It is no big surprise why most young Nigerian students’ interests fade when asked to read books aside from those proposed by the school authorities. The inability of most students to read avidly for hours is one problem that needs to be tackled before it escalates. This negligence of students is also due to the fact that schools don’t provide a particular reading period wherein students would be opportune to read books outside the school syllabus. According to the Oxford dictionary, education is the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.

By and large, education includes learning and receiving basic knowledge to aid survival. This being said, learning thus goes beyond the normal school syllabus offered to students but more. I was startled when I bumped into a junior student who, in response to my question of if she could read two life-changing novels on a particular day, had retorted with a striking ‘’No, that’s impossible nau’’. After some minutes of basking in astonishment with a mixture of surprise and pity for a poor young child, I encouraged her to give it a try, to which she nodded in affirmation. 

As reported by the World Culture Score Index, Nigeria is ranked as one of the countries in the world with the lowest reading culture, while statistics from the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education show that 38% of Nigerians are non-literates as four in ten primary school children cannot read for comprehension.

Obviously, Nigeria is on the brink of facing a drastic and destabilizing change in the education system. However, as it is popularly said, There is no harm in trying. There is no doubt that if an effective reading culture is introduced into the education system, diverse advancements would be reported, including students’ active participation in international competitions and more. There is another notable importance of an effective reading culture, which includes the enablement of students to increase their mental horizon. Students would definitely be able to learn about current happenings in the country and the world; they would also be able to learn basic entrepreneurial skills.

Also, students would be able to aptly apply information and knowledge learnt to solve basic life challenges that would prepare them for life after school. Simultaneously, it would help to create a positive change on student’s academic growth. To justify the above stated theme, Nicky Verd stated that ‘’you are yet to catch up with the real world if you have never studied any concepts outside the school syllabus or read any books besides the textbooks school forces you to read. Most people are programmed, not educated.’’

Conclusively, the importance of adopting an effective reading culture system wouldn’t do any harm but good to students as the benefits coupled with it cannot be over-emphasized.