after meeting great writers in blogville.

Thank you for sharing your lives with me through you blogs as well.

I know more about the world around me because of blogville and I rekindled my love of reading also.

May the good Lord bless you all and may we spend more times together both in blogville and physically(some day)by his grace.

Much Love