As part of Nigeria’s 55th independence celebration, the Explore Club, a non- governmental organisation, has organised a reading competition among young people from schools within and around Abuja to imbibe the culture of reading.
The club, a member of National Anti-corruption Coalition (NACC), an initiative of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), held the event tagged, Independence Reading Festival on Independence Day in Abuja.
Delivering her welcome address, Mrs Claris Ujam, an Assistant Director in the Federal Ministry of Education and the initiator of Explore Club, said the aim of the festival was to ‘’nurture and promote positive, intellectual growth and welfare of young people in Nigeria’’.
She added that, the initiative was aimed at grooming and inculcating in the youths and children national virtues, oneness, love, patriotism, self- control, self –confidence, self – reliance, creativity and the fear of God.
In his good will message, Mr Obinna Oforah, a representative of the ICPC at the event, urged parents to always read to their children.
In his words: ’’as a parent, reading to your child is one of the most important things you can do to prepare him with a foundation for academic excellence’’.
‘Reading to our kids is a good thing that comes with lots of advantages, for instance; a stronger relationship with parent; academic excellence; basic speech skills; the basic of how to read a book; and better communication and thinking skills’’.
The high – point of the occasion was the reading competition among primary school pupils and junior secondary school students within and around FCT, including the school for the blind, Jabi , Abuja.