From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Perturbed by rising cases of gender-based violence (GBV) despite the massive awareness, education, sensitization, and court verdicts on the subject matter, Founder and Executive Director of Zamani Foundation, Talatu Philomena Zamani, has added a new book titled “Love’s Hope” to the relationship archive to reduce the trend.
Talatu, who has over the years served as a social worker and mobilizer at the grassroots, semi-urban and urban settings told well-wishers at the launch of the book in Kaduna that her latest literature push became necessary to address GBV which has become a daily occurrence among all strata of relationship in modern day society.
According to her, the central character in the book was a young girl who, like so many other girls, had dreams to become an important personality in life, but due to the wrong decisions she made, she got married to the wrong man who battered and shattered her life, “he didn’t only batter her, he also bankrupted and infected her with a disease”.
“Many of us have made wrong decisions in life. But it is not too late to come back and be on the right track. This book is a must-read for everybody especially for the younger ones so that when they grow up they will not make the mistakes so many people have made,” Talatu added.
“What inspired me to pen this book was the experience I had working with Zamani Foundation for years. I have had years of engagements with women who have experienced emotional and domestic violence in their relationships – orchestrated by their in-laws, spousal abuse, economic, financial, and emotional abuse.
“Even some men too have come to complain about their wives despite our sensitization, awareness creation and workshops on the GBV, we still have these things at an alarming rate.
“So the thinking was that how can we also pass this message to people especially young ones to begin to think about how to channel and part their life in a way where they could make the right decisions in life”, she said.
Earlier, book reviewer, Mr. Kura Markus while presenting the book officially to the public, described it as “a solution for society on issues of relationships” especially among young people.
“The book is about events that happen in the homes and the society. It’s about love which would do well with the young people because that’s the topic that flows with them.
“However, it gives a message that they have to be careful because it’s not everybody that you fall in love with. We have a situation in the novel where one of the characters is a selfish individual who goes about victimizing women and cheating them.
“Unfortunately, the young heroine of the novel fell into his trap. But luckily in the end she managed to recover herself. So it’s a big message to upcoming lovers to be very careful and to listen to their parent’s advice”, the reviewer advised.