Interview
Young entrepreneur and author, Seun Utulu is inspiring the next generation and raising awareness of African culture and history. With education and preserving language and culture at the forefront, Naijbooks is a much needed resource!
Please tell us about Naijbooks...
Naijbooks is a book brand dedicated to teaching young people all about Nigeria! These books will help people discover the beautiful language, history, places and much more!
What inspired you to create books for young people?
Growing up I was extremely shy and did not even talk English outside of my house. Teachers and people who didn’t know me thought I had a speech problem. My parents, despite both being fluent in Nigerian languages, decided it was better if they did not speak Yoruba or Igbo to me alongside English, as they feared it would confuse me and make the issues I had with speaking even worse.
Although this made a lot of sense, growing up I always wished I could speak in my native tongue. Another reason for writing this book is that a lot of children are growing up in Nigeria, speaking English. As shocking as this sounds, it’s a reality.
I do not want the culture of my home country to die out, especially through language. I also want to reach the children growing up in the western world who’s parents have similar experiences to me and cannot speak their home language.
This book was created for kids to be able to learn both their native and environmental culture in one place, and reduce the amount of kids growing up without the skill of speaking their native language.
Can you share with us some Yoruba words?
Thank you - Adupe
I Love - Mo Nife
(And lastly my name) OluwaSeun - Thank you God.
How can people access/read your books?
My book is available on Amazon Marketplace worldwide! It’s available to buy both as a paperback and digitally via kindle.
What impact do you wish to have on the world?
I want to increase the amount of Yoruba speaking millennials worldwide. I also want to put a spotlight on African culture and history and increase the amount of children growing up with this knowledge. In the future, I wish to expand from just Nigerian culture resources and delve into other African languages/ history.
Instagram: @naijbooks
Facebook: @naijbooks