When the President ‘brought back the book’ to Abuja

The Bring Back the Book Campaign launch in the capital brought together politicians, writers, Nollywood stars and students from select FCT schools at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel. President Goodluck Jonathan was represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo. As with all events with politicians, there were speeches, but they managed to keep […]

The Bring Back the Book Campaign launch in the capital brought together politicians, writers, Nollywood stars and students from select FCT schools at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel. President Goodluck Jonathan was represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo.

As with all events with politicians, there were speeches, but they managed to keep it short and to the point. The culture of long cumbersome protocols was shelved with only VP Sambo, the FCT Minister Senator Bala Muhammad and writer Professor Zaynab Alkali sitting on the podium.

Unlike the Lagos event, which was all about President Jonathan’s book “My Friends and I” which focused on his ‘conversations’ with friends on Facebook, this one featured other writers. There was strangely no mention of that book, which has been criticised for its heavy dose of cyber language that many feel would encourage its use by secondary school students.

But the fact that the President has shown any kind of interest in leading the revival of the reading culture is commendable and the FCT Minister, Senator Muhammad, whose ministry was behind bringing the event to the capital, aptly said this in his speech.

“I wish to place on record that Bring Back the Book Project is indeed a lofty one because it aims to bring back the culture of learning and quest for knowledge. This is one attribute that has been declining in our society and it really gladdens the heart that Mr President has deemed it fit to initiate and champion this campaign,” he said.

Readings by Ayodele Olofintuade, Eghosa Imasuen and Prof. Zaynab Alkali were interspersed with talks by Nollywood stars Segun Arinze and Stephanie Okereke and a rousing performance by rapper MI.

But while the students danced to MI’s “Africa Rapper No 1”, some writers felt irked by the whole set up. They felt they have been sidelined in the organisation of a “book event” in favour of musicians and films stars, the very people they feel are responsible for putting the reading culture on life support. Many felt that the fact that the Association of Nigerian Authors only got wind of the event just a day to kickoff showed disregard for the writing community.

Dr Jerry Agada is the president of the association.

“The initiative is very good,” he said, “but the way they handled it is not.”

He was full of praise for the initiative but felt that the Read Campaign Committee should have been involved. The committee was launched under the late President Umaru Yar’adua and has since been redundant. Dr. Agada said this was as a result of the lack of interest in the initiative by the previous administration.

However, Lola Shoneyin, who worked as a consultant in organising the event, explained that there was no deliberate ploy to overlook the Abuja-based writers on their turf.

“From my understanding of the Bring Back the Book FCT event, it was designed to be child-centred, to motivate, inspire and entertain children, while driving home the message that reading results in personal, social and intellectual development. One of the challenges they had was that the final date for the event was not set until Thursday, 12 May. The FCT was still keen to send out invites to authors so I advised Mr Nosike Ogbuenyi, the Special Assistant to the Minister on media, to contact Mr Jerry Adesewo who is closely connected with all the Abuja writing groups. Mr Adesewo was contacted and he sent texts round,” she said.

But in truth, the Nollywood stars and even MI, in between his performances, talked to the students on the importance of reading, which they said had prepared them for the stardom they now enjoy.

The fact that the students were central to the event was not lost on many. They occupied the central row of seats and were presented with backpacks with select literature from Nigerian authors.

What was also evident from the event was all the political speeches that characterised the Lagos event (which held in the campaign season) were absent here and even VP Sambo before reading the President’s speech at the tail end of the event first read from a children’s story and then said, “I read before you because of the Grace of Allah and also because I had good education.”

The President reiterated government’s commitment to improve the education sector “The foundation of every knowledge or learning is reading because as the saying goes, when you stop reading, you stop leading. This reality underscores why all of us must act in concert to bring back the book not only in the schools but the Nigerian society at large.”

The students privileged to be there left with several books. Others in some 15 schools would have access to brand new libraries the FCT administrations is setting up. Already, one of such libraries has been commissioned by the FCT minister on the day of the event.

The Minister led the students in stating their commitment to reading and the pursuit of knowledge before they signed their certificates of participation.

While the writers may feel left out in the cold, the fact that government is seen to be doing something to encourage reading gives a positive impression. The question remains how far will this commitment go?