By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
To commemorate the 2025 World Literacy Day, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has called on Nigerians to embrace literacy as a powerful tool for the promotion of national identity, fostering social cohesion, and addressing poverty, particularly among the underserved populations.
According to the Director General of the Agency, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, who made this call on Monday at this year’s commemoration of Literacy Day, it presents a vital opportunity for Nigerians to reflect on the transformative role of literacy in reducing poverty, fostering lifelong learning, and advancing a more inclusive and equitable society.
According to the NOA Lead, literacy goes beyond the basic ability to read and write, but it serves as a gateway to knowledge, innovation, and meaningful participation in the democratic process.
He also urged citizens from every stratum of the population, which includes parents, teachers, community leaders, policymakers, and civil society actors, to renew their commitment to advancing literacy as a collective responsibility.
While encouraging children, youths, and adults to embrace reading and lifelong learning, he called for further strengthening of public and community libraries as vital hubs for knowledge and civic participation.
Furthermore, Issa-Onilu, enjoined the public to invest in digital literacy to equip themselves for the demands of the 21st-century knowledge economy, as he tasked citizens on support initiatives that remove barriers to education, especially for women, girls, and other vulnerable groups.
The DG reiterated the agency’s commitment to leverage its nationwide structures to sensitize, mobilize, and collaborate with stakeholders in promoting literacy as a vital tool for social cohesion, national identity, and sustainable development.”A literate Nigeria is a stronger Nigeria. Together, let us make reading and learning a culture that defines us as a people,” he emphasized.
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