The Permanent Secretary Government House and Protocol Mr. Anthony Obuh have charged Nigerians to cooperate so as to revive the ailing reading culture among children.

Mr. Obuh who gave this charge on Friday, March 15, 2014 in Asaba during the unveiling and presentation of a book titled “A Thing Never Seen Before” said that the reading culture among children has depreciated and there was the need for all Nigerians especially parents to join in the effort to revive this reading culture.

Continuing, he said that “The ‘Bring Back the Book’ initiative of the Ave Maria Books is a step in the right direction as it will bring back the reading culture among children in the country”.

He commended the author of the book, Barr. Teresa Mary Ozowa for the initiative stating that the book would not only engage children but it has a lot of moral lessons which would help them grow in their everyday life.

“The unveiling of this book is for the benefit of our children and for the growth of the society. It will revive the folklore genre where stories with morals and mores of the society are told to children so as to guide them through life”, Mr. Obuh stressed.

The book reviewer, Mr. Ubaka explained that the book “A Thing Never Seen Before” is a children’s literature which portrayed the theme that individuals cannot run away from their responsibilities especially socio-cultural responsibilities to the community.

He said that the book actually brings back folktale and reading culture to children and has all the elements of a short story.

The author of the book Barr. Ozowa noted that the initiative of publishing children books was to revive the reading culture of our people especially the younger ones and key into the state government education campaign tagged “Bring Back The Book”.

She explained that the initiative “Bring Back The Book” was a laudable one that should not be left to government alone and called on all to join in the campaign of reviving the reading culture among children.

“Let us encourage our children to read for pleasure by always giving gifts of good books. This will encourage them to acquire knowledge generally, not looking for shortcut to pass their exams by engaging in malpractice”.

Barr. Ozowa commended Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for his support he gave her when she started the publication of the literary series.