Vol. 8 No. 2 (1983): Nigerbiblios: Vol. 8(2),1983
EDITORIAL COMMENT
WE NEED MORE PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA
As we pointed out in the last comment the provision of public libraries in Nigeria is anything but impressive. It is easy to come to this conclusion when one considers what is happening at then local government levels. According to part I of the first schedule of our constitution, not taking into consideration then various increases made by state governments since the second Republic, there are 300 local governments in the Federation. A quick run-down of a randomly selected number of states will show the picture of what is happening at the local government. Anambra State with 23 local government councils have 3 divisional and 2 branch libraries: Bauchi State with 16 has 2; Kano State with 20 has only 5 divisional and 2 branch libraries whilst states like Ogun and Ondo with 10 and17 councils respectively have nothing. What is evident here is that there are many local government headquarters without any visible local or branch library at all.
The three tiers of government in Nigeria are the Federal, State and Local governments. The nearest to the grass roots out of the three is the local government where the impact of any development is felt most. The prosperity of any local government headquarters, can be judged by the level of social amenities available in such places. Almost all the local government headquarters have appreciable number of secondary schools, technical colleges, hospitals and a few industries here and there. The local populace regards their local council headquarters as their show piece as well as resource centre. If such headquarters have no branch libraries, then it means that people in that area have no means of benefitting from the advantages one can derive from public libraries.
It is our view in Nigerbiblios that Nigeria has got to such a stage of development were the existence of well-equipped libraries at the local government level should be a matter of priority for all state governments. Workers in industries, schools and councils located in rural areas need good libraries in order to stem the population drift to urban areas. Since the overall goal of the provision of libraries is the education and enlightenment of the citizenry, it stands to reason that development of libraries should go hand-in-hand with the provision of other social amenities like pipe borne water, electricity and others. Once more the duty of bringing these ideas to our governments must be that of the librarians themselves. They know better than other members of the populace why the development of public libraries must be a priority of the government. Unfortunately, the Nigerian Library Association has not got the organisational ability as yet to mount an aggressive pressure on our governments. This malady should be rectified. It is heartening to note that Librarians now write occasionally on their subject in our national newspapers. This trend should continue. It is our duty to educate and inform all concerned that as the various governments are planning to attract industries and bring electricity to each local government headquarters, so the provision of a well-equipped library must be a priority. The only way the literacy campaign being launched all over the country can succeed in the final analysis is if it is backed up by the provision of at least a public library in each local government headquarter all over the country. It is the responsibility of librarians to mount the needed pressure and that we must start to do as from now.
