Brought home to my community in Ndokwa West Local Government Area, an oil bearing community in Delta State, International Literacy Day means more than being able to read, write and count. Of course there are lots of people that can do all that. What it should mean in my community is empowerment.

1. International Literacy Day and My Community
It is yet another September 8, a date set aside by the United Nations as
the International Literacy Day to raise international awareness of and
concern for literacy problems within communities. First celebrated in 1996,
the day reminds the international community of the status of literacy and
adult learning globally.
Brought home to my community in Ndokwa West Local Government Area, an
oil bearing community in Delta State, International Literacy Day means more
than being able to read, write and count. Of course there are lots of people
that can do all that. What it should mean in my community is empowerment.
Nature’s endowment in oil reserves has attracted oil and gas companies to
the area including the location of a thermal gas power station in the nearby
town of Okpai. Also, sundry businesses ranging from banking to hospitality
have situated in its major towns and especially, the council headquarters,
Kwale. Furthermore, while Politicians jostle for positions and leaders of
thought prepare to engage the community in the scheme of things in the
overall national polity, are the local people equipped enough to tap into
the opportunities that would be available in their immediate community,
the state and nation at large?
In my candid opinion, literacy centres, libraries and media resource centres
should be set up in major towns in the community to provide tools and
resources for knowledge empowerment. Literacy benefits both individuals
and communities. Literacy is the fountain of knowledge and knowledge is
power. Idle youths in the community are easy preys by Politicians. Also they
engage in illicit businesses with a growing tendency to engage in robbery,
rape, avoidable communal clashes and social malaise etc.
Such centres provide platforms for community regeneration and renewal for
growth and prosperity. It returns the youths to normal paths to
development and exposes them to literature and information materials that
would renew their minds.

2. Reading makes a Man, it has been said. Learning to read boosts self-esteem
and provides important new skills. In many parts of the world, new literates
now qualify for desirable jobs which had previously gone to outsiders.
Ample opportunities exist in the local community including agriculture where
learning new skills would expose the population to better agricultural
techniques; opportunities exist in oil and gas companies in the area begging
to be filled but for lack of qualified manpower. Opportunities also exist for
ancillary businesses that serve as feeders to the burgeoning oil sector that
can be tapped into if there were enough information on what to do and how.
The community has in recent times witnessed the growth in the number of
financial institutions locating in the area. Again, securing jobs in the banks
would entail getting good education and choosing the right career.
Complaints on marginalization in the state and federal civil service is half
solved when there are personnel ready to go on day one.
Centres of this nature provide reading materials and information guide on
vocations and professions that would benefit the youths and adults in the
community such as agriculture, health, safety and environment matters,
security issues, maritime, transport, hospitality and leisure studies amongst
others. The Centres provide resource materials for students in the
educational institutions located in the community and beyond.
It is also commonplace for seminars and workshops to be held in such
centres to boost the morale of the local people and to give them a sense of
direction as they look up to some of the resource people to provide
mentoring services. The centres offer outreach platforms to disseminate
information to the youths on drugs use/abuse, militancy, careers, lifestyles
and personal development. It serves as an oasis for people in and outside of
the community that seek information or to conduct research on local issues.
Literacy is the key tool in reducing poverty. Its effects extend beyond
personal benefits and are priceless. It has the ingredients that will give
people newfound confidence and improved self-esteem that will spill into all
aspects of their lives and the communities to which they belong.
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3. Our hope is that our governments, companies operating in the community and
well meaning Nigerians would support communities, for example, Ndokwa
West Local Government Area with knowledge based resource centres. By so
doing, there would not be doubts on whether the UN Millennium Development
Goals are achievable in 2015.
The writer, Ndudi Osakwe has proposed a library and media resource centre
to be situated in Kwale, Ndokwa West Local Government Area, Delta State
and named after Late Mr. Ossai Osakwe, a pioneer educator of repute. He
made sure his people were literate at a time when being literate was not a
popular choice in his community.
Send your comments to nosakwe@ibgnigeria.com
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