In Nigeria and indeed the society today, the art of reading is gradually on a downward trend, but of late, stakeholders are calling for its revival; SUNNY IDACHABA writes.
There is a general belief these days that if anyone wants to hide anything from others, that person should simply put it inside a book and no one would see it because people simply don’t read books any more.
This was years ago, but the reality has not changed. Nothing can be truthful like it, especially with the recent poor reading culture occasioned by many factors such as dearth of books and disdain for libraries.
The evolution of telecoms in Nigeria, no doubt, also seems to have had a slap on reading culture. This is why book publishing and ultimately reading culture seem to be on a downward trajectory. All these are despite Nigeria boasting of notable writers like the Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka; the late Chinua Achebe; Cyprian Ekwensi, Amos Tutuola; Chimamanda Adichie; Obari Gomba and many others.
Aside from these individuals, media houses and corporate organisations have been on their toes helping to rejuvenate the poor perception to reading albeit general disdain for books also made so by the high cost of publishing books.
Individual efforts
As part of his contribution to the revival of books and reading, the chief executive officer of Flomat Books, Anthony Akpokene, announced sometime in October that all was set for the 4th Abuja Book Fair which happened last week.
The themed, ‘Reading Culture Renaissance,’ offered diversities of activities that catered for the reading culture of all age groups.
Akpokene said the fair was part of the organisation’s role towards spreading knowledge, facilitating enlightenment and contributing to the growth of society.
“The objective of the highly- awaited 4th Abuja Book Fair is to stimulate children and reinvigorate the reading culture in Nigeria,” he said.
He listed names like Joshua Egube, Segun Odegbami, Ifueko Omogui Okauru, Prof Jerry Gana, John Asein, Dare Oluwatuyi, Olusola Bankole, Macdonald Idu and Pastor Tawus Gaya as some of the influencers/special guests to reviving reading culture.
While announcing the fair, he said, “The book fair would be remarkable with books at an extraordinary discount, interaction with authors, lectures, special meeting with people whose lives were impacted by books, networking and dinner.”
Going further into details of the fair, he said it would address a whole lot of issues including medical affairs.
“Topics will include health and wellness, the efficacy of herbal medicine and treatment, nutrition, negative effects of digital devices and helping the challenged child to overcome and excel.”
Speaking on how he intended to take the message to the doorsteps of the target readers, he said there would be reading on November 26 for private schools at Bankys School, Apo District and reading for government schools on November 27 at Government Secondary School, Area 10, as, according to him, authors like Uzoma Uponi (colour blind), Michael Oviemhada (100 years), Pastor Gaya (Influence on Oasis), Chris Ekpekurede (Laughing over Serious Issues) and Anote Ajeuluorou (Liberation for Africa) would read excerpts from their works.
Also, in what looks like towing the same footpath, a former editor of the Punch Newspapers, Mr. Dayo Oketola, made news a fortnight ago in Abuja when he invited journalists, former colleagues and stakeholders in publishing industry to the public presentation and reading of his latest book, The Catalyst World Book Tour, to the public.
The book is about the first major narrative of Nigeria’s telecoms journey from a journalist’s perspective, right from inception to date.
While highlighting why he ventured into the project, Oketola said, “This is the beginning of an international journey that would take me across the globe to engage readers and colleagues in order to discuss my experiences in covering the telecoms industry in Nigeria and I believe that I will take the gospel of this book to different parts of the country and the world where I will use the opportunity to preach the gospel of reinventing reading that is gradually on a downward trend.”
Recalling what has come to be known as a revolutionised telecoms industry in the book, he paid glowing tributes to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar for what he called their enduring legacies to the Nigerian people which many have forgotten except people read them up in books.
In what looks like a letter to the former president in the book’s introduction, he said, “Dear Chief Obasanjo, it is not an exaggeration to describe you as a “pre-eminent colossal figure in Nigeria,” a nation that owes so much to you. Indeed, many Nigerians would read about your birthdays on their GSM devices which remain one of your legacies to the Nigerian people.”
According to him, the Nigerian mobile telecommunications is a testament to technology transformative power and pivotal to key industry players, saying that prior to 2001, when mobile telephony revolution started in Nigeria, telecommunications was a mirage due to few and nonfunctional lines operated by the defunct Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).
“Before 2001, Nigeria had only 450,000 telecom lines managed by NITEL and few private licences operating regional networks. Therefore, 2001 marked a turning point with the auction of the first digital mobile licences to GSM operators. This shift attracted over $70 billion worth of investment and created over 500, 000 jobs.”
The author revealed in the book that when MTN, for instance, launched in August 2001, its target was simply 100, 000 subscribers within the first month, but this was surpassed within one week which impressed by this, the company rolled out more lines.
Despite this impressive market turnout, the author said MTN told the Nigerian subscribers that per second billing was simply impossible; and was, therefore, a big challenge for subscribers who were charged 50 naira per minute until Globacom came on and changed the narrative thereby forcing other operators like then ECONET (now Airtel) to join alongside MTN. The coming up of Glo, he said, became the game changer till what it is today.
A section of the book also dealt extensively about NIGCOMSAT which today has siphoned trillions of naira without commensurate income for the country. He said, “The expected e-revolution from NIGCOMSAT has failed Nigerians despite the humongous investment in it.”
In the book, he disclosed that at the same period that GSM revolution started in Nigeria in 2003, there existed CDMAs like Starcoms, Multilinks, Vodafone, etc, contributing their own quota in a GSM-dominated market, but said they could not cope with the spreading phase of GSM operators because of many reasons ranging from lack of finances to match up with GSM operators, their inability to adapt to changing technological innovations that came with GSM (G3, G4 migration etc), that Nigerians simply fell in love with GSM rather than CDMA and the fact that in many countries, the CDMA technology was being phased out.
All of these details, he noted, have been lost on the minds of many Nigerians, but said, “This is the beauty of books; through it, and historical antecedents are preserved and easily retrieved. Books do for a society what the telecoms revolution is currently doing.”
Poor reading culture a societal concern
On his part, an author, Emeka Onyegbule, said the huge decline of reading culture especially among youths in the country calls for concern; therefore tasked the youths to cultivate reading habits in order to improve their focus, memory, empathy and communication skills.
“If you look at how far our education sector has fared, you will know Nigeria needs to do more to revive the sector. For instance, most public schools in the country have no libraries or conducive environment for reading and learning and this must be urgently addressed,” he said.
As a way forward, he called on teachers to help students read fluently, comprehend what they’re reading and train them in phonetics, spelling, grammar and vocabulary memorisation, among others while also urging parents to encourage their children to read more and also check their activities on social media.
“Teachers and parents should encourage their children to read more. We understand this era of internet devices which children get distracted with, but we should find a way to regulate their usage of these devices so that it doesn’t affect their reading culture.”
Reasons for decline
An analyst, Tayo Ogunbiyi of the Lagos State Ministry of Information, agrees that there is indeed a sharp decline in reading culture in the country while the publishing sector in the country is almost nonexistent. For him, the reasons for the decline are not far- fetched.
He said, “Reading is a tasking exercise that involves full concentration and present day youth are not really willing to embark on such obviously strenuous exercise which they believe wont yield them much money at the end of the day; more so that in our society today, nobody is interested in embarking on any activity that has no corresponding financial gains. Money has become the only language everyone in Nigeria seems to understand now. Even the nation’s animals have also caught this money bug. Remember the mystery snake that swallowed millions?”
Speaking further, he said, “The socio-economic environment in the country is not reading friendly. The daily struggle for economic survival provides little or no time for people, especially those living in the cities to cultivate a good reading habit.
“Also, the decline in the standard of education has seriously affected reading culture in our clime made worse by high cost of books, particularly imported ones.”
Commendations, charges
He, however, applauded the efforts of corporate organisations like GT Bank and NGOs like African Centre for Reading and Development Port Harcourt, City Profs Academy Lagos for providing mobile library services as well as increasing reading awareness in the public schools.
“Others need to come on board too. Spirited individuals can donate books to schools and public libraries. The media and other critical stakeholders are equally vital to this course. Institutionalisation of scholarship schemes, building and furnishing of more libraries by all tiers of governments is also vital.”
