Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has expressed concern over what he described as poor reading culture amongst Nigerian youths, calling on stakeholders to ensure revival of the culture in the country.
Obasanjo, who was the guest author at the monthly Reading and Writers’ Dialogue of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Abuja Chapter, spoke on the theme ‘The Role of Writers in Nation Building.’ The event was held at the Chinua Achebe International Conference Centre, Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village, located at the foothills of Mpape, Abuja.
The former president, a soldier, writer, and statesman, emphasised at the event that nation-building is the task of all, adding, “Writers have a role to play, politicians have a role to play, teachers have a role to play, farmers have a role to play, and readers also have a role to play because if you have writers without readers then it is not complete.”
He insisted that it was, however, unfortunate in Nigeria that young people no longer give themselves to rigorous reading partly because of the internet and social media.
Obasanjo, who took a historic look into when writing began, asserted that human civilisation took a turn higher with the discovery of writing because there has to be records, information, and references for the government or society to thrive.
He underscored the role of writers, stressing that writers enable people to know “where you are coming from, where you are, and then adequately plan for where you are going.”
He explained that politicians, religious leaders, teachers and many others are involved in this process, but it is the writers that document their activities.
“The role of the writers in nation-building is therefore a role that has no substitute. There are a lot of things we have to pay attention to, particularly in this age of Internet and social media, and this is how to make our children become readers.
“There is a lot of information on the social media, but it does not amount to reading. Yes, you get information, but reading it is what makes a perfect human being,” Obasanjo stated.
cREDIT: Tribune
