Ibadan Book Club partners Adwinsa Publications (GH) Ltd to Promote Reading Culture in Nigeria

 

IBADAN BOOK CLUB PARTNERS ADWINSA PUBLICATIONS (GH) LTD TO PROMOTE READING CULTURE IN NIGERIA

 

In a bid to improve learning and reading culture in Nigeria, Ibadan Book Club has officially partnered with a Ghana based publishing firm, Adwinsa Publications (Gh) Ltd, to promote dwindling reading culture in Nigeria and to launch a new reading programme tagged “READ NIGERIA PROJECT”.

 

This was contained in a statement jointly signed by Ibadan Book Club’s Coordinator and Secretary, Odunyemi Ayobami and Hassanat Ayoade in Ibadan on Saturday.

 

Read Nigeria Project is a statewide chain of events administered by Adwinsa Publications (Gh) Ltd and Ibadan Book Club. It is a project devoted for readers and lovers of books across Nigeria to celebrate and honour some selected important personalities who have contributed meaningfully to the learning and reading culture of the country.

 

The project also hopes to promote book reading through different events like book bee, quiz contests and other mediums across the country irrespective of tribe, color, sect, age, religion and gender.

 

According to the release, “Nigeria has been rated by the World Culture Score Index as one of the countries in the world with the lowest reading culture, while available statistics from National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education shows that 38 per cent of Nigerians are non-literate as four in ten primary school children cannot read for comprehension. Regrettably, this adverse development is an ominous challenge the country seems not to be paying needed attention to.”

 

“There is generally a poor reading culture in the country. The rich literacy history the country is famous for is gradually being eroded. Once upon a time, the country paraded the best set of authors and publishers in Africa. Then, reading was an innate affection for both young and old. This reading inclination reflected so much on the quality of leadership and civil discipline that brought pride to Nigerians anywhere in the world.”

 

“In Nigeria, reading culture has suffered from widespread poverty, ineptitude and a dearth of dedicated quiet reading spaces like libraries. The decline in the standard of education has seriously affected reading ability. And it becomes harder when you have to deal with the many distractions and challenges that come with being an adult and living in a country like Nigeria.”

 

“Perhaps, our socio-economic environment is not reading friendly. The daily struggle for economic survival provides little or no time for people to cultivate a good reading habit. 

Equally, the high cost of books, particularly imported ones, has contributed to low readership promotion in the country.”

 

Adwinsa Publications is the leading and one of the most reputable indigenous book-publishing houses in Ghana. Adwinsa dominates the market, particularly in the areas of Ghanaian literature (supplementary readers) and textbooks for Ghanaian Schools.

Adwinsa Publications was established in March of 1977 in Madina, a suberb of Accra, the capital of Ghana in West Africa. The young business at the time began in the CEO’s house. During the late 1980’s Adwinsa went from a small location to Accra Newtown, also in the Capital City. During this time we also embraced “desktop publishing” (which was also an industry in its infancy) as well as commercial offset printing. From the year 2000 to 2014, we have added multiple high speed printing machines that propelled us into a new level of high-quality offset printing. We also built and expanded our services by putting up an office complex in Agbobga in Accra, Ghana.

The publishing firm is considered experts in Junior and Senior High school syllabus based text books in Ghana. The firm focuses on books for the Basic, secondary and tertiary institutions that have been largely acknowledged locally by students, parents, governments and the international community. As a family-owned company, one of Adwinsa Publications’ strengths is its focus on the family and its desire to see families succeed in education, especially in the long term development of every child in the family.

Ibadan Book Club is an initiative of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (SYNW). It was founded in 2011 by SYNW in order to contribute its own quota to the growth and development of Reading Culture in Oyo State.

The Ibadan Book Club consists of a group of people who meet periodically to discuss the book they have read and exchange those books. Club members encourage each other and learn to read with a critical mind, articulating their opinions about a particular book with others. Certain types of books not available or read receive attention through the book club.

The Club is known for historical reading activities like Ibadan Book Award, Ibadan Book Party, Ibadan Creative Writing Workshop etc.

Some of the publications published by the Club are: Olubadan Centennial Anthology: a collection of essays, articles, poems and works of art in honor of Oba (Dr.) Samuel Odulana, Odugade 1, Voices from Oja Oba Market and Finally, Senator Abiola Ajimobi: Memories, Dreams, Reflections of a Mind Always in Motion.