Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it has been reported that in the US, prison planners use reading scores of children aged 8 and 9 to predict the number of future prison beds needed. In short, there is a strong connection between early low literacy skills and incarceration rates. They had compelling statistics to underscore this point:

  • 85 percent of young people who commit crime had low literacy levels
  • Secondary school dropouts were 3.5 times more likely to commit a crime in their lifetime than those who complete secondary school.
  • Secondary school dropouts are 63% more likely to go to prison than their peers with university degrees                                

According to the US Department of Justice, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.”

Now let’s come home to Nigeria. According to a UNICEF report of June 2024, Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world- 18.3 million, i.e. one out of three, we are in an education crisis.

Of the population that are in school, many cannot read and are therefore unlikely to get a secondary school education. The ability to read by the time a child is 10 is critical to their success in school and their life-long learning potential.

The bottom line is that if we don’t take the task to get Nigerian children to become proficient readers as a matter of national urgency, the price will be paid not only by individuals and families, but by the entire country.

That is why the decision of Nigeria LNG to target literary enterprise through the Nigeria Prize for Literature is most commendable. And the idea of dedicating a prize to children’s story books is particularly laudable.

At this point we must thank the General Manager External Relations and Sustainable Development, for commissioning us to organise the hosting of the shortlisted writers in Port Harcourt.

2024 is an important year for the prize as it marks the 20th anniversary of its establishment.

2024 is also important to the city of Port Harcourt as it marks 10 years since we were named World Book Capital by UNESCO.

To mark this significant milestone, the Rainbow Book Club kicked off two exciting projects aimed mainly at young people:

ROAR Africa – stories of notable Africans for young readers.

Talking Books Africa – monthly virtual conversations with authors

Both are platforms for telling Africa’s stories.

Why is it important that we own our narrative? An African proverb provides the answer: “Until the Lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.”

This proverb pre-supposes two versions of the same story: the hunter’s version and the lion’s version.

What is the hunter saying about us?

Take Nigeria. According to the hunter, Nigeria is a land of corruption, underdevelopment and insecurity.

But we know that is only a part of the story. It is not the full picture.

Here comes the Lion’s narrative-

Nigeria is a land of world class people: intellectuals like Claude Ake, Olympic gold medalists like Tobi Amusan, business magnates like Cosmos Maduka, internationally renowned economists like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, writers like Zainab Alkali. And if we drill down to this State we can boast of Nollywood stars like Sam Dede and Hilda Dokubo, great stage performers like Yibo Koko, artists like Diseye Tantua, Grammy award winner Burna Boy, and Africa’s first Miss World Agbani Darego.

And of-course renowned writers – Elechi Amadi, Kaine Agary and our current winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature, Obari Gomba (who is here with us).

The Lion needs to tell the story so that the children in this hall and those outside can know that we have what it takes to make a positive mark at home and in the world.

Talking about the world, as a child, I travelled around the world through the pages of the books I read at the public library on Bernard Carr Street or in my school libraries at Port Harcourt Primary School and Federal Government Girl’s College Abuloma. Today I would struggle to find a functional library for my children. What is the hope that my grandchildren will have a library to use in Port Harcourt, World Book Capital 2014.

The World Book Capital title is not a trophy that decorates our wall and which we bring down from time to time to polish and admire before returning it to its exalted hanging position. It is, rather, a functional description reserved for a city that has made its mark on the world stage through activities around books and reading.

A World Book Capital City must have functional libraries. The World Book Capital City needs to revive and expand the 200 book clubs that were set up in its schools in 2014. The World Book Capital City needs to revive the full-fledged Port Harcourt Book Festival which, was actually a festival of ideas and creativity.

Talking about creativity, the 21st century education goes beyond the classroom (formal education) to the theatre, the playground, the dance floor (non-formal and informal education).

That is why we launched the Rainbow Talent Hunt; a competition to discover, expose and reward creativity. We threw the challenge to schools around Port Harcourt. The children who would be performing this evening were the winning acts. On this stage, they would teach us a thing or two about life.

The highlight of today’s gathering would be the interview with the 3 shortlisted authors for the Nigeria Prize for Literature: Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike author of Wish Maker, Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor author of A Father’s Pride and Olubunmi Familoni, author of The Road Does Not End. For the first time, we would have children interview our authors. It promises to be an extra-ordinary event to which I invite you to sit back and enjoy.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the reception for the writers on the shortlist for the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature 2024.

Welcome to Port Harcourt, home to Nigeria LNG.

Welcome to Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014.