By Felix Igbekoyi – Asaba
Nigerians have been called upon to revive the ailing reading culture among children.
Mr. Anthony Obuh, Permanent Secretary, Government House and Protocol, gave the advice in Asaba during the unveiling and presentation of a book titled, “A Thing Never Seen Before.” He said that the reading culture among children has depreciated, stressing that there was the need for all Nigerians especially parents to join in the effort to revive the reading culture.
He said, “The ‘Bring Back the Book’ initiative of the Ave Maria Books is a step in the right direction as it will bring back the reading culture among children in the country”, commending the author of the book, Teresa Mary Ozowa, for the initiative stating that the book would not only engage children but it has a lot of moral lessons which would help them grow in their everyday life.
“The unveiling of this book is for the benefit of our children and for the growth of the society. It will revive the folklore genre where stories with morals and mores of the society are told to children so as to guide them through life”, Obuh stressed.
The book reviewer, Mr. Ubaka, explained that the book, “A Thing Never Seen Before” is a children’s literature which portrayed the theme that individuals cannot run away from their responsibilities especially socio-cultural responsibilities to the community.
He said that the book actually brings back folktale and reading culture to children and has all the elements of a short story.
The author of the book, Ozowa, noted that the initiative of publishing children books was to revive the reading culture of our people especially the younger ones and key into the state government education campaign tagged, “Bring Back The Book”.