Stop The War On Books

AS schools are officially scheduled to resume nationwide today, we hasten to draw attention to an obnoxious policy that, if not immediately addressed, could do irreparable harm not only to the educational system but to the knowledge industry as a whole.
The Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) has introduced a 50% tariff and duty on imported printed books. In the first place, this is a gross negation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Florence Convention which the United Nations enunciated in 1954 guaranteeing free flow of educational, scientific and cultural materials. It was aimed at the free sharing of knowledge and ideas for the development of mankind. Nigeria is a signatory to that convention.
Back home, President Goodluck Jonathan launched the Bring Back the Book campaign to illustrate his concern for the fallen fortunes of books in Nigeria and his determination to transform the educational sector. This increase in tariff runs totally counter to the chosen direction of the nation. It is obvious that the policy was not properly thought through.
Parents and guardians have been groaning under the heavy weight of high school fees in an era when the public school system is in ruins. The high tariff and duty will increase their pains and drive books – and quality education – beyond the reach of the struggling masses. It will impact negatively on authors, publishers and writers in the long run because book piracy and stealing of intellectual property will be on the increase.
The paucity of quality books will force more parents to send their children to schools abroad and increase capital flight. A fact sheet released during the Nigerian Economic Summit indicates that between 2007 and 2010 Nigerian students enrolled in foreign universities increased from 22,712 to 38,851, draining the nation of 1.5 trillion naira annually. It was a fall-out from poor quality public policy, such as this one.
It is alarming that Nigeria currently ranks 117 out of 148 countries in quality of mathematics and science edaucation, yet we are competing with other rapidly advancing countries such as Singapore: 1st out of 148; Tunisia,  31st out of 148 and Cote D’Ivoire: 60 out of 148.
It is such a shame that those superintending this policy benefited from free availability of books and got solid grounding from the Nigerian educational system when it was still very competitive. It is like using the ladder to climb to the top and kicking it away.
Nigeria only this month joined other countries of the world to reaffirm our commitment to education for all and other universal goals by 2015. As we welcome our children back to school, government must remove this tariff and give room to quality education.