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I was really
excited when I got a nomination to attend an interactive session with
you. I felt it was a wonderful idea that you were spearheading a
project, to get young Nigerians reading again. To the best of my
knowledge, it is the first time a sitting president will make an effort
to interact with young people at their level. I wasn’t sure what to
expect but made a mental note to be there anyway. Registration was
slated for 12pm but since I have a very annoying habit of showing up
early when I have appointments, I made it to EKO hotel around 10.30am.

Fortunately for me, the campaign had two sessions, the morning session
for the children and the one I was nominated for which was to start by
2.30pm or thereabouts. I made my way into the hall and sat quietly.
Soon enough, You and our very own Wole Soyinka, took your seats. After
acknowledging special guests in the hall, the programme kicked off in
earnest. You read from Chinua Achebe’s ‘Chike and the River’, while
Soyinka read from his book, ‘Ake: The Years of Childhood’.

Wrong crowd

I became
uncomfortable when I noticed the caliber of students present in the
hall: Atlantic Hall, Corona School etc. Using socio-economic
classification as a parameter, most of the schools there were of the
A-B category, with maybe a few C class representatives and in my head
I’m thinking, splendid idea, wrong crowd! The children seated in that
hall most likely had enough books to make a bookseller jealous, they
could compete with their mates around the world academically and
usually travel abroad for summer.

They need very little motivation to
read. Their parents are enlightened captains of industries and would
ensure their wards get the best education money can buy. They really
don’t have any hurdles to cross. Their parents already have their wills
written out, have a robust life insurance policy to take care of
happenstance and will be buried in Vaults and Gardens when they die.

The children who
need to hear the message are students of schools like Oke-Ira Grammar
School or JSS Nyanya where you’ll find 2000 students in JSS 2 alone
with half the class sitting on the floor. After school, they don’t kick
off their boots and watch cable TV, no! Their parents are hustlers;
plantain sellers, fabric merchants, petty traders, pure water hawkers,
you name it. When they get back from school, it’s time to work. They
pick up a tray of plantain or go to the shop to help the family keep
their head above water. They are the ones that need the hope your Bring
Back the Book campaign message brings because reading is the farthest
thing on their minds; the struggle for survival saps whatever energy is
left after a hard day at school where the class teacher would rather
sell buns and tasty-time than do her job. They are the ones that drop
out after JSS 3 due to lack of funds. A message like yours will help
them hope for a better tomorrow and strive to overcome the challenges
you overcame to be where you are today.

Wrong place

I also wondered why
a campaign about books and students took place in a 5 star hotel? It
would have been perfect if you interacted with the students in their
natural habitat-the classroom. Feel the heat they have to endure when
the sun beats the zinc roof above their heads, after which a stroll to
the school library, if there is any, will show you just how much work
there is ahead of us in terms of the quality of instruction being given
and basic infrastructure development in these schools.

The interactive
session with youths was a whole lot more fun than the morning session.
From Dbanj, Mo’Cheddah to Psquare, the performances were tight. I loved
the use of ICT to link other zones within the country and also give
them a chance to be part of the event even though poor audio output
marred the effort for the most part. The integration of music and
dance, which is an effective touch-point for young people, was a good
strategy. Joe Trippi, renowned to be one of the most sought-after
political strategists in the world, was at the event. His presence
helped register at the back of my mind that indeed, this was beyond
interaction, it was part of your campaign strategy to get us on your
side; you didn’t hide what you were trying to do and I thank you for
your sincerity.

Wrong speaker

TY Bello gave a
speech; and a young lady, Nana, can’t remember her last name now, spoke
on behalf of the North. Though she made sense to some extent, I did
notice one thing though: she spoke with a distinct American accent. My
conclusion: she didn’t school in Nigeria, so she probably wouldn’t
understand sitting at home for six months while the government and ASUU
try to resolve their differences, outdated libraries still stocked with
books my father read while he studied at the same university,
disgruntled lecturers who take out their frustration on you, standing
throughout a three-hour lecture with the lecturers using a public
address system to harass your eardrums and reading from the same lesson
note he’s been using for the past eight years. She might identify with
it, but it is only him that wears the shoes that knows where it
pinches. Toyosi Akerele gave a good account of herself, she spoke
fearlessly, and had me cracking up when she said ‘Why should an
85-year-old be so bent on determining a future he will not be a part
of…’ or something like that.

After your address
at the beginning of the event, I waited throughout the event for the
interaction to take place, sadly, it didn’t. Thinking strictly from a
business perspective, you lost a vital moment to sell your brand to a
captive audience. Talking about you as a brand, I ask: what is your
USP? Why should I vote for you and not every other candidate out there
promising Eldorado? The aim of the event is to generate goodwill for
you among the youths, but you see, you’ll need a whole lot more than
goodwill for the coming election because we are tired. Tired of the
lies, the failed promises, the corruption, the ineptitude, the
sycophancy, the grab-all-you-can-while-you-can mentality of people we
have trusted to lead us; and we want change! You are going to have to
convince a very powerful segment of the Nigerian population who have
become aware of the power of their vote and have vowed to make it count
come 2011, that you are the one for the job.

Wrong books

In the goodie bag
I got at the event were two books written by authors I have never met
with storylines I struggle hard to relate to. One was about the FBI and
the other revolved around 4 U.S Navy SEALS. All I could think of was
how much money Farafina or Cassava republic or Dada Books would have
made if you had chosen instead to give everyone in that hall copies of
book published by them.

Some suggestions

By virtue of the
job that I do, I have had to travel within Nigeria extensively and have
visited secondary schools in at least 30 out of the 36 states in the
country. One of such schools was a community school in Gidan Mai Akuya,
somewhere in Lafia. It was built and managed by locals. Out of
curiosity, I visited their library and found about 20 books in a school
populated by over a thousand students; SS3 students received lectures
in Hausa even though they were preparing for WAEC. It is no surprise
that WAEC failure rate is so high.

These are the kind of schools that
will benefit most from your project. Since plans are already underway
to distribute books worth billions of naira to schools, what mechanisms
have you put in place to ensure the books get to the end users? I ask
this lest we have the problem that plagues fertilizer distribution in
the country, where the product are hoarded from the farmers and later
sold at purportedly ‘subsidised’ rates.

I’ll suggest 2 approaches:

1. Code the books,
either by states, or geo-political zones or schools. That way, it will
be easy to track if the books end up in the market or someone’s
bookshop.

2. An independent
back-checking firm should conduct an audit and evaluation of
distribution by visiting school libraries and bookshops across the
nation, either systemically or randomly. That will help measure the
effectiveness of the BBtB campaign.

I honestly believe
that young people should drive the agenda for this country. We know the
future we want to see and where we want to go, allow us help you help
us get there. That’s what friends do.

Yours,

Naomi Lucas