Publishers to FG: Revive paper mills

Book publishers in Nigeria have criticised the scarcity of paper mill industries in the country and appealed to the federal government to revive paper mills to make accessible materials for printing to reduce costs of books. They further bemoaned the alarming rate of what they regarded as “international piracy,” emphasising that the problem has taken […]

Book publishers in Nigeria have criticised the scarcity of paper mill industries in the country and appealed to the federal government to revive paper mills to make accessible materials for printing to reduce costs of books.

They further bemoaned the alarming rate of what they regarded as “international piracy,” emphasising that the problem has taken over 70 percent market of published books sold within Nigeria.

National Vice President, Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA), Dr Jesse Odu, who made this known in Enugu, during a press briefing for the forthcoming national conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association, said that “book publishers are undergoing excruciating situations in the hands of pirates.”

Odu said that though local piracy had not stopped, the situation was compounded by international piracy of books, coupled with the cheapness and affordability of papers in the countries where the books are pirated.