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Addressing decline of reading culture in Nigeria
By Kehinde Akinfenwa
NIGERIA has been rated by
the World Culture Score
Index as one of the countries in
the world with the lowest reading
culture, while available statistics
from National Commission for
Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-
Formal Education shows that 38
per cent of Nigerians are nonliterate
as four in ten primary
school children cannot read for
comprehension. Regrettably, this
adverse development is an
ominous challenge the country
seems not to be paying needed
attention to.
There is generally a poor
reading culture in the country.
The rich literacy history the
country is famous for is gradually
been eroded. Once upon a time,
the country paraded the best set
of authors and publishers in
Africa. Then, reading was an
innate affection for both young
and old. This reading inclination
reflected so much on the quality
of leadership and civil discipline
that brought pride to Nigerians
anywhere in the world. The
downturn in reading and book
readership actually has a global
dimension, especially given the
onslaught of the digital
revolution. Globally, the influence
of new technology has altered the
disposition to reading. Before
now, schools engaged and
participated in reading activities
to enhance the thinking and
creative ability of students. But
lack of availability of suitable
reading materials, absence of
well-designed reading activities,
insufficiency of trained staff to
prosecute reading culture in
schools and ineffective
monitoring and evaluation of
readership promotion
programmes are constant
Far away Fayemi
By Abu Shekara
PATRICK Ibrahim Yakowa's may
be the slimmest margin of win in a
governorship election. He polled 106 votes
more than his opponent to be returned as
elected in Kaduna State in 2011. That is
our democracy and that is the rule. A
simple majority and the required
percentage of votes in two-thirds of local
government areas in a state will suffice.
In Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal
nearly broke Yakowa’s record this year.
With 342 votes, he has won the
governorship race after a supplementary
election that was viewed in many quarters
as unlawful and unnecessary. That, of
course, matters little now, except with
respect to the letter of the law, as the recent
tribunal ruling in a similar case in Osun
State clearly points to.
For Sokoto State, that is more an
academic exercise. Tribunal or not, Aminu
Waziri Tambuwal is the governor and
governor-elect of Sokoto State. He has one
victory now and will most probably secure
another, if he cares to challenge the
supplementary election he has just won
in court for the sake of righting a wrong
for posterity. In that case, Tambuwal would
still prevail because he also won the initial
“inconclusive” vote.
Someone in far away Kigali, Rwanda,
however, feels that is not enough. Kayode
Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State thinks
challenges currently affecting
readership development.
In Nigeria, reading culture has
suffered from widespread poverty,
corruption, ineptitude and a
dearth of dedicated quiet reading
spaces like libraries. The decline
in the standard of education has
seriously affected reading ability.
And it becomes harder when you
have to deal with the many
distractions and challenges that
come with being an adult and
living in a country like Nigeria.
Perhaps, our socio-economic
environment is not readingfriendly.
The daily struggle for
economic survival provides little
or no time for people to cultivate
a good reading habit. Equally,
high cost of books, particularly
imported ones, has contributed to
low readership promotion in the
country.
Studies have shown that there
is an almost symbiotic
relationship between reading and
intelligence. The analytical skills
that provide the ability to
understand issues and solve
problems are the product of
intensive reading. Reading
regularly is a way to mental health
which enhances emotional
intelligence, helps with selfawareness,
empathy, social skills
and managing relationships
more effectively. Reading also
provides a therapeutic effect and
inner tranquility, while also
slowing mental decline. Thus, the
relationship between reading,
knowledge acquisition,
intelligence and personal
empowerment is crucial for
economic and societal
development. A critical mode of
thinking and human
development is lost in the
absence of reading.
It is, however, cheering that
certain individuals and
Tambuwal ought to have done better. A
thousand votes ahead or more would have
been more a thing of pride than 342 votes.
“Ultimately, you cannot win an election
with 300 votes and take all,” he told an
African CEOs forum, obviously referring
to Governor Tambuwal’s narrow margin
electoral victory, “and the person who loses
an election with 300 votes gets nothing,”
he added, in solidarity with his losing APC
in Sokoto State. "It is a recipe for
disaster...,” Fayemi lamented.
The Ekiti State governor, who won
election into a staggered second term last
Fayemi is too far away in
Uganda to learn that Aminu
Waziri has already extended
the olive branch to his main
APC opponent, through an
open invitation to participate
in serving the state
year, would have perhaps rejected his
victory, if he had a narrow margin on his
opponent, Ayo Fayose or he would have
shared his administration with the PDP, half
and half.
Fine talk in faraway Kigali to a mainly
non-Nigerian audience is cheap. He still
has a chance to practicalise his power
sharing rationale in Ekiti State. With
197,459 of the vote to Fayose’s 178,121,
organisations are making
concerted efforts to revive
reading culture in the country.
The Lagos State government, for
instance, has been making huge
attempts to revitalise reading
culture, especially among the
younger ones. The state
government made the annual
World Literacy Day one of the
most celebrated in the state’s
We need to develop
literate citizens who are
able to read widely to
unlock the world
treasure of knowledge
and participate in the
dynamic civilization of
the world
official calendar. Also, through the
Lagos State Parks and Gardens
Agency, LASPARK, the state
government has established
libraries in almost all the state
owned parks, availing users the
immense opportunity to read
while having fun. To further
improve reading culture and
empower children through
books, government introduced
reading clubs in its parks where
students meet with Nigerian
authors on a regular basis to read
to them and improve their
reading skills.
It must be emphasized that the
interest expressed by private
institutions in trying to keep
reading and literacy alive is
commendable. Over the last
decade, a number of literary
prizes have helped in supporting
Nigeria’s literary circles. The
9Mobile Prize for Literature,
backed by the telecommunication
Governor Fayemi ought to concede 40 per
cent of his government to his opponent in
the PDP.
Fayemi is too far away in Uganda to learn
that Aminu Waziri has already extended
the olive branch to his main APC opponent,
through an open invitation to participate
in serving the state. The Sokoto State
governor is no stranger to the inclusive
approach to governance. Until recently, a
majority of APC elements were part and
parcel of his administration, including in
fact, their governorship candidate, who was
the deputy governor and commissioner for
works.
There is, therefore, no winner takes all
attitude in Sokoto State, that Fayemi can
describe as a “recipe for disaster,” unless
if by that he actually means if the winner
is not APC. And if the desperation
exhibited by his party to take over the
whole country by all means, legitimate and
otherwise, is anything to go by, the Ekiti
governor’s worse fear is any political party
controlling any state, other than the APC.
It is indeed ironic that Dr. Fayemi, a man
of intellect, who owes his rise to nothing
as much as he should to democracy, should
express such opinion so bereft of the
democratic principle. Suggesting that the
winner of a closely contested governorship
election is a governor of only half of a state,
is certainly a subscription to pedestrian
views. For, the mandate given by a little
Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019—31
company, the Nigeria Prize for
Literature, sponsored by the
NLNG Gas Company and the
Miles Morland Grant, which
supports authors working on a
novel for a year are among some
of the clear-cut interventions
aimed at improving reading
culture in the country.
In February 2018, GTBank
announced the launch of “The
Dusty Manuscript,” a contest for
Nigerian crime and romance
fiction writers with finished but
unpublished novels. The top
three authors from the contest
were rewarded with a publishing
contract with Kachifo, one of the
country’s renowned publishing
houses.
Also, as part of her initiative to
rekindle interest in reading, You
Read Initiative, a CSR
programme of GTBank launched
in 2017 recorded a landmark
achievement when 40-year-old
Olubayode Treasures Olawunmi
broke the Guinness World Record
for the Longest Marathon Read
Aloud. The record, which since
2008 was held by Nepal’s Deepak
Sharma Bajaan after he read a
total of 17 books in 113 hours and
15 minutes, was shattered by
Olubayode early in 2018 as he
achieved the feat for 120 hours in
Lagos.
Olubayode’s story indicates
that with the right structure and
sincere determination, Nigeria
can build a society of intellectuals
and educated minds because a
reading nation is a
knowledgeable, tolerant and
violence free society. The culture
of reading must be activated in
children from a very young age.
More books should be procured
for children than smart phones
and tablets. Nigerian homes
need to be fitted with more
bookshelves and bookcases than
flat screen TVs and laptops.
While it is imperative for federal
and state governments to increase
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funding in education, they must
take an active role in resuscitating
reading habit, refurbishment of
existing libraries and redesign
of the school curriculum. We need
an effective campaign to bring
back the libraries to our schools
and communities. Reducing
environmental noise, which is
inimical to reading, must be a
policy imperative for
governments across the country.
For Nigerian literary canon to
develop and expand, private and
social sectors need to collaborate
on initiatives that promote a
strong reading culture in the
country. Rather than scrambling
to sponsor events that have little
or no value to the future of the
country, private organisations are
enjoined to redirect their CSR to
sponsoring campaigns to revive
a reading culture in communities
where they operate.
If reading culture is on an
irretrievable decline, writing
profession and the publishing
industry is at great risk. The
decline or demise of publishing
industry is not without long-term
implications for the
enlightenment of society and
human capital development in the
country.
More importantly, the absence
of effective reading ability is a
barrier to a civilized political
culture and economic prosperity.
To attain the socio-economic
height of our dreams and
aspirations, we need to develop
literate citizens who are able to
read widely to unlock the world
treasure of knowledge and
participate in the dynamic
civilization of the world. It is,
therefore, essential that policy
makers with evidence based data
or information monitor and
evaluate educational policies and
literacy programmes in Nigeria.
•Akinfenwa is of the Lagos
State Ministry of Information
&Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja
more than half of the people is taken as
mandate given by all the people.
Fayemi’s belief that a leader returned by
a narrow margin of votes has no moral right
to form a government in the exclusion of
the opposition is way off the cut off mark
for intellectual engagement in our
presidential system. The Ekiti State
governor ought to know that. What
spokespeople of the APC actually know is
indeed, becoming a puzzle. The utterances
of individuals in those quarters are more
and more indicative of lack of awareness,
comprehension or respect for due process
or the rule of law.
A certain desperation tends to be
associated with rising profile in APC,
especially in people previously credited
with appreciable intellect. And
personalities such as Fayemi may well be
the latest victim of this syndrome. His
geographical distance from the scene of
affairs may, therefore, have less to do with
Fayemi’s gaffe on the Sokoto election than
the general detachment of the APC from
reality.
The fact that the survival of their party is
really merely hanging on a thread, is
shown in its rejection by Nigerians clearly
manifests in their past strong hold states
of Kano, Bauchi, Adamawa, Rivers, Benue,
Zamfara, Imo, Oyo, Osun and Sokoto.
* Shekara, a political analyst,wrote from
Lagos
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