Nigeria needs to promote reading culture – Ofeimun

Odia Ofeimun

Odia Ofeimun

Odia Ofeimun

Renowned poet, Odia Ofeimun, has admonished that efforts should be made to improve education system toward promotion of reading culture among Nigerians.

In an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ofeimun said conscious efforts must be deployed at the home and school levels to achieve this.

“We do need a society in which things work; if you enter most families the two parents may be very well educated, but you won’t see a book and in houses where you do not see books, you are under educating the children before they have even started out.

“So let’s say that if you want to improve book culture, start by improving the educational system. And I have seen some very up market private schools trying to do a lot to improve book culture.

“Anytime I see them doing it, I want to find out what they teach them in the English classes. I don’t want to make a comment because some of the schools are good.’’

The poet said that another way to improve reading culture was through the creation of enabling environment to nurture the habit.

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“If you really want to save book culture in Nigeria, begin by remembering that when people buy books they have to read them somewhere.

“Do you know any city with a transport system in this country where you can enter a bus and sit down and read a book?

“It begins from there because if you can’t read in fairly commodious environment, you are not likely to want to buy a book and hold it.

“If you are in London and enter the tube, the first thing that will hit you if you are a Nigerian is that most of the people sitting down are reading.

“If you enter the tube and you meet Nigerians that are reading, they are reading Bibles and things of that nature”. He lamented.

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