… as Obiano makes case for Igbo literature
Raymond Ozoji, Awka
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has observed that the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and a host of others have challenged reading culture among students as they are more engrossed in the aforestated social media platforms lavishing material time.
The governor made the observation at an education summit held at Emmaus house event center Awka while urging students to improve on their reading culture as well as develop the concept of glossary to enhance spoken english.
Obiano who told the students that he was the president of the literary and debating society at Christ The King College Onitsha, stressed the need for Ndi-Anambra and students in particular to travel round the globe through voracious reading as it was the fastest way to develop their rapporteur of english vocabulary.
The governor told students who listened with avid attentiveness that laziness was not their portion as Anambra state has always taken the lead in education-related endeavours especially with the recent feat the state achieved in technovation beating the United States of America, China and other countries to win the first price at San Francisco USA.
He urged the students to bear in mind that there was no short-cut to success and that they must always burn the midnight candle to attain greater heights In life while encouraging them also to read, as reading according to him, was an art cultivated from tender age.
Governor Obiano also stressed the importance of schools in Anambra state to have debating societies among them; urging the commissioner for Basic Education Prof. Kate Azuka Omenugha to ensure that schools compete with each other through debates and other extra-curricular activities to enhance cognitive development.
The governor equally harped on the revival of Igbo reading culture. He recalled that during his time he was not privileged to read Igbo literature but emphasized that it’s pertinent to read books written in Igbo language and literature to inculcate the norms and mores in school children as some people cannot read nor speak Igbo language fluently purely because they didn’t grow up with it.