4th September, 2012
The Lagos State Government has flagged off the 5th Lagos Book Expo.
The fair being organised by the Lagos Television is aimed at broadening the horizon of Nigerian youths through reading.
It was flagged off by the Commissioner for Education, Olayinka Oladunjoye in Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
Permanent Secretary, Lagos Television, Lekan Ogunbanwo, said the fair was meant to widen the horizon of youths and others to reading.
“Without books, we cannot acquire knowledge and we will not know new areas of discoveries. We believe we need to contribute our quota to this book fair. The theme is ‘Read to Widen your Horizon.’ The fair will be an opportunity to buy new books for your library,” he explained.
In her keynote address on ‘Eradicating Examination Malpractice in Nigeria,’ the Director, Dansol Schools, Mrs. Adunola Akinyemiju, decried the high rate of examination malpractice in the country.
“In the Nigerian situation, it has become a serious problem in our educational system which is so painful to me as a person and makes me weep because of the negative effect it has on this generation.
“Examination malpractice in Nigeria is a phenomenon which has eaten deep as a canker worm that needs to be treated,” she said, adding that urgent steps must be taken to address the malaise.
Akinyemiju listed the causes of examination malpractice to include overcrowding in classrooms, lack of teaching aid, laboratory equipment, libraries to expose students to proper learning; inadequate teachers, love of money by teachers and invigilators and the Nigerian factor.
She added that examination malpractice would bring guilt, destroy the next generation and leads to armed robbery/cultism, wastage, stealing, disaccreditation of Nigerian certificates abroad and depletion of the workforce.
According to her, examination malpractice could be eradicated by ensuring discipline; encouraging teachers, invigilators and others to maintain integrity; changing public examination system into internet-based tests; career counseling, the fear of God, among others.
“Religious leaders should look seriously into this problem by interviewing some of the children in their churches and mosques to find out how they got their certificates. It will surprise them to know that 70 percent of those testimonies were as a result of cheating. There is no religion that supports falsehood, cheating and stealing.
“On finding out, it should be dealt with through preaching and counseling. Those that did it need restoration and on-coming ones can still be helped,” she stated.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga