For a sustainable reading culture

Recently, the Federal Ministry of Education in conjunction with the office of the special assistant to the President on MDGs organised an awareness campaign on reading as part of its grass root mobilisation effort aimed at resuscitation the dying reading culture. AUGUSTINE OKEZIE highlights the essential pathway for the revival of the reading culture

In an address at the FME/MDGs awareness campaign on reading held at Government College Keffi, with the theme: Reaching the grassroots for mobilization and promotion of sustainable reading culture in Nigeria, the supervising Minister of Education, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, called on stakeholders in the education sector to support the programmes of activities put in place to promote and entrench reading habit amongst Nigerians.

The Minister, who was represented by Mrs. Irene Nbanefo, Deputy Director, Library and Informatics, stressed the importance of reading as capable of contributing to personal development and productivity, noting that reading as an act enhances one’s intellectual development and other potentials in the educational process.
Wike further maintained that the rigor and stress of ensures the development of such virtues as discipline, hard work, dedication and diligence; saying, ‘This is why we are here to promote the cause of reading.’

“I charge everybody present to contribute to the promotion of literacy and a culture of reading in our nation. Literacy/reading frees the mind from bigotry, unites like minds, and promotes peace and respect for opposing views.” He also charged students/pupils to commit themselves to reading regularly, saying that reading is the ladder to any height one aspires to reach in life.

In a goodwill message, Dr. Jerry Agada, former Minister of State for Education and immediate past President of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, commended the Ministry for sustaining the tempo of the Read Campaign.
He said that there is no better way through which one can realize his/her full potentials than taking to reading good books. He enjoined political leaders, traditional rulers and parents to endeavor to encourage students/pupils to develop good reading habit.

Senior Special Assistant  to the President on the millennium development goals (SSAP-MDGs), Dr. Precious  Gbeneol, said that her Office’s intervention in the Read Campaign has been guided by two MDGs which are,  achieving Universal Basic Education (goal 2 and) Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women (goal 3).
She commended the effort of the Ministry, saying that the Read Campaign would fast-track the achievement of the education-related MDGs 2 and 3 in Nigeria.

Permanent Secretary, Dr. MacJohn Nwaobiala, observed that the Read Campaign is one of the multifarious approaches employed by the Ministry to halt the falling standard of education in the country.
Represented by Mrs Christiana O. Ogbede, Deputy Director, Informatics, he implored all participants to make the best of the event and take the message to the grassroots, assuring that the ministry will continue to seek ways and means of restoring the standard of education.

“It is my firm belief that, through our ardent commitment to transformation and inspirational programs such as our reading rallies which form an integral part of the national pursuit for educational development; our youth will get to the expected goal. The importance of reading as an invaluable asset, through which individual, national and international development can be attained, cannot be overemphasized. As education is a core instrument for national development and the personal and economic empowerment of the youth, so also is the laudable role of reading to literacy and man’s total development’’.

He said If reading, as widely noted, is an act which enhances intellectual development and other potentials in the educational process, why has it failed to  trigger self discovery, stimulate creativity and productivity and make life more meaningful, over these years, and why has it lost the usual passion  that it was noted for?

Perhaps a ready- made answer may be found in the reasons often adduced by students who regularly points at the rigor and stress involved as well as the replacement with ICT driven activities, including the social media, Blackberry conversation like ’’pinging’’ and other escapist ventures which often distract the students and causes them to divert attention to activities that readily add lesser values to their growth and development.

Some of the inherent advantages about reading are that it enables the development of such virtues as discipline, hard work, dedication and diligence. These lead to self actualization, empowerment and excellence. To be empowered through reading means that one can stand out among one’s equals. A valuable aspect of life’s journey is the development of insight, foresight and power of perception, all of which can be acquired from good reading.

A very disturbing dimension to the steady decline in reading culture is the realization that some of the teachers in our schools do not read extensively beyond their respective disciplines. Even the parents and the elderly are no longer acting as role models to the children, in the sphere of reading. Furthermore, some graduates from tertiary institutions are deficient in the required reading, speaking and writing skills which later inhibit their competencies in production and service delivery.

The expectation therefore is that through the renewed commitment of everyone to inspirational programmes such as the promotion of reading, there would be positive impact on the learning and reading achievements of our children and the turning around our school system. Efforts, such as Education for All (EFA), READ Campaign and Bring Back the Book which are aimed at enhancing the potentials of citizens to be part of national development, is therefore praiseworthy.

Parents and teachers should be reading role models for their wards parents and provide the needed central solution to the reading crisis we are facing in Nigeria today. A good reading culture should be cultivated from a tender age by parents and later by teachers being role models for their children and students. Parental involvement in building a good reading culture in children cannot be over emphasized. When the children are properly guided to read in the libraries, they will be conscious of the need to read for knowledge sake as well as for their wholesome development.