For many activists and campaigners, lingering traditional attitudes towards women constitute the last great barrier separating the Nigerian woman from self-actualization. For them, education becomes a weapon through which the altruistic goal of equality for the female gender can be achieved, one girl child at a time.

It is against this backdrop that Ayano Ayomide, an enterprising female member of the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) has launched “Journey From the Dark”, a novelette on the importance of girl-child education.

The book is a short and riveting homage to the significance of education in empowering the powerless and liberating them from the shackles of outdated notions regarding the role and status of girls and women.

The youth corps member who holds a degree in Mass Communication from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism melds passion with activism as she draws from her own imagination and the environment to craft a beautiful piece that is sure to capture the attention of readers everywhere.

Ayano Ayomide

While she acknowledges the role the sights and sounds of daily life has played in her continuing evolution as a writer, “Journey From the Dark” is the first literary fruit of a talent which shone early and in abundance right from primary school, a time when most children would be preoccupied with childhood games

“Writing has always been my passion. I started writing short stories when I was in primary school. I co-authored a short play alongside two of my friends when I was in JSS 3. We only published three copies of the book then but we were happy we could put something together and publish, ” she said.

Perhaps a product of real-life experiences which the writer affirms is the main source of her inspiration for writing, Journey From the Dark” is available on e-reading platform Okadabooks at https://okadabooks.com/book/about/journey_from_the_dark/25897.

As its title suggests, it is a miniature bildungsroman that narrates how education becomes the road for the protagonist as she journeys from the dark of ignorance into the light of a brave new world.