According to the World Culture Score Index, Nigeria is one of the nations with the lowest reading cultures, and according to data from the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education, 38 percent of Nigerians are illiterate, with four out of ten primary school students struggling to read comprehensively. Unfortunately, this unfavorable trend is a grave problem that the nation doesn’t appear to be paying enough attention to. Keep in mind that reading is the only way to learn, and yet reading is not widely valued in the nation. The nation’s illustrious heritage of literacy is being slowly undermined. The nation once had the best collection of African authors and publishers. Reading was instinctive back then, young and old shared an intrinsic love of reading. This reading preference revealed a lot about the kind of civility and leadership that made Nigerians proud around the globe.
Nigeria’s reading culture has been hampered by the country’s pervasive poverty, corruption, incompetence, and lack of calm reading areas like libraries. The deterioration in educational quality has had a significant impact on reading ability. And it gets even more difficult when you have to deal with all the difficulties and distractions that come with being an adult in a place like Nigeria. Perhaps the socioeconomic climate in which we live discourages reading. People have little to no time to develop solid reading habits because of the daily struggle for survival in the world of work. Likewise, the high price of books, particularly imported ones, has contributed to low readership promotion in the country.
The emergence of social media has also influenced the reading culture of Nigerians. With its emergence youths are now able to obtain knowledge about topics impacting them in their environment, which has aided in terms of communication and amusement. However, it appears that all of this has had a detrimental effect because no one is ever born a reader; instead, everyone develops a passion for literature over time. As we become older, we establish the habit of reading. Once we start to associate reading with enjoyment, the habit follows us into adulthood.
Social media itself is not a terrible thing; the issue now is how individuals utilize it. Most people merely use it for enjoyment; they don’t want to read books, novels, or newspapers online; instead, they just want to watch videos, chat with others, and interact. To foster a love of reading in children, it is crucial to start teaching them about its value at a young age.