The Rivers State government and multinational oil giant, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria (TEPNG) have decried the dearth of reading culture in schools across the state and the nation in general.
The Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja and the Deputy Managing Director, Port Harcourt District, TEPNG, Mr. Francois Le-Cocq, expressed the displeasure while speaking separately at the 2018 Book Reading and Open Day for Secondary Schools in Port Harcourt.
Gogo-Jaja attributed the dearth of reading culture in schools to the advent of technology, including television and internet, warning that refusal to read may lead to a lot of difficulties in future.
He said: “Our children, irrespective of your challenges and difficulties, I believe that you have a solution somewhere. When you close your books, you age early. If you don’t read in a day, it will take you more than six months to recover what you missed.”
In his opening speech, TEPNG Deputy Managing Director, Le-Cocq, advised students, especially those in the secondary schools not to limit their reading to only prescribed text books, but develop the habit of reading novels, fictional and nonfictional books as well as newspapers, popular magazines and comic books.
The Deputy Managing Director, who was represented by the Deputy General Manager, Public Affairs and Communication, Mr. Onyekachi Omenuko, said someone with more information is more prepared to face life.
He said: “By reading in this context, we are not talking only about your prescribed text books in school, but to actually develop the habit of reading a wide variety of books, like novels, fictional and nonfictional books, newspapers, popular magazines and comic books.
“There is never too much information and the more information you have, the better prepared you will be to face life.
“You already know that every information, on any subject you are taught in class is written inside a book. Similarly, all the things you need to know to become a professional like doctor, lawyer, engineer, scientist, journalist, Nollywood actor or actress of even lyrics of music by popular music.”
