Give up social media, read books, Chimamanda Adichie advises youths

US-based Nigerian novelist and author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has urged youths across the globe to dedicate more time to reading.

Adichie made this known at The Harvard Centrer Honors, Massachusetts, US, where she received W.E.B Du Bois Medal on Thursday.

While delivering her speech after receiving the honour, the 45-year-old Purple Hibiscus author said she fled Nigeria to avoid studying Medicine as wanted by her parents saying “I was made to tell stories.”

After giving a hint into how she was received by her family in the US who necessitated her remarkable literary career, she then admonished youths to imbibe reading culture.

“And I’m so grateful for this award because again it just makes me feel that what I’m doing matters and it’s a gift to feel what you’re doing matters.

“For the young people who are here, if you care about anything, please care about reading, reading is so important, reading is magical, books are magical.

“And I really think that one of the best ways to counter what seems to me to be a really ugly tsunami of book bannings going around in this country is to read. The only way that we can answer to censorship of books is to read books,” she said.

Speaking about embracing books at the expense of social media, Adichie said, “And so for you young people, I just want to make a very small suggestion, how about you give up social media for you know, two weeks, three weeks, a month, and read, read, read.”