12th June, 2019
The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), on Wednesday, urged Nigerians to revive the nation’s dwindling reading culture to eliminate illiteracy, keep history afresh and be in tune with developments in the global scene.
Mr Abubakar Daddere, Chairman, Nasarawa State chapter of the body, gave the advice on Wednesday in Lafia.
Daddere, in a paper titled “Why we must develop a strong reading culture in Nasarawa State”, delivered to mark the 26th Anniversary of June 12, urged youths to read more so as to keep history for posterity.
The event was organised by Mr Haliru-Barau Habib, a writer, in collaboration with ANA, Nasarawa State chapter.
According to him, the books a people read determine their overall culture, development and growth.
“The dwindling reading culture in Nasarawa State today is increasingly worrisome; people are more interested in watching television, browsing the web, among other forms of entertainment,” he said.
Mr Daddere called on parents to create workable ideology for their children that would curtail the dwindling reading culture, urging them to build book shelves in their homes and stock same with books instead of home movies, computer videos games, among others.
The ANA chairman appealed to schools to establish reading clubs and also display exciting and attracting books in the libraries’ shelves to stimulate reading interest among students.
In his remarks, Habib said that the occasion was organised to revisit history in order to educate the society about what played out on June 12, 1993.
Barau commended Buhari for signing June 12 into law to be recognised as Democracy day in Nigeria, saying that the move had pacified the family of late MKO Abiola and the entire Yoruba nation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the event featured drama, presentation of short stories and poems by Corps members and secondary schools students.