Parents have been charged to inculcate reading habits in their
children for their mental development.
A lecturer with Summit University, Offa, Dr Babalola Yusuf, made the
call last Thursday at the 2019 Readership Campaign organised by the
Kwara Branch of the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) , in Amoyo,
Ilorin.
The theme of the programme was; Reading: ‘A tool for empowering the vulnerable.
The don said parents needed to start living by example for their
children to grow into it.
“Parents these days do not read, so how do they make their children
read? We have to catch them young and the bulk of the job is on the
parents to do,” Yusuf said.
He however advised children to also imbibe the habit of reading wide
and not limiting themselves to classroom books.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Hajia
Maryam Garba warned parents not to expose their children to the use of
phones at a young age.
Garba who was represented by Deputy Director, School Services, Mrs
Afusat Ibrahim, urged the children to read in their leisure time to
broaden their knowledge.
Speaking, the President, Association of Nigerian Authors, Denja
Abdullahi said it was prerogative of parents to ensure that their
children develop the habit of reading for intellectual development.
Similarly, the Alamoyo of Amoyo, Oba Jamiu Oyewole charged parents to
be good examples to their children.
According to the monarch, what the children exhibit in the public is a
reflection of what they learned from their parents and older
relatives.
