By Japhet Alakam

For many that graced the 4th edition of authors’ forum, a gathering of authors and major stakeholders in the book industry organised by the foremost publishers, University Press Plc at Ibadan penultimate week and those who had graced the  previous editions, one major issue that was observed was the concerted effort by the company to use the resources at their disposal to address some of the problems in the educational sector.

This they have demonstrated by inviting seasoned scholars to deliver papers on issues bothering on the way forward for the educational sector in Nigeria. And as expected, the Authors’ Forum has gradually become a meeting point where ideas about the future of the book, reading, education, the place of language in education, roles by segments of society are freely discussed both by laymen and scholars alike. And in all, there has been a harvest of ideas, though they have all suffered  similar fate like every other good idea in Nigeria which is the lack of political will to translate the ideas into concrete action.

At the forum last year, a literary scholar and poet, Professor Niyi Osundare in his well researched paper titled  Homage to the Book urged Mr President to provide a conducive environment that will enable the book to stay before bringing back the book  and this year, another great scholar who has been in the saddles of most top education committees, Prof. Peter Okebukola in his paper titled Long Live the author  came up with his own blue print on  how to revive the fading reading culture in the country.

Prof. Okebukola who was the former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission,  in his paper observed that the generation of quality authors is fading and there is some urgency in implementing a restoration agenda  identified ten keys problems or red pills that hinder the emergence of quality authors and also proffered some recommendations or what he called the blue pills for ensuring that successor generation of authors do not diminish from the eminence of the globally famous stock of Nigerian authors.

The number one blue pill is the adoption of St Malachy’s model of promoting reading culture among secondary school students as practiced at his alma mater, St. Malachy College, Sapele, now in Delta State, where every two weeks, all students were expected to read a book of any type obtained from the school library or elsewhere and present a summary to the class.  According to him, “since University Press Plc is desirous of nurturing potential authors, they should select two schools in Oyo State and in States where UP Plc regional offices are located as a target for its implementation.”

He also suggested the establishment of authors academy like the football academy all over the country which will provide opportunities for budding authors to acquire basic techniques in writing books.

Another blue pill is the reformation of teacher education so that teachers will be trained in a way that will strengthen their content knowledge in their teaching subjects.

Other measures he suggested include: the setting up of a TV channel like DSTV channel 319(learn) to entice secondary school students away from Channel 0, MTV, E and others that do not have much educational value, the introduction of e- books to students whereby they load their smart phones with books instead of music, Bible or Koran and train the teachers to use e- books for class assignments and the introduction of a compulsory course on reading skills in the curriculum of higher education in Nigeria.

Prof. Peter Okebukola using his position as an administrator pointed reasons why quality authors are dying and identified the red pills or indicators of deficiencies in the attributes of potential authors at the tertiary education level. Some of them include, the sharp practices which the Vice chancellors, professors and aspiring professors indulge in while seeking for promotion for example  the publication of what he described as roadside journals that does not meet the data base. The incidence of self published books where lecturers  churn out books that do not meet the standard only to be sold to students offering their courses as a passport for pass.

He also identified the case of students who lack both creativity and investigative spirit to read and carry out project research but resort to Googling and copying  wikipedia and other materials for their long essay thereby blunting independent study thereby killing the potential author.

Other are lack of creativity and the investigative spirit to read by students, the poor environment where they learn, the poor reading culture of the students who prefer music/entertainment and the poor remuneration of the teachers etc.

After the most painstaking exposition of the issues, there was a general consensus that the  problems are not new but the solution is what is lacking.

Prof Niyi Osundare pointed out that from what is happening in the country today, the purpose of going to school is defeated, he then charged  government to set up the mega structure right so that Nigerians can get there. On his part, Prof. Chukwuemeka Ike said that “despite all these mess, we must continue to publish quality books” and charged UP Plc to go extra mile to make sure that despite the problems, they keep on publishing quality books. Samuel Kolawole, the managing director of UP Plc promised to look into the recommendations and take appropriate steps to make their own contributions in improving the life of the authors.

Earlier in his address, the chairman of the occasion and chairman of UP Plc, Laleka Are welcomed all to the forum which he described as an annual event to reflect on the company, authors and nation building. “It has always been a way to celebrate ourselves, to appreciate our efforts and commitment to University Press Plc in its drive as the nation’s foremost publishers.” He added.

Present at the forum were: Profs. Chukuemeka Ike, Ayo Banjo (emeritus professor), Akinwumi Isola, Niyi Osundare, Akachi Ezeigbo, Remi Raji, Bayo Lawal; Adebayo Faleti , Tony Marinho and a host of others.