Recent literary researches reveal that Nigerians hardly have time to read. In essence the reading culture in Nigeria is now at a low ebb. It’s disturbing however, the few Nigerians that reads concentrate more on foreign books than indigenous productions.
Most Nigerians authors of novels, story books , fiction and non-fiction series have decried on different occasions, their woes. They were bitter as way most owners of bookshop and publishes treat them.
It was gathered that most renowned bookshop’s hardly sells books that was writing by indigenous authors. They prefer to stock foreign books.
When contacted by DAILY INDEPENDECE, the general manager of popular bookstore in Lagos island declared that most of the bookshop prefer to store foreign books because of higher demands for them.
The question that borders most Nigerian authors is, while their overseas counterpart are been rewarded with great international honours, why Nigerians are not according them such recognition in their country?
Recently Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, won 2007 orange prize award the literary world’s top award for fiction written by women. The award carries a fixed tag of 30,000. It was reported in publishers weekly, half of a yellow sun, the book that earned her the award was profoundly gripping. According to the reviewer the book is a 'transcendent novel' of many descriptive triumphs most notably
its diction of impact of war brutalities on peasants and intellectuals alike it’s a searing history in fictional form, intensely evocative and immensely absorbing 'Chinua Achebe' father modern African literatures’Balso won the second ever man booker of the international price of 60,000 with his first novel things fall apart published in 1958, when professor Wole Soyinka won the novel price for literature in 1986, the fame confirmed the relevance of Nigerians in the world of classical excellence when Bon Ekri won the 1999 booker price with his work, 'The famished road', and the world celebrate Nigeria as the giant of Africa. It was also gathered that most of the publishers hurriedly produced books and in the process marred their good contents. Most of the books are not properly edited and eventually become substandard when compared with foreign products the extent to which books publishing standard have fallen in Nigeria is alarming.
Often Nigerian publishers have been blamed for this it instructive that none of the books mention have been published in Nigeria.
It was discovered that most of the student in tertiary institutions depends on dictations from their lecturers or handout. A science lecturer in one of the Nigerian universities who had been a victim of handouts sale scandals, told DAILY INDEPENDENCE the reality campus challenges in relation to books: I was forced to dictate note to students who hung in my every word in the absence of text books in a library that had, to all intent and purpose, stop buying new books when the local currency is devalued. But what other alternative do one have?
A suitable title for this passage is _____________
A. Nigerian literary readers B. Nigerian publishers and international awards C. Poor reading culture in Nigeria D. Why Nigerian lecturers sell handouts.
