Reviving our reading culture

Participants at the recently held 15th Nigeria International Book Fair have called on all stakeholders to collaborate in reviving the dying reading culture among Nigerians, young and old. Speaking at the book fair, Professor Hope Eghagha of the Department of English, University of Lagos said one of the reasons responsible for poor reading culture is […]

Participants at the recently held 15th Nigeria International Book Fair have called on all stakeholders to collaborate in reviving the dying reading culture among Nigerians, young and old. Speaking at the book fair, Professor Hope Eghagha of the Department of English, University of Lagos said one of the reasons responsible for poor reading culture is the non availability of well-written reading materials. He lamented the penchant for aberrations and locally coined expressions which now find their way into formal writings among students.
Reading is an indispensable source of knowledge. It provides the mind with the intellectual exercise it needs to function efficiently. Because it is a literary means of liberating self, persons who are good readers tend to exhibit progressive social skills. Reading is not a substitute to travelling but it fills the gap created by lack of travel, indolence, and boredom.
Educationists see a strong correlation between reading and academic success, just as there is correlation between reading and acquisition of good communication skills, including an extensive vocabulary. The high failure rate of students recorded in recent years in English language during the Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) conducted by WAEC and NECO is a reflection of poor reading culture. Many students have poor communication skills and have a poor knowledge of grammatical rules.
Today we have a generation of youths that detests reading newspapers, magazines or novels, or even the textbooks prescribed for their school subjects. Instead, they prefer to spend much of their time browsing irrelevant websites on the internet or watching meaningless films on television. Browsing the internet is very useful if one goes to useful sites. It is however full of distracting and even destructive websites. No road to proper and all round knowledge excludes a good reading culture. Students and pupils must therefore cultivate a sustainable reading culture, notwithstanding whether the material is in soft (electronic) or hard copy.
Different factors contributed to the decline in reading culture among Nigerians. The reading rooms established by erstwhile Native Authorities in local communities are now extinct. Local government authorities of today fail to recognize the significance of reading rooms and libraries to individual and societal development. Where public libraries exist, they are stocked with unattractive reading materials. Although millions of naira have been spent on the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) Virtual Library Project (VLP) that was launched in 2001, nothing substantial is there to show for the huge sums spent.
VLP was launched to bolster the quality of learning and research in Nigerian schools through the e-books that the project aimed to provide. VLP which was abandoned soon after it was launched should be revived so that relevant books and reference materials could be accessed by students and researchers. Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has a Book Development Fund while the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) also has a project to revive reading culture. Both have however not yet made the desired impact and should be strengthened. UBEC should collaborate with Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council’s (NERDC) Book Development Center in order to publish books that meet the intellectual, moral and creative needs of learners in our basic schools.
Parents should also play a role by providing relevant reading materials such as story books with fascinating contents to the age and psychological needs of their children. Monitoring the number of hours spent by children watching films on television or playing video games may also create more reading time for children. Universities, schools, National Library of Nigeria as well as the state library boards should all equip their existing libraries with relevant materials that cater for the interest of all categories of readers. In communities where libraries do not exist, local government authorities should at least provide a reading room. Societal progress is not possible with this poor reading culture. We encourage every literate Nigerian to aim to read at least one book every week.