The Nigerian Reading Culture is dead?

I remembered the high school days, with our thin legs in shorts and white socks. Days we idolized writers like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Buchi Emecheta, Cyprian Ekwensi, Ayi kwei Arma, Ola Rotimi and vast arrays of writers who left us wondering where they got their muse. The incredible grammatical constructions, the apt sense of telling a story and obviously, coy sense of humour enveloped their books.

I remembered reading Joys of Motherhood countless times, Arrow of God, Lion and the Jewel, Beautiful ones are not yet born, the gods are not crazy. This narrative is not to say other writers were not at par, the above mentioned were my favourites and many more.

As students, we rushed to read the books. It was like rushing to lick a honey, one might not really get the intended sweetness so to say. Those times were filled with interesting essay writing competitions, borrowing library books and not returning it (I was guilty). Books were worlds, we lived and dined in it.

I can't say such for this times we are now. The reading culture is now doused in long TV watching hours, social media platforms of all sorts. The age where things are so fast, no one takes time to even read a narrative of less than 300 words. People skim and rush to the end or wait to see a catchy phrase in the treatise. Then, you hear I have read the book. Silly, if you ask me.

We need reading groups, leadership groups. The whole sense of prospering intellects over fame and money must be reestablished. The human genome over years thrived on knowledge passed down generations. It's indeed sad that we have prized wealth over the real ingredient for human survival which is information.

We need to bring back the old reading culture in Nigeria. It will help develop the mind of the younger generation and build them into instruments for national reconstruction. It's not farfetched why Education is retrogressive, academic achievements reduced to naught in the eyes of the society. I hope we don't get it right before it's too late. 

Find time;

Read books

Read Biographies

Read Political views.

God bless Nigeria.

What do you think??