Stakeholders in the education and book-related industries from around the world will gather in Lagos, Nigeria to among other things discuss the process of Optimising New Technology in Book Development and Distribution for the Promotion of Book in Nigeria and Africa at the 2019 International book fair.
This annual event hosted by Nigeria Book Fair Trust (NBFT) will take place from Monday, 6th May to Saturday, 11th May, 2019.
Gbadega Adedapo, Chairman, Nigeria Book Fair Trust and President, Nigerian Publishers Association disclosed this at a press briefing ahead of the event in Lagos.
According to him, “The week-long book fair which theme is “Optimising New Technology in Book Development and Distribution for the Promotion of Book in Africa“, is slated to hold at the Jelili Adebisi Omotola Hall, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos.
Adedapo said Hameed Bobboyi, executive secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), would deliver the keynote address on the second day of the fair, 7th May.
Eminent Nigerians such as Okechukwu Ofili, managing director, Okada Books; Mike Olajide, executive director, Sidmach Technologies; Richard Xiang Pingnian, vice president, ZTE Technologies Nigeria, and Chander Shekhar, CEO of Spring Time Software will make the panel of discussants of the chosen theme.
Adedapo, who is also the managing director, Rasmed Publications Limited, explained that the book fair was essential for the promotion of effective reading culture for which the fair has been noted over the years.
According to him, “The importance of adopting new technology will be highlighted; the discussants will delve deeper into the root cause and way forward to grow the publishing industry and consequently quality of education, making books accessible to all the masses across Africa not leaving out people with print disabilities.
“The conference will have in attendance Oluremi Tinubu, chairman, Senate Committee on Environment; Ogbonnaya Onu, minister of Science and Technology; Yewande Sadiku, executive secretary of Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Osita Aboloma, director general, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Yahaya Amfani, chief executive officer, Yaliam Press Limited and Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, vice chancellor, University of Lagos.
“In line with the theme of this year’s Nigeria International Book Fair, the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) will be having a sensitisation workshop for publishers and authors on digitalisation of ISBN and ISSN. The new approach to this and requirements will be made known to participants at the workshop.
“It should be on record that for the first time in the history of the annual Book Fair, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) and Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) will be fully involved in the activities of the book fair.
He further said that both government agencies, apart from featuring in the programmes of the book fair, will also showcase what they have in stock for Nigerians. I am delighted to add that, NCC would have a dedicated desk as they will operate a legal clinic at the event.
“Also as promotion of literacy and book trade in Africa is paramount to the organiser of Nigeria International Book Fair, Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and Global Book Alliance (GBA) will collaborate with African Publishers Network (APNET) to organize a 2-day programme with a theme: Enabling African Publishers to Provide Quality Books, in African Languages through the African Publishing Collaborative Initiative.” He said.
KELECHI EWUZIE
