Harvard helped me hone my writing skills -'Lade Adeyemi

’Lade Adeyemi is a man of many parts. He’s a barrister, writer and entrepreneur. OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG met him to specifically discuss about his writing and his books and his disclosures on the issue of writing are definitely not to be taken lightly. Why do you write and publish books? Well, I believe one of the best ways to give information, and to add value to professionals and people generally, is by writing. I take pleasure in writing, though I didn’t start off taking pleasure in it, so I didn’t write when I was small, until I was out of the university, and I just picked the interest with my first book, Think Well Think Africa, and from that that first book till now, I’ve written and published about nine books, and I’ll keep writing because I believe it’s one of the ways to preserve knowledge, and to also add value to people around. How long does it take you to write a book? It takes about a year. I do a lot of research. What has really helped me in my research is based on my experience at Harvard. I remember my experience writing my second book at Harvard’s library. It was a wonderful experience. I didn’t want to leave. To a very large extent, Harvard really helped me in honing my writing ability, and I think I’m going to keep writing. Even my son has also started writing by drawing. He’s just about two years old, but I can see he’s picking up the trait. There’s this belief that Nigerians don’t read. As a writer, what can you say about this? I beg to disagree. I feel Nigerians are one of the most intellectually sound Africans in the world. Take for example, social media. As much as it’s not a book, it involves writing and reading. I believe that Nigerians actually read … maybe not as much as we should, but it’s getting better and it will continue to get better. I think we should write books that will add value to Nigerians as a whole. But generally, I totally agree with the fact that Nigerians read. In fact, we are actually aligning with the innovation norms. Now there are e-books. In fact, I’m also delving into that innovation as well, because most folks who want my books tell me ‘Hey, I’ll rather like an e-copy so that I’m on the road, I’m in the car, or I’m in the office, you know, I can read it electronically.’ So, that tells us that indeed Nigerians are readers. And it would only increase with time. How many millions of your books have you sold? Well, I’ve not gotten to the million category, which I’m hoping to get to. But I’ve sold a couple of thousands. My Think Well Think Africa was on Amazon and it sold over three hundred thousand copies. My Negotiate As A Pro has sold over five hundred thousand copies and it’s still selling. One Hundred Business Techniques has sold over one hundred and sixty thousand copies. And currently I’m working on a book which will be out in the next four months and I believe it will be a book that will not only add value to professionals but even budding professionals in the university will benefit from it also. Considering how busy you are as an entrepreneur and all that, how do you get time to write? Well, I get inspired mostly at night. I’m very nocturnal. My inspiration comes mostly at night. I try to make good use of my time. I spend an average of four hours every night on my writing skills and my books and I’ve been doing it for the past ten years. And it’s become a part and parcel of me. I’m currently mentoring about fifty-six Nigerians as writers. I’m mentoring them as far as paying for their university fees, I’m encouraging them as good writers, going through their scripts and also encouraging them to at least publish their first book, and I’m very happy to do that. And for as many Nigerians that also want to be mentored, my doors are open to them, as long as they are Nigerians and they are Africans, I mean that’s home for me.