Book sufficiency and press efficiency: necessary tools for man, nation and development

Abstract

This paper discusses book sufficiency and press efficiency as necessary tools for man, nation and development in Nigeria. The study concludes that: there is book scarcity at all levels of the educational system in Nigeria due to the non‐encouragement of local publishers and authors; the western part of the country has most of the textbooks available (in English, maths and science) in the country, followed by the eastern part where book piracy is at about 50‐70 per cent, while it is grossly inadequate in the northern part of the country. Uneven distribution of the few available books in the country results in non‐functional libraries in primary schools and few functional ones in secondary schools. The heavy dependency on foreign textbooks and journals at the tertiary level of the educational system should be discouraged, so that indigenous technology is encouraged. Recommendations are made to the Federal government of Nigeria.