During the independence of 9jaria ask yourself this question, are Nigerian's literate?

Ok so I get it, reading book I’ve been told I bad for your eyes, after all that is why we have so many blind people in Nigeria, but let go with the theory that it doesn’t and wonder if Nigerians are Literate.

So if you ride on any bus in Lagos as I have had on occasion to do, you become aware of at least one person wherever the journey takes you reading a book.

The book can be about anything, from bodice ripper, to self help books, chick lit or business manuals, everybody seems inclined to love the written word and what it entails.

Now it does not take a genius to also realise that this love of the written word extends to the new crop of Nigerian writers who have flooded the national and international market with their work. Writers such as Chimamanda Adichi, Jude Dibia, Kaine Agary, Kemi Oyeyemi, Segun Adebayo and many more. Their words have infused a new generation of Nigerians with dreams of the future and memories of the past.

While the reading culture seems to be thriving in Nigeria, the level of literacy does not seem to match the amount of books being read.

This is what I mean, literacy as in the understanding and differentiation between a noun and a pronoun, a verb and an adverb, the present and the past and more simply the pronunciation of words. Now don’t look too far, but in Nigeria, that is kinda lacking.

Should you venture to speak to most of these bus readers, ask a question regarding the book/s they are reading, or to engage them in general conversation, you become aware of the lack of proficiency in their speech and the difficulty they seem to have with the pronunciation simple words.

The lack of cohesive reasoning, precise pronunciation, grammatical construct and basic word comprehension, is one which Kola Oladokun, Head of Administration for Reading For Development, believes is prevalent in Nigerian society. (I know I’m quoting experts, but I do that once in a while).

Now while Kola speaks primarily of children and the problems they face in clarification and general learning, it is plain to see that this extends to adults and their notion grammar.

The lack of literacy within young people between the ages of 20 – 30 is even more shocking when you consider the fact that a large proportion of these young Nigerians have left university without being able to string together a sentence without the aid of at least 3 people, one to write, one to provide the words and one to get it wrong.

Personally, I feel justified in saying the above because I have been on the other side of an interview where an English graduate (yes she graduated, she even showed me the certificate) told me that I should look at her resume which she pronounced reesum. This was not the only faux pas she made, she told me she had ‘travel a long distance to get here’, and that ‘people say I am very eloquent’ pronounced e-loquint.

Or the pronunciations that really blows me away, given to me no less by an esteemed member of the press who told me that one does not say ‘Forget’, no no no, they say ‘Forgit’ and that ‘Story’ as in telling a story is pronounced ‘Store-ry’. Now ask me, if such esteemed members of our press are making such mistakes, who is to blame?

Is it the government for not providing a basic curriculum for schools and following this with proper equipment, to better help educate our children from nursery to tertiary?

Is it the fault of the schools for looking at the bottom line and undermining our children’s education by putting 45 to a class?

Or is it the fault of the parents who no longer have time to sit down and discuss the nitty gritty of everyday life and homework with their children because they are after the almighty naira? I just don’t know.

On the other hand, the answer could lie simply in the explanation given to me by an ex colleague, who in a very blasé manner said ‘English is not our first language so we should not be so caught up in trying to speak it proper’.

Well with such a declaration, what else can I say……………………

Plenty!!!

I disagree with all the above reasoning’s.

I think it is the responsibility of the individual to educate themselves.

It is their choice as to whether they will accept bad teaching practices, it is their choice to go out and self educate when their schools forsake them, it is up to them to ask their parents for support in shaping their future, now if this is a small child then the parents need to shape up and take responsibility, but if they are 16 and above, SPEAK UP!!!!

Above all, it is up to individuals to see the book they are reading as a tool for betterment and not just an interesting pastime.

This issue is all important as we go into the 48th year of Nigeria’s independence, we should be able to take pride in our country, our Language and show the western world that this language that they have determined as the international is nothing to us, because we speak it better than they do, and we speak it in conjunction to our own national languages.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIGERIA!!!!