It is no longer news that the reading among Nigerian students and youth generally has waned significantly over the years. School pupils are easily attracted to music, video games and more recently, YouTube videos. The effects of this decline seen mostly in students’ inability to pass basic exams or even construct simple sentences in English.

IniOluwa Odekunle is the founder of Planen Tekad Initiative and co-founder of The Amber Circle. In this interview with YNaija’s Impact365, he sheds light on how his NGO is working towards changing the perspectives of young children about books. He and other volunteers have begun this campaign in Ebute Metta.

Can you please tell us more about Planen Tekad Programme?

Planen Tekad is an initiative that exists to drive a culture of purposeful living amongst young children. We believe that the first step in living and achieving purpose is to be well informed, hence the reading initiative to help children cultivate a good reading habit.

Secondly, there are a lot of untapped talents, and little attention is currently being paid to children as regards their nascent skills and developing on it. This has led to stunted creativity and loss of interest in these “talents” as they grow older, instead they are focused on popular opinions such as music, makeup etc. Planen Tekad is tackling this loss of creativity/talents by encouraging the children to express their creativity, through providing the needed materials, organising arts and craft/talent days and supervision to nurture the interests and build on the skills.

Thirdly, we offer long-term mentorship to some children based on level of interest and focus on specific areas of talents/skills.

We work with volunteers from tertiary institutions (UNILAG) to mentor children in public primary schools. We visit the two schools we work with on a weekly basis. We read with them and organise a special day in a term for creative expressions (drawings, dancing, singing, bead making, storytelling etc). Working closely with the children, we are able to select those children who have the willingness to be mentored and supervised. Currently we are mentoring a storytelling/comic drawing protégé who is both brilliant and artistic.

We also co-founded the Amber Circle which is a volunteer community that drives the culture of civic responsibility and involvement in public duties.

What inspired your decision to set up a NGO that focuses on building a reading culture?

I grew up as an avid reader, I loved to stay indoors reading novels, Readers Digest, heck any scribbling in black and white. I noticed that this quickened my assimilation rate, sharpened my mind, broadened my outlook on life and built my vocabulary. All this made me appreciate the need to build a reading culture. I want to share this with every child in my neighborhood, city and the world at large. Early birds get the ripe fruits.

What has the reception been like from schools and the kids you’ve approached?

It’s been awesome, primary schools need all the assistance they can get. The schools have been most receptive and easy to work with. School heads are approachable and relatable, teachers are pleasant and the students welcome any new face.

We noticed you’ve received book donations from Bimbo&Friends Initiative, what other NGOs have shown support to your cause?

Yes, the founder of Bimbo and Friends is my good friend and she’s amazing. Lately I’ve been in talks with a friend who works with the Young Africa Bookworm Initiative (an NGO), they are going to be donating books to the libraries of schools Planen Tekad works with.

How about the Lagos state government, any help so far? Are they even aware of your work?

No help from the Lagos state government so far. I do not think they are aware. But then you never know who’s watching.

You’ve visited schools in Lagos mainland, how about other parts of Lagos and beyond?

Charity begins at home. I grew up in Ebute-metta west which is under mainland local government. We plan to expand in due time as our capacity grows, but I’m careful not to dissipate our efforts.

How many volunteers do you have at the moment?

Through the Amber Circle volunteer network we have an endless list of volunteers working with us. It makes it easy because Amber Circle offers volunteer service to various NGOs.

Aside what you do, how else do you think the reading culture can be improved in young pupils?

Spelling bees, word games, reading adults, education based on problem solving skills and scenario synthesis.’

How do you intend to expand your NGO’s reach and what projects are you on to for 2017?

We intend to expand via partnerships with other like-minded NGO’s and giving dedicated volunteers opportunity to build on it. We have projects towards improving basic education across schools in Nigeria. We’re also partnering with corporates to consult on CSR projects that are beneficial to them.