By David Onimisi Lawani
To deepen and strengthen reading culture among youth in the country, Mrs. Abdulazeez Mistura
Head, National Library of Nigeria, FCT branch has stated that great nations attain huge heights due to the effective reading values of their citizens.
Abdulazeez made this remark during a National Readership Promotion Campaign with the theme: ” Building a nation of readers: share your story”, to promote and rekindle the urge and passion among the youth, students, and the general public for reading held at the FCT branch of
She said the Library now has partnerships with private bodies for the supply of good reading materials as part of efforts to encourage those who are willing to read to acquire knowledge and new ideas for innovation.
According to her: ” The current administration has been more receptive to new ideas and innovation. We now have a solid partnership arrangement with private initiatives. The partnership with Coderina Education and Technology Foundation and the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA are typical examples.
” FCT library is now more responsive to the needs of our patrons. We have a fractional and interactive website with a view to reducing human traffic in this era of Covid-19 and still provide our traditional services irrespective of distance and time.
” Presently, there is ongoing digital training for children organized by the FCT library in partnership with others. During this holiday, we are starting classes for children and young adults in four languages; Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and Gbagyi, to make our children globally competitive.
She however advised parents to make their children available for this opportunity noting that children in rural areas within the FCT are mostly affected because the library is far from them. She said the library will continue to reach out to those who are far.
” Giving us books to give book clubs. Out of school children and children in the rural areas, where we believe we can do outreach service. We can do the outreach like taking the library to them. Most of the children here are from rural communities.
” You will realize that the library is far away from them. And that is the essence of the national library having branches in all the states of the federation. As parents, we implore you to avail our children of this opportunity. The greatest asset of any nation is the human capacity of its population which can be enhanced when they are well-informed. They can only be informed when they are well-read”, she said.
Also, the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, FCT chapter, Taiwo Akerele in his contribution spoke on the importance of reading and writing from an early age.
He said what he is today is a result of his early quest and determination for knowledge which has taken him far beyond his expectations in life. He said the government must continue to invest in artificial intelligence and research to boost the local capacity of the children.
” I am from far away from Edo state. For many years, the luck we had in the local government was that we had a library in the town. We were very few that usually patronize the library. And you can see for many years, a lot of people have always run away from the library. Because in it, you are not allowed to make any noise. It is a very serious environment where concentration is the hallmark. About 10 of us selected ourselves to be going to the library at the age of 10.
” Over the years, when we got to the stage of writing our Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE, which we passed, we realized that we were the first sets that gained admission into the university to study different courses. I was admitted into the University of Benin. Some of my friends went to the University of Ibadan.
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” The library gave us some sense of dedication and discipline. So when I see where libraries are, I always asked myself that hope these children and parents understand the importance of this library that is close to their neighborhood. Because it can build you for the future”, he said.
He however called on the government to invest in artificial intelligence, research and development, e-library and knowledge management initiatives, and the use of diaspora resources to build local capacity of the children for national development.
The event had a donation of books to correctional centers, and engagement in radio talks and read-aloud for school children with round table discussions all in an effort towards making Nigeria a reading nation.
