Hmm, *stare . . . * - look, listen, learn?

Perhaps, we should just DO SOMETHING. I wish to suggest that every member who desires to get Nigerians to read adopt at least ONE person to encourage. The story of John Wood, a former marketing executive at Microsoft is instructive.
This Wood, simply walked off his lucrative career in search of something more.
He took a backpacking trip through Asia. In a rural Nepalese village, he had a chance encounter with a teacher. While touring the teacher's school, Wood was surprised to learn that their library contained only 30 books - most of which had been donated by travellers passing through the area. Those 30 books were even locked in a cabinet: for fear that they might get damaged!
Wood's belief was that if the school just had access to more books, these children could begin really learning from them and set their futures in motion.
When Wood got to a place that had Internet access, he e-mailed an appeal back home. That singular act brought in 3000 books to that rural school in Nepal.
In 2000, Wood set up an NGO called Room to Read. Its task was simple: build schools and libraries.
If you go to www.roomtoread.org, you will find that till date, that NGO has set up nearly 3,000 libraries in the developing world. It projects that by the end of 2006, 4000 libraries would have been set up.
In August, Wood released his memoir, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. (I should be looking out to buy the book, or perhaps, someone out there in the Diaspora can send me a copy. No, am not joking.
But the most important is that we must Change a situation by Doing

why not start a book about nairaland?

cant say for others, but i do read, n i enjoy readin almost any book i come across,

be it beneficially or for fun, I just love readin,

of course.nigerians do read.we r literates and not illiterates.it,s damn too funny and shocking.

What's the purpose of reading? To gain information.

So if there are other ways of gaining information, why bother reading?

What do you think we have been doing on Nairaland?
Looking?
Or reading?

you sound so much like an illiterate already. try and get a little education by reading productive texts.

orikinla,
pls try and encourage people to read. that is what this site is meant for; not to discourage them.

Orikinla,

You completely missed the point of my post.

Let me put it another way:

If there was another way of absorbing the information that was posted on Nairaland (i.e. by routing the information directly into your brain), would there be any point in reading?

Face it - reading is simply a means to an end. It's good to read - but it's more important to have an interest in gaining knowledge (which motivates you to read, anyway).

Ka,
you sure do have a point there. but the truth remain that the books you read defines who you will become. with your mentality, it is obvious that you will look for other means at all cost than reading.

lovebayus:

orikinla,
please try and encourage people to read. that is what this site is meant for; not to discourage them.

The problem I have with some members of Nairaland is reading my posts out of context or in ignorance of my other posts since I joined this liberal forum last June.

You must have missed my posts on the book reviews of novels by Ngugi W'a Thiongo, Bisi Ojediran and others and posts on several literary competitions.

Orikinla is also the same person whose duly registered publishing company in Nigeria organised a national literary scholarship essay competition for the benefit of secondary school pupils in Nigeria at the University of Lagos in 2003 and all the participants must read three books and comment on them. I visited over 22 secondary schools and I spoke to thousands of pupils on active reading culture.

Orikinla is also the same person who donated some medical books and medical magazines to the library of the Nigeria LNG Hospital on Bonny Island, Rivers State, last July.

I cannot count the books I have given out so far.

The next thing now, someone will accuse me of self-promotion and boasting when I have only replied to your comment.

Nigerians generally have a poor reading habbit,   if not, then our leaders would have been more concerned about reading to invent and research to find solution to the enormous problems facing this nation rather than just politicing to kill and create alot of commotions even where not necessary.  Most of our undergraduates only read when exams are very near, they read to pass their exams and that's it till another exam period.  The average Nigrian on the street is more concerned with what he can do to put food on the table for his family (immediate and/or extended) he does not have the  time to read.  And a typical Nigerian will be keened on reading if and only if he is going paid for reading.   What is my point?  The point is that the Nation's people do not have the required condition of living that encourages reading.

Reading is work, as you read energy is exhausted, the brain remains on active work throughout the period you read because u need to concentrate to understand what u are reading.  when u read the whole body is at work even your stomach where food is supposed to be found available, your mind is constantly telling u have bouyant u are or not and in the end u loose concentration cos what u are about read does not address ur  problem in quick response.

Thanks

well, i think you should try and be as plain as possible then. there is no need trying to confuse people be encoding messages. come out straight. Tell people the need to start reading. Not many people have the patience to start decoding your statements. All we are out to do is to promote the culture of reading in Nigeria.

lovebayus:

well, i think you should try and be as plain as possible then. there is no need trying to confuse people be encoding messages. come out straight. Tell people the need to start reading. Not many people have the patience to start decoding your statements. All we are out to do is to promote the culture of reading in Nigeria.

Lovebayus,
Oga, I just want to say that reading does not begin and end with a book.

Reading is not a straight jacket.

People can read online and many novels and textbooks have online editions.
The electronic libraries are springing up in Nigeria and soon we are going to have books all converted to CDs. And audio versions of books are also available.

We should enjoy reading online and offline.

I am going to have an interactive library and is part of my Wisdom Towers project and one of my mentors Dr. Mike Murdock knows about it. And I am going to retire to concentrate on the Wisdom Towers project in Lekki on Victoria Island in Lagos, Nigeria.

I think it all boils down to knowing what your audience likes and giving them something that they need or can't do without.

Sometime ago, i was reading an interview on Seun about how he came about Nairaland and what it took to make it successful. He said something that was interesting. A lot of people are looking for jobs and not looking for opportunities to create jobs by themselves. Nairaland came about after failures at other things, but those failures prompted the fire that brought nairaland about.

Coming back to the subject matter, everybody knows what most people read about (even if it is negative). however, why don't you use those same topics to create something positive for the readers. If someone comes to me to preach the gospel of christ with the old 'fire and brimestone' system, he has lost me. If a beautiful woman came to me, i might listen. not because of the message, but because she attracted me. Along the line, the message will get across, but i had to be attracted first.

Nairaland is an interesting experience for me. I'm never on yahoo messenger, because it's been bastardised, Here, we can really jive about really good topics, like this one.

So, you want people to read, attract them to your topic. Don't think they'll read your book just because you think the topic is good

@Orikynla I remember weep not child by Ngugi W'a Thiongo. that was a good book to read

uchetobi:

@Orikynla I remember weep not child by Ngugi W'a Thiongo. that was a good book to read

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o has just brought out Wizard of the Crow, and his new novel is the longest book in African language outside the Holy Bible.

Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Harvill Secker (3 Aug 2006)
Language English
ISBN: 1846550343
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,422 in Books

Ngugi is one of my favourite writers.

The fact is I have bags full of literature and few clothes and footwears.

The word rules the world.

From the Word of God to Microsoft Word.


In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
~ John 1:1 (Holy Bible, New International Version)

Here my latest writings you will enjoy reading on

When Two Africans Woke Up This Morning

http://www.blogwonga.com/blogwonga/read_article/6

Sorry, My Name Is Not Fyodor Dostoyevsky

http://www.blogwonga.com/blogwonga/read_article/8

Dear Americans, Our House Is Also On Fire

http://www.blogwonga.com/blogwonga/read_article/7

Ngugi is the greatest,alongside WS, Elechi Amadi,Athol Fugard,Cyprian Ekwensi
and of course daddy-Chinua Achebe .James Ngugi as he's fomerly known is
a former classmate of my uncle at Makarere U niversity-bossom friends they are

For your reading pleasure:

THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE (As seen on Akadacampus.com) - Sep. 23, 2005 at 08:42 AM
The Universe is made up of planets, solar sytems, galaxies and other celestial bodies like asteriods and black holes.

There has however been controversy as to the nature of this vast space in which we live ever since scientists started studying it.

There are two main schools wrt the nature of the Universe: The Steady-State? school and The Big Bang Theory school.

The Steady State school maintains that the Universe is static: i.e it has always been like this, and forever will be. However, there are serious flaws in this theory, evidence for which can be found in the other, more correct, Big Bang Theory.

The Big Bang Theory maintains that the Universe was formed from matter with zero volume and infinite density (i.e from nothing), and then kept expanding indefinitely.

Evidence for this is as follows: Astronomers observing the stars noticed that they appeared red from their point of observation. This implied that the stars were moving AWAY from the observer. This gave rise to the theory that the Universe is continously expanding. Extrapolating backwards, it can be implied that the Universe started out from a certain point before it started expanding outwards.

Various findings over the years have since confirmed the Big Bang Theory and the expanding Universe over the Steady State Universe.  Does this suggest a creative force, or "An Almighty" behind the existence of the Universe? What we are certain of is that life exists in neighbouring galaxies.
All Rights Reserved.

Ive read only weep not child. It waz very enlightening and entertaining. But I dint like d way it ended. I cried 4 Njoroge. He lost all

In my opinion, as many said already , Nigerians do not read, simply for several reasons mentioned by many posters such as Orinikla ( by the way, preach on the truth hurts) about this topic.

I was reading just for the sake of school and studies which is the basic of reading (I guess) but I did not enjoy it.  I started reading at the age of twenty not because it was compulsory for studies and exams or for information.  I had to apply for a particular course with a break of one year.  I felt there was something missing in my life. The joy of reading.  While I was preparing for the entrance exam  of the four-year-course.  A friend of mine recommended me a book by Sidney Sheldon.
She was addicted to his books.  She told me if I read one or two pages I will continue until the end.  She was so right. I finished the book in two days (300 something pages)

I became addicted and started  looking for Sidney Sheldon books everywhere.  In less then six months time, I read almost all of his books converted to other styles of books  from biography to romance and more.

My point  here is that it is never too late to read, educate, enlighten, relax and lift yourselfup .   Simply reading for recognition or been seen is not good enough for yourself there is always something  that will be missing.   Reading is good for the soul as well as your capabilities to visualize  and put things in words and to broaden your perspectives.  I am reading now a novel  "The Godfather" from Mario Puzo a real maffia story. I read all kinds of books. To me reading is better than movies because you can use your imagination,  the movies I watched that were from a book,  I did not like it because my imagination of the characters simply did not match or other missing essential factors of the book. Just reading  can 't be compared with reading because you love to, there is a clear difference!  When I read because it was compulsory to pass or just to obtain information I felt lik I was not reading, infact, I was not reading. I thank God I am now!

Well i think it's not Nigeria in question but Africa
we admire the things of the western world much that we cannot sit down
with the aspiration to bring change 'Not really to the whole people' but individually
Readers are Leaders, Thats what makes a man jump out of his sheel with a motivation
of changing the enviroment around him.
There is a word that says "If u want to hide something from an african, put it in a book"
Innovaton comes when we make reading a culture or being addicted to it.
Enterprenuer's we have over here make excess money cos no one have got the secret to
challenge them,

We should give books as gifts often and include them in our Christmas hampers.

@ Adeoba,
how?

sam-carlos:

Well i think it's not Nigeria in question but Africa

@Sam-Carlos
You are right that it is not Nigeria in particularly but Africa.
I will go a step broader it is the black man in general who does not read.

Our problem is dat we believe we are who they say we are. Because they say black people don’t read does not mean its true. Are u not an average Nigerian/ African

Hey that statement that Nigerians don't read is quite true. Proof is the crazily overwhelming success of Nollywood. Without sounding geeky, my fellow citizens prefer seeing messed up plots of "SOME" silly films than spending time with a good book.

Do Nigerians read their emails?

hi forumite.
nigerians aren`t doing too bad when it comes to reading. but check it out, the series of exams every nigerian student has to read has streamlined us to reading academics only. motivational: Zero! Finance: Zero! etc.
But come to think of it, we are doing pretty better than our Ghanian counterparts

adeoba:

Do Nigerians read their emails?

Was that meant to be funny