interview
Why women must imbibe habit of reading”
By Ruby Leo
Aisha Ahman Patige is the owner of Roots and Origins which promotes the use of herbal, natural and organic materials. She also champions a campaign geared towards empowering women in the rural communities. She recently launched a book club for women and speaks on why it is important for women to indulge in reading.
Why a book club for women?
The book club by Roots and Origins is to revive the reading culture especially among women. We believe that reading will help women reach their full potentials. We want to use this opportunity to encourage housewives to imbibe the habit of reading because it will help open their minds and sharpen their intellect which will in time improve their family values.
A reading mind is a sound, thinking and productive mind, but sadly the reading culture is comatose these days, and we have become a people of meaningless visual entertainment. This book club is part of the whole cycle of tapping into our full potential. And how do you do that? It is through the mind, body and soul. You are what eat and what you expose yourself to? In terms of your mind, what you read is what you are, and hopefully how you will shape your environment.
What’s the motivation, and why did you choose “The Beautiful Ones are Not Yet Born”?
The author is Ghanaian. A lot of people actually thought it was Chinua Achebe. It was the first book that ever inspired me; this whole journey of Roots and Origins started from that. The bulk of it is all about the corruption in Ghana during the Nkrumah coup. It is a situation where no matter how much hope you have, your environment determines what the outcome is.
One of the things I take away from it is the fact that it is a metaphor, so the subject had to go through a pit hole which symbolizes death and corruption and then a new day, a rebirth, a reawakening. That’s why the first book we are reading is about how humanity can change; you first have to do a cleansing of the mind. You completely have to purify your mind in order for you to comprehend your next move. The book is exciting; I am excited, especially at this time in our country with the whole corruption thing and all whatnot. The main message we want to get out is that there is so much out there you can learn from other minds, and to see the possibilities out there for you as opposed to being just cocooned in your environment. People feel there is hope but the reality around is that there is no hope. At this point in time, our vision is that the beautiful ones are born. As much as we have hope, we know that we can change it.
How do you intend to ensure that people imbibe the culture of reading?
It goes back to our vision, for us to be able to use our full potential. And the only way to do that is by opening up our minds and exploring what is out there in the whole universe. Humanity has only tapped into less than 15% of our brain capacity. The last time it was checked, it was 10%. But I’m saying 15%, with all the technology we have today. So imagine if each individual could even tap into one or two percent. And what are the ways to tap into your potential? It is by really exploring the mind. And how do you do that? Take all the great minds that have ever existed on our planet and study each of them-all the way from the time of Jesus to Prophet Mohammed (SAW)-when you study them you will realize they had to go through a process of meditation and reading. While growing up and practicing Islam, the first revelation to the prophet was “Read”. When you read, if you are in Nigeria, you can picture yourself in Israel through reading. That’s exploration. Every scripture encourages us to read. It is reading that takes you to other parts of the world.
How many people gathered on Sunday for this?
We had roughly about 220, and that’s a lot for a book club.
Tell us how you mobilized such a crowd?
We just sent out an advert, whoever was interested just signed up. It is free membership; the only thing is you buy your book through Roots and Origin store, because we are going into publishing. The next book we are reading is published by Roots and Origin. It is an amazing book; a book we believe will change a lot of minds on how to achieve success. It is a book that says no matter who you are, what you are doing, you can actually tap into the full potential to achieve all you seek. For the most part, most people think of success as wealth, but this book talks about how you can make wealth beyond your imagination. The way to make wealth is not about whatever business you get into has to be about money.
How regular is it going to be?
This book is a literature book. It is a little bit harder for people to read and understand; it is full of metaphors, though it is very interesting.
That’s the “Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born”?
It is not a simple read for people that are just not readers. We are having a teacher come around to talk a little bit about it to us, so people can understand. You don’t have to come to the event. You can read, and we have a group on WhatsApp, and eventually we are going to have it online, so anywhere you are, you can join us.
For this one, we are going to read it for two months, and we are going to be meeting for two months – twice a month. But the club is just for women. Reviving the reading culture will help more married women, like stay-at-home mothers, because most of the time they do have time to be able to do that, and that will take away a lot of the boredom.
Also, we are going to have Friday night, which is going to be like twice a month, the gentlemen can only join in then. We intend to invite the authors to come and talk, use it as a social event to network and rub minds.
Are you in contact with the authors to let them know you are doing something with their books?
Presently, we are in touch with Emaha. He is in his 80s now. We intend to invite him to Nigeria, and we are in the process of doing that. Hopefully we will get him to come. There is a book in the pipeline written by a Nigerian, “Awesome, Awesome One”, and the author is here. Definitely in line with the circle of receiving which is community development, capacity building, we are going to have a thing where speakers come around. Our mission is to inspire all of us to use our potential.
How much does a book sell in the store?
This one, we sell it for N2,000. Obviously it is free membership, so it is through the book sales-the event, free refreshment-that all come together.
