ABEOKUTA – The Head, Department of Mass Communication, Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Dr. Kola Adeshina has advocated for improved reading culture among Nigerian students to combat declining literacy and to drive national development.
Dr. Adeshina while speaking with newsmen on Thursday during a book launch titled “My Take” published by Comrade Kunle Sodipo lamented that social media has negatively affected the intellectual ability of youths.
He noted that many students are now paying more attention to TikTok and Instagram, stressing that it has led to poor learning outcomes
The don added Nigerian youths should develop interest in reading, saying that no one can become a writer without reading.
He called for the return of humanities to the center of study, lamenting that Nigeria has forsaken the curriculum of the olden days.
The HOD said, “The fraction that we have on the on the social media and then AI has now come to make the matter even worse, people have to go back to reading that is why we made it a point of duty to come here today to encourage this young man, you have to read, it’s only by reading that you improve yourself, they used to say the library is the only place in the world where you go and will not come out empty handed, you will always get something out of the book.
“So people should begin to develop reading, we, parents have to begin to develop the attention span of young children today now the attention span has been reduced to TikTok and Instagram people you cannot get kids who can watch television for thirty minutes one hour it’s because the world is raising people we are handling everything to the machine.
While speaking on the solution he said, “They will need to know the history, they will know what has gone before so that because there is no way you can remove your yesterday from your today because it is yesterday that you used to interpret today and predict the future the three must go hand in hand yesterday, today, future. Yesterday you have seen it, you have experienced it, use it to interpret the present and then predict what will happen in the future” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the author of the book, Comrade Kolapo Sodipo in his remarks said his reason for the title of his book “My Take” is to identify challenges facing the country.
He stated that the implementation of the solutions advanced in the book could help alleviate the nation’s current challenges and contribute to its overall development and progress.
Comrade Sodipo also revealed that he has written more than 200 articles, many of which have been published internationally.
“You know I have been writing for quite some times, I have written over two hundred articles spread all across the country Africa and the world and at some point I looked at things that the challenges that we have been having in Nigeria I didn’t get to understand them until I left the shores of Nigeria, i went to southern part of Africa then I went to Europe and then my eyes was opened by the fact that to build a country you need citizens that understand that their role in building a country is critical and then I’m now like it that turned like a puzzle.
“It became puzzling to me and I was fighting something and I felt okay you know I was arguing with my thoughts I said okay I should have my own take on all these things that are bothering me and that was where the title of the book dropped “My Take” so my take on an hospital patient that I considered very sick and I looked at that hospital patient as the country, Nigeria my country of course we cannot be pretending as if all is well even though we are very positive about our country there are so many positive areas that we should be proud of but we looked at those areas that we are having challenges and I felt, it’s not just for me to criticize government or to criticize the people I must also offer solution and in my own opinion and if luckily those solutions that I’m profering are acceptable definitely it will uplift and improve the current predicament of my country, Nigeria because I want to be a Nigerian that will be respected outside Nigeria.
“Nigeria as a team are we winning that’s the question. You look at areas of security, you look at areas of economy, you look at so many other areas the question is are we winning? I’m gonna put that question in “My Take is very clear I have answered it in that book that is why everybody must get a copy of that book to know my response” he concluded
