Former lawmaker, who represented Kaduna Central, Senator Shehu Sani, has lamented the growing decline of the reading culture in Nigeria, saying this trend is a key factor that is dragging the nation backwards and causing the country to trail her counterparts in the community of nations.
Senator Sani stated this on Tuesday after he received an award at the flag-off ceremony of the 2023 Readership Promotion Campaign (RPC) put together by the National Library in conjunction with the Ministry of Education.
The former legislator asserted that the devaluation of reading in Nigeria has been further heightened by the fact that even the elites no longer read, adding that this becomes more evident in the choices they make while in positions of authority.
“The elites particularly the politicians, many of them launch books that they have never read,” Senator Sani said.
Senator Sani was one of those who was awarded at the event in recognition of his Indelible contributions to the pursuit of knowledge.
He added that these politicians pay professors to write a book for them, but when they are asked about the content it becomes clear they played no part in the production of such books that bear their names.
Senator Sani opined that this deficit in knowledge acquisition over the years can be fully ascertained if one carefully compares members of the Nigerian Parliament in the sixties, to those we have at the National Assembly in recent years.
He stressed that this is a habit that the younger generation must not copy, even as he charged the youths to distinguish themselves by knowing more than those before them, by creating a reading culture that transforms the mind.
“It is by reading books that you can add an intellectual weight to yourself,” the former legislator stressed.
While noting that he understands the distractions of social media these days, Senator Sani, however, pointed out that even for one to engage meaningfully on the various new media platforms, a great level of reading must take place.
He urged the young ones to begin early to cultivate a reading culture, adding that this will help them speak from a highly informed position, thereby, setting them apart from other members of their generation.
Sani, who in his time as lawmaker donated books to various libraries across the country, asked the youths to look up to leading lights like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Adiche, Cyprian Ekwensi, and Ola Rotimi who through their works and accomplishments have put Nigeria and indeed Africa on the world map, telling a new and positive story about not just their country but the continent at large.
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