NGO harps on reading culture to curb social media menace
By Ogundele Olanrewaju
Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Centre for Advocacy, Leadership and Development in Africa (CALDA), has called for proper nurturing of pupils/students on reading culture as a way of curbing social media menace.
The Director General of CALDA, Mr Wale Ojewola, made the call on Friday, in Eruwa, Ibarapa East Local Government Area, while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) during the 1st anniversary and founder’s day celebration of CALDA.
Ojewola decried the influence of internet and social media on pupils/students reading habit.
He noted that technological advancement had contributed to the poor reading culture of most pupils/students.
According to him, students nowadays prefer to spend time on social media doing irrelevant things that will not add value to their life.
He said that the poor reading culture among pupils/students was affecting their performances negatively in school.
“There is need for parents, government and other relevant stakeholders to play active role in nurturing reading culture in students.”
The CALDA boss who had been rendering community services in Ibarapa land for the past 10 years, said he established the organisation primarily to discover, nurture and mentor talents in the community.
Oyewola said he grew up in Eruwa and discovered that the community was blessed with talents “but people that would discover and nurture the talents were lacking.
“I came out of secondary school with six distinctions, dreaming to become a medical doctor but due to the background, the society I belong to that lack mentor, I was unable to fulfill that dream.
“This made me determine to dedicate my life to discovering talents and young scholars so that the glory of my community, Ibarapa land and Oyo state in general will shine,” he said.
The CALDA Director General promised to continue embarking on programmes that would have positive influence on primary and secondary school pupils/students at the grassroots.
The chairman of the occasion, Dr Gafar Amoo, who is also the grand patron of CALDA, called on well meaning Nigerians to contribute both in cash and in kind to programmes that would impact positively on the nation’s future leaders.
Amoo commended the convener of the programme for his passionate contributions to uplift his community.
NAN reports that highlight of the event was the launch of a magazine, ‘the Scholar Pen Magazine’, to enhance reading culture among students.
Not less than 300 pupils/students drawn from private and public secondary schools in Ibarapa zones attended the event.
Among the schools were Baptist Model High School Eruwa, Lanlate High School, Lanlate, Baptist Day’s School Eruwa and Onitabo High school Lanlate.
