OSUNDARE BEMOANS DECLINE IN READING CULTURE

Niyi Osundare, has urged Nigerians to embrace the value of reading as the path to success.

He made this known in Ibadan during the opening of Reading Clinic, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), aimed at promoting reading skills for all ages, an initiative of Reading Awareness Society for Development in Africa (RASDA).

The event, which took place at a serene environment of Bodija Isopako Road, attracted professors, writers, publishers and students.

Among those in attendance were the Vice- Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (U.I.), Prof. Folorunsho Adewole, who was represented by Prof. Charles Adesina of the Department of History, U.I; Owners of Book Sellers Association, Mr. Kola Moshiro and the Vice Chairman of Heinemann Publishers Plc., Mr. Ayo Ojeniyi.

Prof. Osundare, who was the guest speaker on the occasion, noted that declining reading culture in Nigeria was alarming and had caused great setback for the nation in all sectors. His words: 'If you look at Nigeria today, there is no doubt that we are lagging behind in all aspects. During Chief Obafemi Awolowo's regime, we had free education and things were easy. We used to have constant electricity at that time, courtesy of ECN (Electricity Corporation of Nigeria). The government later changed it to NEPA and now PHCN, since then, life has been so unbearable in terms of having light.

'And the reason is not far-fetched, those that are supposed to study physics and have this knowledge had failed to study hard, which could be as a result of bad school teachers.'

He advised parents to expose their wards to reading, which, he said, would sharpen their minds towards greatness to the betterment of the entire nation. The President and Founder of RASDA, Mrs. Bukola Ladoja, in her opening speech, said Nigerians' ingenuity of entrepreneurship and massive development remained incomplete until they embraced a thorough reading culture.

She said the foundation of knowledge was reading and explained that the Reading Clinic was initiated against the background of her commitment to qualitative education founded on genuine thirst for knowledge. She noted that during her encounter with some students, most of them could not read.

'This Reading Clinic is established to rectify the pitfalls that have been affecting the quality of education in the last 10 years, you will weep for Nigeria. And you'll weep for the educational sector. In 2006, we had only 15 per cent that passed the exams of which only few could further their education to university level. From our interactions with them during seminars and workshops, we discovered that most students we are encouraging to cultivate the reading culture could not read. So, what is our essence of encouraging them to read?

'We decided to open this Reading Clinic where we'll be teaching reading skills to students, who have deficiency in reading, from beginners to mature students,' she explained.

The Managing Director of the University Press Plc., Mr. Samuel Kolawole, who chaired the occasion, noted that reading for the enlightened mind went beyond the school programme. He urged parents to serve as good examples to their children. 'Instead of parents buying home videos, you can imbibe the habit of buying books on a monthly basis. The fact that you are not educated doesn't mean your children should not be educated.'

The Reading Clinic, which, according to the founder, would be accessible to all ages, has a wide range of materials, covering all subject areas offered in schools. The collections, which were arranged on the shelves according to the subject content, consists of over 1, 000 books, including dictionaries, journals and past examination papers.

The event witnessed a session of poem recitation on 'Lamentation for change' by Abdulrazaq Ladoja. A scion of the clinic's founder, he stated that change was a constant phenomenon but regretted that there were no people to take over from icons such as Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and renowned novelist, Chinua Achebe.

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