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From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
There is declining reading culture, prompting global concern. The situation is fuelled by digital distractions, fast-paced lifestyles, poverty limiting book access, and educational systems prioritising rote learning over engagement. This has impacted adversely on critical thinking, vocabulary and empathy.
In a bid to arrest the ugly trend, a non-governmental organization, Anayo and Mercy Foundation (AMF), has in recent years encouraged home reading habits, improved library resources and supported other initiatives that promote literacy in Okposi, a foremost clan in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
In the twilight of this year, the AMF held the fourth edition of the annual academic programme, tagged: “Okposi Reads 2025.” The grand finale at the Federal Government College, Okposi, provided yet another opportunity for the foundation to reaffirm its resolve to resuscitate the dwindling reading culture plaguing the nation.
Founder of Fanev Readers Club and facilitator of the programme, Mr. Nwachukwu Eze Aja, said the event had restored the reading habits of the participants, as the children could easily engage themselves in reading without waiting to be reminded by someone else.
“The academic activity has impacted massively in the area as evidently seen in the children that can now read between three to four hours with full concentration, all these are aimed at reviving the reading habit in all the schools within Okposi clan,” he said.
Daily Sun gathered that the programme, consisting of reading challenge, quiz and spelling competition, saw 21 individuals rewarded with cash prizes.
Over 300 students across 13 junior secondary schools and 12 senior secondary schools in Okposi who participated in the event were involved in reading of literature and other secular books like “Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens,” by Robert Kiyosaki, and “Battlefield of the Mind for Teens,” by Joyce Meyer, among others. The essence was to train the children in financial literacy and other abstract knowledge capable of making them self-dependent in future.
Nwachukwu said that the organisers would not relent until the reading habit was optimally revived against the enormous distraction emanating from social media and peer groups.
He applauded the participants and his team for this year’s successful outing.
One of the teachers, Mr. Desmond Eluu, from Holy Rosary College, Okposi, said the event had prepared the children in such a way that they could no longer fidget during reading competitions and other related exercise, mostly as it equally reflected in their various academic activities.
Eluu said: “Before now, my school had won both the best student’s award and the best school’s award, this is why I am advising that the children should always read, even when there are no teachers in their classrooms.”
Another teacher, Mrs. Bethel Nwakaego Eze, said the event had taken away stage fright from the students as they could read confidently while facing the crowd and thereby applauded the organizers for the encouragement in the education sector.
The traditional ruler of Okposi Okwu Autonomous Community, Onyiba Chuku Agwu (Odenigbo I of Okposi Okwu), and his Mgbom N’Achara Autonomous Community counterpart, Eze Chukwuka Okorie (Namoke III), respectively, described the gesture as most impactful. They extolled the Anayo and Mercy Foundation and others involved in the programme.
They advised the participants to always prioritize their studies by utilizing the knowledge they acquired during the three-day programme in their daily lives. They also urged them to be omnivorous readers.
The monarchs frowned at the dying reading culture in the clan before the advent of the AMF and Fanev Readers Club-promoted event, appealing that the gesture should not be taken for granted.
“The event has helped to bring out the children from the doldrums of backwardness because, before now, the societal ill had hampered educational progress in our clan but, with this strategy, education is being revived in Okposi,” they said.
The monarchs charged other public-spirited individuals and organizations to toe the path of AMF, while the students should embrace the opportunity wholesomely.
Two students, Miss Mitchell Eze and Master Emmanuel Akam, said the initiative had reawakened their reading habits and thanked the organisers for imparting knowledge to them for their future use.
A highpoint of the event was the distribution of books to all attendees.
