By Ekaette Bassey
Feyi Fay: It is fascinating to see a Nigerian writer bringing out our culture to the limelight, to be embraced by other countries far and wide. With a burning desire to restore back and build the self-esteem of the black kids, Mrs Omobola Imoisili has taken it upon herself to write kiddies books that speaks louder than voice.
The writer, Mrs Omobola who has been in the United State for over 15 years stormed Nigeria for the official launching of the book Feyi Fay and the unveiling of backpacks and puzzles toys of the hero characters in the book on 9th February 2020. The event which took place in Radisson Blu Hotel VI was honoured by prominent men and women in power, the likes of Honorable Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Education Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, Hon. Tunde Balogun, Chairman of the ruling party APC Lagos, Prince Tajudeen, Chief Olopade and many more.
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Feyi Fay who is the major character in the book is an African replica of the popular Disney’s Cinderella, little mermaid, and other fantasy fairies but with a touch of African color, dress and theme. Feyi Fay is a story of a fairy who appears to young kids who might be having some problems and looking for answers and heroes to save them.
The US-based Nigerian writer revealed the source of her inspiration in her interview with Vanguard. According to her, “my inspiration started with my two daughters. We live in an area where there are few black people around, so my daughter’s interacted with lots of people from other culture, I felt they were straying away and don’t understand that their own culture is beautiful and unique. So I decided I was going to look for things for them that will reflect African feelings and culture.
“It’s so difficult to find those kinds of things even in the stores. They are not many books that feature black people in it except for a very few adolescent novels. I noticed their attraction when they eventually see a black person in the book, they felt so excited and would always say ” oh, this one looks like me”. Even in our own country, I don’t see a lot of representation of ourselves in a lot of things that we have for kids. So I decided I was going to write a book and create another bunch of products for kids.”
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