BY VICTOR EJECHI
Sometime last week, I had a reason to pass through the Central Library Enugu, I could not believe my eyes that what I saw was actually a library, I had to stop and pay a visit to the library, just to see for myself. The Central Library was established in 1958 for the old eastern region for the very purpose of providing research, information resources and expansion of knowledge devoid of distractions. But what we have now in Enugu is not fit to be called a public library.
Over the years, there have been a lot of outcry regarding the poor reading culture of Nigerians as well as the dilapidating state of our public libraries, yet the government, both at the state and federal level, seem not to understand the important roles the public libraries can play in nation building and in curbing crimes and corruption.
The government claim to be in a knowledge-based economy, yet it is rather ironical that the same government that claims to be in a knowledge-based economy are not conscious of the importance and the need of a functional public library. Pathetic!
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I cannot overstress the importance of having a state of the heart public libraries in Nigeria. As at today, we can literally boast of over 316 public libraries in Nigeria, but we cannot boast of their functionality and uses. We claim Nigerians don’t read or don’t have a good reading habit but we cannot boast of an enabling environment and information resources that can aid their reading habit. Is that not similar to beating a child and complaining that he or she is crying?
I once wrote about the high cost of books/literature in Nigeria, which we all know is one of the many reasons affecting the reading culture in Nigeria. The truth is that books are and have always been elitist, hence the very need of the public library. If a sizable chunk of the tax payer’s money is pumped into public libraries, every class in the society will gain access to good books, information and knowledge for productivity.
In 2017, Statisense launched a report comparing the ratio of Public libraries to prisons in each of the states in Nigeria. It was revealing to know that we have a total of 316 public libraries in Nigeria, with Delta state, Edo state, Katsina state having 27, 25, and 24 public libraries respectively. In the same vein, we have 242 Prisons in Nigeria, the three leading states are Adamawa State, Borno State and Kaduna having 17, 15 and 15 prisons respectively. Do the Nigeria government both at the federal and state level realize that with a functional public library, they will be a drastic reduction of crime, which will, in turn, reduce crime and corruption and by extension, reduce the prison intake? Sincerely, the government are yet to see the library as a tool for development and in solving many of the challenges we have today as a nation.
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The public libraries in Benin City, Enugu state, Jos, Ogun state etc. are all battling to remain relevant and if care is not taken, they will all become history and later we will ask ourselves, when did we get here? With a situation as this at hand, I suggest a state of emergency to public libraries in Nigeria and the educational sector at large.
Ejechi is the librarian at African Heritage Institution, Enugu, and can be reached on twitter @vsixejechi
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