The Rivers State Government, has thrown its weight behind the bid to host the 2014 World Book Capital City.

The Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi promised to assist the Rainbow Book Club to win the bid to host the event.

The Governor, represented by the Commissioner for Education, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi, who gave the assurance in Port Harcourt, Friday, stated that the bid is a testimony of the rapid transformation in the education sector of the state.

Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi, said that education is free and compulsory in the state revealing that the Governor Amaechi-led administration has made available free books for every Rivers pupil, which have improved the reading habit of the youths.

Also supporting the bid, the Special Assistant to the President on Documentation representing the “Bring Back The Book” campaigns, Ms. Molara Woods, said the federal government is pleased with the bid.

According to Woods, education is one of the cardinal points of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda.

In her words! “The designation of Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital City would strengthen ongoing efforts towards reviving of our reading culture”.

Speaking at the event, the founder of Rainbow Book Club, Ms. Koko Kalango said that Port Harcourt has joined ten other cities around the world in the bidding of the 2014 World Book Capital City (WBCC).

Ms Kalango expressed optimism that Port Harcourt would become the first city in sub-Saharan Africa to host the event.

She said that the programme would build on the legacy of its literary history and culture to expand its role and influence by attracting stakeholders in the publishing industry from across the continent to promote books and reading, meeting pressing development needs in Africa, in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goal.

According to her, World Book Capital City (WBCC) is a title bestowed by UNESCO to a city in recognition of the quality of its programmes to promote books and reading and the dedication of all players in the books industry, emphasising that Port Harcourt bid coincides with the centenary celebration of Nigeria.

The founder of the Rainbow Book Club, maintained that Port Harcourt is joining the bid because of the numerous literary activities it organizes annually which includes the garden City literary Festival and the Garden city Book Fair.

She noted that the city has come of age to host the event because of its major role in the general literary stage revealing that the Garden City Festival has been described by Thisday Newspaper as the biggest event of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In her words: “The annual Garden City Literary festival and Garden City Book Fair have attracted the participation of literary persons such as Nigeria’s Pro. Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, J.P. Clerk, Ghana’s Ama Atta Aidoo and best of all, the people of Port Harcourt have embraced literature with an exciting annual calendar of book signings, author readings, literary circles and programmes for young people”.

“The bid proposes a rich variety of events to run through the World Book Capital year, which include scaling and strengthening of existing events in the city as well as launching a strategic activity that would ensure popular reach, accelerate the rate of literary promotion in the city and analyse writers from across the region, country and Africa”, she revealed.

The theme of the bid, she noted, “Books; Window to our World of Possibilities”, capture the simple but powerful concept that the act of reading books provides knowledge and exposure, thereby making the reader to be transported to new world, concept and ideas.

Eunice Choko-Kayode