Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Federal Government has launched the 2018 nationwide readership promotion campaign meant to reawaken the reading culture of Nigerians.
The objective of the campaign which will be implemented by the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) will expose Nigerians to the benefits of reading and learning to human development.
Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who flagged off the campaign in Abuja, said the exercise became necessary following the obvious decline in reading culture among Nigerians.
The minister who spoke through the Director, Education Support Services, Mrs. Justina Ibeh, said the entrance of modern technology has become a big threat to reading among younger generation.
She added: “It has also affected the behaviour of individuals to reading negatively. Students now prefer to goggle and download stuffs on the internet without synthesizing, instead of reading to solve a given task,” he said.
In his remarks, the National Librarian, Prof. Lenrie Aina, explained that 2018 exercise would focus more on women especially housewives, pregnant and nursing mothers as against last year’s that focused on school children.
Aina was hopeful that the campaign will not only promote reading beyond sheer utilization and exam purposes, but encourage parents to read books to their babies from the womb.
He added: “We have designed this year’s campaign to sustain the awareness created by previous campaign through improved and continued advocacy and encourage lifestyle of reading.”
He said that the support of the management of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) has also been secured. “Their presence across Nigeria would be helpful in our plan to establish reading clubs in their places of assignment or strengthening the existing ones.”
He was optimistic that the campaign which will take place across the 36 states will achieve more positive result than what was achieved last year.