Edited by
Henry Akubuiro, h.akubuiro@sunnewsonline.com 08070965586
Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt, which has been designated as the UNESCO World Book Capital, is revving up preparations for next year’s epoch-making event.
The year-long activities of the Port Harcourt World Book Capital project have been designed to engage the participation of stakeholders at all levels in the book industry, aiming for increase in reading and improved literacy in the city with a ripple effect on Nigeria and the sub region.
The first of such activities, “The Rainbow Reading Tree and Rainbow Book Clubs in Primary Schools”, involve 50 schools from around Port Harcourt will be participating in the Rainbow Reading Tree (RRT)/Primary Schools Book Clubs. The Rainbow Reading Tree is designed to be a weekly, graded reading programme for primary school students, comprising carefully selected books ranging from timeless classics to popular books from around Africa.
Mrs. Koko Kalango of the Rainbow Book Club, Port Harcourt, told journalists at a recent press conference in Lagos, that this programme should result in overall improvement in reading and have knock-on effects on academic performance.
Another interesting project is “The Walking Book”. Here, children in pre-selected Junior Secondary (Unity) schools in the 6 geo-political zones in the country will be engaged in writing a chapter each of a book, detailing the ‘sights and sounds’ of their state, such as festivals, traditions and culture. This book will be edited, published and made available for sale before the end of the PH World Book Capital tenure. Mrs Kalango said that “the aim of this exercise is to develop and enhance creative writing skills, break down culture divides, inspire collaboration and showcase Nigeria’s key attractions.”
The establishment of the Rainbow Book Clubs in secondary schools has been another priority of the World Book Capital. It seeks to establish 50 book clubs will in secondary schools around Port Harcourt. Students are expected to read a pre-selected book-of-the-month and meet weekly to discuss the book. Volunteers and staff from the schools will be trained to run the book clubs and to ensure continuity after the WBC year.
She reminded newsmen that the pilot phase of some key programmes of the Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014 project, which started on 3rd October, 2013, ended on the 29th November, 2013. They included the Reading Tree, Book Clubs in Primary Schools, the Walking Book and establishment of book clubs in secondary schools.
For The Reading Trees/Book Clubs for primary schools programmes, over 120 pupils from four schools in Port Harcourt (Kingdom Heritage School, D/Line; Montessori International School, GRA Phase II; Port Harcourt Primary School, Old GRA; and St. Andrew’s State School, Diobu) participated.
During the programme, the pupils met weekly to discuss and interact based on a selected book of the week. The books ranged from timeless Nigerian tales such as How Leopard Got His Claws by Chinua Achebe and James Iroagachi to African tales such as The Gold Diggers, and world classics like David Copperfield.
At the closing ceremony held on November 29, 2013, at Port Harcourt Primary School, the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Engr. Tele Ikuru, read an excerpt from book The Legend: King Jaja of Opobo to the club members.
During the reading session, moderated by Mrs. Koko Kalango, Project Director of PHWBC2014 project, Eng. Ikuru, who was represented by Rivers State Commissioner for Youth Development; Sir Owene E. Wonodi, encouraged the children to imbibe the virtues which enabled King Jaja of Opobo to rise from slavery to becoming a King.
Similarly, “The Walking Book Pilot” programme, involved 23 Rivers State local governments. Prior to the start of the Walking Book pilot phase, teachers from Community Secondary Schools in the 23 Rivers State LGAs were invited to a project briefing where the expectations of the Walking Book programme were outlined. Following that meeting, the schools submitted four topics of their choice, out of which two were selected. A group of 10 students from the selected schools had already written a story under the supervision of their English teachers.
The entries are currently being edited and collated for publishing.
“This exercise forms the test phase of the main Walking Book programme which is set to involve students in all 36 states of Nigeria,” said Mrs Kalango, who added: “Through this programme, the students’ creative writing skills will be enhanced.”
It is going to be a bazaar of books this Christmas, as the World Book Capital announces its “Give-a-Child-a-Book-for-Christmas” project, which is a book donation drive. The drive, which kicked off on Tuesday, Dec 16, has been inviting the public to use the Christmas period to donate used and new books, to be dropped off at designated locations around Port Harcourt.“The donated books will then be given to various orphanages in the city, extending the joy of reading to one of our society’s vulnerable group,” she said.
Similar donation drives will be carried out through 2014, and will be unveiled during festive seasons normally associated with giving, for example; Easter, Independence Day, etc. Similarly, she announced that the participation of the Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014 at the ongoing CARNIRIV road show, touted to be Nigeria’s carnival, in the state capital.
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