It was an afternoon filled with stories, laughter and reflection as students of Lekki Peninsula College, Osapa London, Lagos, welcomed Dr. Bunmi Oyinsan for a book reading last Wednesday. Organised by the Committee for Relevant Arts as part of its BookTrek Community Literacy Outreach, the event centred on Oyinsan’s new novel, A Ladder of Bones.
Amid readings from the novel that tells the stories of five young Africans grappling with personal histories and the legacy of violence, Oyinsan, who is based in Canada, shared how her love for writing began at the age of 14, inspired by stories told by her grandmother.
She encouraged the students to see storytelling as a tool for learning, healing, and self-discovery. Besides, it is good for the learners to connect their passions to their academic activities, she said, and added: ‘When you link what you love doing with your career, your work becomes joy, not struggle’.
The author, teacher and literacy advocate spoke passionately about reclaiming African heritage, describing the continent as the cradle of civilisation. She further linked early, discoveries like the Ishango bone to modern science and technology. Her message to the young audience was simple: be proud of your roots; learn your history; and use knowledge to change the future.
A former Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Oyinsan, who had earlier published Halima, Three Women and Mansa Musa: The Richest Man Who Ever Lived, also touched on sensitive topics such as racism and tribalism, calling them products of ignorance that should have no place in modern society. Drawing from her own experiences abroad, she urged the students to judge people by their character, not by skin colour or ethnicity.
Throughout the session, Oyinsan used her own writing journey — including stories of publisher rejections — to teach the value of persistence. She encouraged students to form writing clubs, read widely, and support one another’s creativity.
A lively question-and-answer session that followed left many students inspired, promising to write their own stories and use their voices to make positive change.
One of them noted: ‘It felt like we travelled through time — learning about Africa, storytelling, and ourselves’.
