Let’s Bring Back The Reading Culture in Nigeria

Written by:Adeola Eze

 “I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.”

– Roald Dahl

I recall my growing up years, in the primary and secondary school days. I always looked forward to Fridays. You want to know why? Because, on my way home from school every Friday during school term, my mum and I would stop at a book store to pick up a book for the weekend. It was my special treat. I could not imagine a weekend without a new book. It just wouldn’t be a great weekend. And of course, I would finish my book before the weekend was over and would start to yearn for another new book. I read almost all the Pacesetter series, Winners series, Mills & Boon series, James Hadley Chase novels, Perry Mason series, Sydney Sheldon’s books, Enid Blyton’s books, you name them.  I loved reading back then, and I still do.

And trust me, all the reading back then has actually paid off quite well for me. In school then, I was always the top of my class in Literacy which in turn affected all the other subjects positively. I remember, quite a number of times when my teacher would lift up my answer script to the whole class showing them an example of a great writing piece. Just remembering that now makes me blush. Oh no, I forgot, I cannot blush. But you understand how I feel right now. Elated! Also, I remember my feeling of joy when at my graduation ceremony at the end of my University programme, I was awarded the Best Creative Writer of the graduating students of English. And then, a few years down the line, came a national award for English Teacher of the Year with a price gift of a one week all expense paid trip to attend a Leadership workshop in Cambridge, UK. Being a great reader is totally awesome!

Really, loving to read and reading widely has its great rewards. Research has proven that people who read books, fiction or non-fiction, ­poetry or prose for as little as 30 minutes a day over several years do excellently well, better than people who do not read anything at all.

From my own research, I have come up with six interesting facts about reading that I believe you should give a thought to in motivating you to bring back the reading culture in your own home, because believe me when I say this, we lost it somehow, somewhere in this Nigeria a few decades back.           

Let’s explore these interesting facts about reading in finding ways of getting your own child excited about books and working with other parents and educators in building a community of readers who will be future leaders.   It’s amazing what reading does to the brain. You want to know how?

Here’s how…

• Reading boosts the brain power

Children who spend time reading with their parents from a young age of six months several times a week show stronger literacy skills and score higher in tests and examinations.

New research indicates that a large vocabulary may lead to a more resilient mind by fuel­ing what scientists call cognitive reserve. One way to think about this reserve is your brain’s ability to adapt to damage. Just as your blood cells will clot to cover a cut on your knee, cognitive reserve helps your brain cells find new mental pathways around areas damaged by stroke, dementia, and other forms of decay.

• Reading improves our emotional intelligence

Books allow us to hold multiple points of view in our mind at the same time. Someone who reads more is thus more likely to empathize with fellow humans as he/she is able to quickly flow into a third person’s perspective in order to see a situation through a different pair of eyes. Talk about understanding people’s feelings and being more empathetic. Isn’t that the way you want your child to go?

• Reading encourages life goals

When we read about someone who overcame obstacles, we tend to become motivated to pursue our own life goals. The more we become connected to the character and the experiences they went through, the more we become obligated to do same. You want to inspire your child to set goals and work at achieving them? Give them an age-appropriate biography or auto-biography of some legend that resonates with them as this will push them to take their own steps towards actualizing their dream goals.

• Reading brightens your day

Reading a book that has a happy ending irrespective of the situation around you has a way of lifting your spirits high. It can bring back sweet memories of experiences you had in the past. Feeling down? Pick up a story with a great ending and find yourself smiling through your day.

• Reading builds your vocabulary
  Research has proven that we learn 5 to 15 percent of the words we know through reading. People who read expand their mental dictionary and have excellent writing skills as a result of books they have read. This way, we would be helping our children to become confident orators and develop great presentation skills, also equipping them to be better writers.
• Reading keeps you away from stress

Reading relaxes the brain and keeps it engaged, while it disconnects you from this world and takes you into the world of your character and setting. Feeling stressed up? Get a cup of coffee, grab that book you have been meaning to read, get in bed, cuddle up with that book, read away and see how you feel one hour later. Re-invigorated! Refreshed! You can go and take the world now!

Quickly, 10 tips on how to get your child excited about books and reading!

1. Be a role-model. Read yourself.
2. Read together. Have great read aloud sessions with your child regularly.
3. Include reading fun in your daily routine from when your child is a baby so he/she grows up believing it is as important as eating and sleeping, because it is actually.
4. Surround your child with different kinds of books, positive books.
5. Build a colourful book case in your child’s room to hold his/her favourite books.
6. Have a book in your car for your child, every day as your child travels to and from school. You know, one for the road.
7. Gift books as birthday and special festive season’s presents.
8. Have family book meetings, maybe once a month, where everyone talks about the latest books they have read and wonderful things they got from reading the books. Of course, add some really great fun activities to make them want to have another session like that.
9. Have your children join a book club for children that will give them the opportunity to make friends with other book minded children who will impact them positively and also help them learn from other children’s reading experiences.
10. Reward your child for reading regularly and fluently.

Adeola Eze is the Educational Director and Lead Writing Mentor / Facilitator at Jordan Hill. She is the author of The Adventures of Class 3A: Storm in the Forest and One Beautiful, Bright and Sunny Morning… She has over twenty years’ experience in classroom teaching and is the mother to three children, two of which are in the university. She is very passionate about working with children and bringing out the best in them. She believes children have the potential to excel if they are put in an enabling environment which she surmises can only happen with parents and educators taking deliberate steps to provide such.