When I first set out to write this journal, it was just for my personal records. I had no intention of doing anything with it really.
It was borne out of a very simple suggestion from my brother and friend (Theo) to keep a journal since I "like writing so much”. I was up for a challenge, anything to distract from the three weeks of uncertainty I was about to face!
I got back home after three weeks and just handed over to Theo the two exercise books I had nearly filled with stories from my experience of camp. He loved it and went on to suggest other people might. I didn't quite believe him so I gave it to Seyi, my cousin. He seemed to like it as well and thought I should definitely publish it.
I felt I couldn't publish it as it was, so I set out to re-write most of the 'characters' while trying to stay true to the stories and experiences I had.
We tried publishing in the year that I was in Kano but things didn't quite work out. So I pretty much packed it in and got on with my life. I, however, had a manuscript and I suppose the seed to share my experience by publishing the book had been sown.
I will share with you the story of my journey into getting the "final product" soon. I hope someone out there find it helpful.