ON THE IMPORTANCE OF READING

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Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and current governor of Kaduna state, Nigeria, recounts in his book, "The Accidental Public Servant" (pp. 10-11)

When I first came to Kaduna in June 1968, my uncle took me to what was to be my new school to register: Local Education Authority Primary School in Kawo. We were waiting in the office of the headmaster, Mr. Julius O. Audu and I saw that day's edition of The New Nigerian - the leading newspaper in the North at the time -on his desk... I took the paper and became so engrossed in reading it that I did not notice the headmaster standing there watching me when he returned.


"You were reading my paper. Can you read a newspaper? Asked the headmaster. I said I could ...He then directed me to read the first paragraph which I also did. Of course, my pronunciation was not perfect but he was impressed with the extent to which I could read because because the norm for students coming from a village to city school was to be held back by a grade. 

"You are in class two. My students here do not read newspapers until they are in class five. So I am going to promote you to class four. If you do not make it then I am going to bring you back to class three ..."



Happily, at the end of the term I placed ninth so I remained well above the level as per the agreement with the head master. By the end of class 4, I placed fifth. When I was cured of my love for football after suffering a right arm fracture in a class game, I then spent most of my spare time reading everything I could find side by side with modern education. I attended and excelled in Islamic school five afternoons a week where I studied the Qu'ran, grasped a bit of classical Arabic and learnt the basis of Islamic jurisprudence. 


There is of course the argument that real education only happens outside the classroom, but I believe the foundation for anyone to take advantage of life outside school is learned in school. Without that education from school, a person will not get the value added. Exposure and experience probably together account more for one's success in life than education does, but without education, the exposure and experience would not only be quite limited but also of limited utility. It would amount to little or nothing. One cannot have one without the other.


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