ABEOKUTA— The Head of the Department of Mass Communication in Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Dr. Kola Adeshina has advocated for improved reading culture as to combat declining literacy and to drive national development.
Dr. Adeshina while speaking with newsmen on Thursday during a book launch titled “My Take” by Comrade Kunle Sodipo held at NUJ Secretariat lamented that social media has negatively affected the intellectual ability of youths.
He noted that many students are now paying more attention to TikTok and Instagram, saying that it has led to a poor learning outcomes
The HOD added Nigerian youths should develop interest in reading, saying that no one can beome a writer without reading
He called for the return of humanities to the center of study, lamenting that Nigeria has forsaken the curriculum of the olden days
The HOD said”The fraction that we have on the on the social media and then AI has now come to make the matter even worse, people have to go back to reading that is why we made it a point of duty to come here today to encourage this young man, you have to read, it’s only by reading that you improve yourself, they used to say the library is the only place in the world where you go and will not come out empty handed, you will always get something out of the book so people should begin to develop reading, we, parents have to begin to develop the attention span of young children today now the attention span has been reduced to TikTok and Instagram people you cannot get kids who can watch television for thirty minutes one hour it’s because we are the world is raising people we are handling everything to the machine.
“For example when were growing up, you know the timetable from two to twelve you if you went to Christian school you will know all the hymns, companion you know most of the songs there and the sounds, that also people who went to Muslim schools they use their brain in doing the work but now the app the machine does it and the way the world is going if you are not very careful we are going to hand over everything to the machine.
” We must bring humanities back into school from primary school, i remember during the Obasanjo ‘s regime when he was the military head of state they introduced a subject, they called it moral instruction at primary school and secondary school but today no more we do all these and everything children need to be to be tutored, to be trained in growing up don’t leave children to grow up on their own. One of the speakers here this today was saying that GenZ are only concerned about result, but you must work and toil before result, that is the problem we have now we lecturers we see those boys in the school in the classrooms, the young boys they are lost, they are talking they are looking for the result everybody they want to see how they can buy the next jeep buy the next lexus they are they don’t like assignments they don’t like attending class”
Sir, what solution is use to use to change their mindset and cultivate the habit of reading?
While speaking on the solution he said ” They will need to know the history, they will know what has gone before so that because there is no way you can remove your yesterday from your today because it is yesterday that you used to interpret today and predict the future the three must go hand in hand yesterday, today, future yesterday you have seen it, you have experienced it, use it to interpret the present and then predict what will happen in the future” he concluded
Meanwhile, the author of the book, Comrade Kolapo Sodipo in his remarks said his reason for the title of his book “My Take” is to identify challenges facing the country was to proffer solutions to them.
He submitted that if the solutions the book is proferring are acceptable it will uplift and improve the current predicament of the country.
Comrade Sodipo informed that he has written over two hundred articles spread across the globe
“You know I have been writing for quite some times, I have written over two hundred articles spread all across the country Africa and the world and at some point I looked at things that the challenges that we have been having in Nigeria I didn’t get to understand them until I left the shores of Nigeria, i went to southern part of Africa then I went to Europe and then my eyes was opened by the fact that to build a country you need citizens that understand that their role in building a country is critical and then I’m now like it that turned like a puzzle.
“It became puzzling to me and I was fighting something and I felt okay you know I was arguing with my thoughts I said okay I should have my own take on all these things that are bothering me and that was where the the title of the book dropped “My Take” so my take on an hospital patient that I considered very sick and I looked at that hospital patient as the country Nigeria my country of course we cannot be pretending as if all is well even though we are very positive about our country there are so many positive areas that we should be proud of but we looked at those areas that we are having challenges and I felt yes it’s not just for me to criticize government or to criticize the people I must also offer solution and in my own opinion and if luckily those solutions that I’m proferring are acceptable definitely it will uplift and improve the current predicament of my country, Nigeria because I want to be a Nigerian that will be respected outside Nigeria and how can you be respected outside Nigeria is when your country is healthy and how can your country be healthy when economically your country is sound when physically looking at the environment your country is serene, do we say serene and when we also look at it socially your country is top notch, you look at financially your country is one of the best that is when you can say your country is doing great”
“Nigeria as a team are we winning that’s the question you look at areas of security you look at areas of economy, you look at so many other areas the question is are we winning I’m gonna put that question in “My Take is very clear I have answered it in that book that is why everybody must get a copy of that book to know my response” he concluded
