Lagos – The Young Bookworms Initiative, on Sunday urged Nigerians to partner with government at all levels to address the growing level of illiteracy in the country.
Mr Bolaji Alausa, Director of the Initiative, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the launch of “Boko Halal’’ initiative in Lagos.
According to him, “Boko Halal” aims at building a strong reading culture as a weapon for driving positive social change.
Alausa said that “Boko Halal” which literally means “Education is good’’ is aimed at promoting education and the culture of reading as strategies to combat insurgency and its negative effects in the North-East.
“Boko Halal is a collective of young bookworms driven by the burning desire to fight ignorance with a strong reading culture.
“Inspite of government’s efforts to improve education, many Nigerians have remained illiterate and illiteracy contributes to the rise of insurgency in the North-East.
“Combating ignorance is the business of every Nigerian; many scholars believe that lack of education breeds sinister groups like Boko Haram.
“Government at all levels need to use quality education to address the growing level of illiteracy in the country but government alone cannot do it.
“This is why the Young Bookworms Initiative believes that Nigerians should join forces with the government and other relevant stakeholders to use the message of ‘Boko Halal’ to fight “Boko Haram.’’
Alausa also said that ‘Boko Halal’ was involved in a book drive across Nigeria, where individuals and organisations could donate and drop their used and old books.
He said that the donated books would be given toward the enhancement of education of children in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.
According to him, they will be working with some credible organised units like religious organisations, shopping malls and schools, which will serve as drop-off points for books that have been donated.
“These books will be distributed to the 1,232,816 internally displaced children that are less than 18 years in about 84 IDP camps identified across 13 States in the Northern Nigeria.
“Some of these books will also be donated to the children of the host states where the IDP camps are located.
“It will enhance the reading skills of these children.
“A child who can read and write sufficiently will enjoy better employment prospects, better earning capacity, better access to healthcare and be less likely to be part of insurgents, ‘’ Alausa said. (NAN)