Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital will in April hand over to South Korea as the next host of the UNESCO World Book Capital.
The Project Director/Founder of the Rainbow Book Club, Mrs Koko Kalango, who disclosed this during the January Book of the Month, “Say you’re one of them” by Uwem Akpan, also urged Nigerians to cultivate the habit of reading.
Kalango said that the book of the month programme was part of the effort of the present administration to improve the reading habit of Rivers people, stressing that the effort has led to the creation of over 200 book clubs in 100 schools across Rivers State.
According to her, Rainbow Book Club was working hard to change the poor reading culture among the people.
“Although this problem is not peculiar to Nigeria, but all over the world. ‘the invention of modern gadgets have withdrawn the importance attached to reading of books in our development”, she said.
According to her, “Say you’re one of them”, by Uwem Akpan was about the challenges being faced across the African continent, especially in the area of child abuse, stating that,”The book takes us from Nigeria, Kenya and three other nations, touching issues like genocide, child trafficking and religious tensions”.
Also speaking, Author of the book, Uwem Akpan advised parents to spend time with their children with a view to checking their activities.
“Parents should checkmate the activities of their children, especially what they do on internet. Children with electronic devices that have access to internet are more prone to distractions, which will reflect poorly on their academic performances”.
He also called on the government to control the manner in which schools are structured, especially private schools, as children need space to exercise themselves to enhance their mental focus.
On her part, Director of the Institute of Arts and Culture, University of Port Harcourt, Mrs Julie Okoh, urged policy makers in the country to get copies of the book to put them in proper perspective when taking decisions.