The National Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Prof. Chinwe Anunobi, has lamented the poor reading culture among Nigerians, especially the youth.
She said it was responsible for the high rate of examination malpractice in schools and public examinations.
Speaking while handing over a new National Library office project site to the contractor, Cagewox Nigeria Limited in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the National Librarian said the poor reading culture was an issue of value system in the country.
In a statement by the Head, Public Relations of NLN, Vershima Orvell-Dio, Anunobi said: “I want to emphasise that this is an issue of the value system. We cannot only blame the youth, we also blame the parents and the society because if the society changes its habit: focusing value on knowledge which is hidden in written documents either in paper or electronic form, the youth will move along that line.
“The only way we can do it is to sensitise schools, the public and the hinterland, the hard-to-reach to read and that is what the National Library is doing.
