Monday 15 June 2015

Why Nigerians don’t read books – Pastor Kingsley Innocent


Pastor Kingsley Innocent


Great servant of God, Pastor Kingsley Innocent, aka God of Talk-na-do, of Bible Believing Mission, Incorporated, Aba, Abia State speaks on his published books and how to revive reading culture in Nigeria, among other riveting issues.
ADA DIKE

We learnt that you are an author of many books; can you tell us about it?
I have written seven books and I have still more that will be published very soon. My first book is titled: ‘My Work with the Holy Ghost’. It is about the experiences that I have had over time with the spirit of God as I do his work.
The title of the second book is ‘Practical Encounter with God’. It is about the believer's personal encounter with God because it is your personal encounter with God that will keep you in faith at all times. It is your personal encounter with God that will sustain your faith in time of trials and when things are going tough. It is that personal encounter with God that will keep you up and going.
The third book is titled: ‘God, My Help’. It is about our struggles in life and that our help comes from God. No man can succeed as a result of his/her struggle or knowledge but we are where we are today because of the help from God. We are alive today is not by our strength but the help of God.
The fourth book is titled ‘What If?’ it is about every question in man's heart. What if I tried a particular business and it didn't work out, what do I do? What if, I get married and I have no child, what do I do? What if, I embark on a journey and I didn't return? What if, I go to bed and I am not able to wake up? I explained that most of the things that affects the sick, is this sickness that is affecting me, am I going to recover? With God, you have to depend totally on him.
In the fifth book: ‘Where are you coming from?’ I explained that except you know where you are coming from, you may not know where you are going to. As Nigerians, our upbringing differs from one another and the grace of God given to you is different from the grace, given to me by God. 
In my books, I express my life experiences because I know who I am and I know where I am coming from. I am not in competition with anybody. I am myself and I am doing what I can do. The sixth book is titled: ‘The Morning Dew’, which talks about weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning. Every child of God should expect the morning because it has dew and showers of God's blessing. The morning is a time for newness and change. I urged people to expect the morning and if you are in your night hour, you should know that it is not all that there is in. 
My seventh book which was published two weeks ago with the titled: ‘I Can Fulfill My Destiny’ educates people that every man has a destiny which must be fulfilled by that individual. Every man's destiny differs and one's destiny and fulfillment is not dependent on any man, background, godfather, academic acquisition of financial capacity but dependent on God and yourself. It is the individual that determines what his/her destiny should be.     

Where do normally get the inspiration to write books?
My inspiration comes from the spirit of the Lord to whom I owe all gratitude. Secondly, I am inspired by my day-to-day experiences in life. I am inspired by what I see others go through and I share with people through my writings.

Do you agree that Nigerians do not read?
To a great extent, I do agree. Nigerians need to cultivate the reading culture. In some of my interactions with people living in the Eastern part of the country, I have discovered that people don't read because of the level of poverty. People don't read because they are yet to comprehend its usefulness because they feel that it has no need. What will a petty trader, who trades on vegetables or pepper read books for? This nation needs help because I am looking forward to a situation where God will touch our leaders and make them know that the masses are suffering. Poverty has made it that if some people fail to go to market each day, then were will be no food for them to eat.
There are families that do not have reserve of food at home and that is why when there is any form of strike in the country, I am not happy. Whenever, there is any closure of market, it makes me sad because people would not have food to eat for that day. Whenever our leaders, destroy markets or the goods of traders who make their living from there, they make life difficult for such people. Any leader that destroys any market without giving them an alternative place to sell their goods is not a good leader but a wicked individual.   
For example, when our leaders introduced adult education, they didn't make it enticing for the elderly people to go to school. If they leave their petty trading and after studying, they will come back home and have nothing to eat alongside with their children.
Good leaders are leaders who will bring such things and make it work, give them incentives, show interest in what they do because people will not want to know how much you know until you show them how much you care for them. When they know how much our leaders care, then they can give themselves in to such policies.

How can reading culture be revived in Nigeria?
What we need to do is to annihilate poverty. It is in the hands of government, they should bring policies that will favour the poor. The reason it has favoured the Western world is because they have policies that protect the poor and they have the chances of coming up and improving themselves. But in Nigeria, the rich are becoming richer while the poor are becoming poorer because our policies favour only the rich. Until the poor have a say in the country, poverty cannot leave them and they have the opportunity to live in this nation that it belongs to all of us, then the reading level will improve.

What time do you normally write books?
I do most of my writings at night. As from 3am, I am with my writing materials and begin to write as inspiration comes. When I am in the office, I have my writing materials with me and when inspiration comes, I write them down. Even when I am in a car, I have my writing materials and I do write them down when the inspiration comes. Later, I compile all that I have written and put them together into a book. I don't have any specific day to write but I write every other night and it has helped me over the years.

What kind of books do you read?
I read a lot of leadership books because I am a leader and I have come to understand that the day that you stop reading is the day that you stop teaching. Reading is part of learning, so when you stop learning then you stop teaching. I find it difficult not to read a book a day. I read all manner of leadership and career books. I also read books that can tell me how I can do and expand various businesses.
I also read my own books and I get something to learn from it. I read my works and I am fulfilled and it is the propelling joy that makes me to want to go ahead and do more.
Presently, I am reading Mike Murdoch's book titled ‘The Leadership Tool’ and it has really helped me. 

Who are the target audience for your books?
My target audience is for every person that can read and write because my calling has to do with the destinies of people. The rich and poor have a destiny and they all need help to fulfill them because no matter how far that an individual has gone in life, there is still a place called the next level, so everyone needs to expand and progress.
My books help people to progress spiritually, mentally, physically, financially, materials and family wise.

Are you fulfilled as a pastor and author?
It gives me a lot of joy with the work that I am doing. The best thing that has happened to me is my calling. Some people have asked me, how do I cope with my work? and I tell them that I am not struggling to do it but it flows naturally.

And the choice of words?
I prefer to use simple and correct English that is not ambiguous for the reader. I have come to understand that the best way to communicate is to pass information that can be assimilated. I put all these things into consideration so that people don't read my books and become more confused.

How do you relax?
My time of relaxation is usually on Saturdays. I stay at home and spend time with my family. I also do some exercises like playing of table-tennis to keep me fit.

Management style/principle
I believe in leadership by example and I persuade people working with me to also lead by example. I believe that everyone of my staff today, will be a boss tomorrow, and I try my best to treat them the way they will want to treat others. I know that if they follow my footsteps, leadership will be easy and followership will be easy. My style is to amok everyone understand that it is a teamwork and that no one can achieve the work alone.

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