Ex-Lawmaker Duke Urges FG To Halt Import Duties On Books, Printing Materials

A former Deputy Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Hon. Orok Otu Duke, has called on the federal government to consider removing import duties on books and printing materials to improve access to quality foreign and locally published reading materials.

Duke made the call at the reading and presentation of his five books titled ‘Calabar Modern Stories’, ‘Welcome to Uyo’, ‘Winnowing: A Collection of Poems’, ‘Treasures’ and ‘Oluchi’s Journey’ in Abuja yesterday.

The commissioner representing Cross River State at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) lamented the high cost of importing books, which makes works published outside the country expensive and beyond the reach of students from average-income backgrounds.

He also noted that indigenous publishers in the country had been forced out of business by the high cost of importing printing materials, hence the need for government intervention.

Duke said that, as part of efforts to address the challenge, he had made free electronic versions of his books available to ensure accessibility irrespective of readers’ economic status.

“I would like to say that for you to have your works printed outside the country, published outside the country, you will be talking about a minimum of maybe $20 a book. And our children, those in school here, may not be able to afford those books.

“Once upon a time, when we had the Ife and Abiola bookshops, books were cheaper. More books were published. And now you can hardly find all these old books in good quantity within the country. So when you say $20, you’re looking at a child in school spending so much money to purchase one out of maybe 50 books. It’s not possible.

“So I will use this opportunity to call for government intervention. Government must step in to remove import duties or reduce them to make them available to children,” Duke stated.

He further stressed the need for Nigerians to document their personal and collective histories to preserve national memory for future generations.

The former lawmaker maintained that the failure of Nigerians to tell their stories themselves would give others the opportunity to advance narratives that might not reflect the true realities.

“We try in our lives to document our history because this is becoming a cretche going on with the saying that if the lion does not tell its own story, the story of the hunt will always celebrate the hunter.

“So it is simple as, if you don’t tell your story, another person will take the glory. It’s bad enough that we don’t tell our stories. So the stories about our collective hunt will always be written by another person. And I’ve chosen a language that is a bit more universal than my own language,” the NDDC commissioner added.

In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Organising Committee, Nasir Kura, emphasised the historical value of the books, which cover not only aspects of the Nigerian Civil War but also the rich culture and lifestyle of the people of Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.

“That is why we are pleased to have representation from the two sister states and also the entire Nigeria in the audience today. This unity and harmony is what right now is needed in our country today. And that is why we are happy to have all of you here.

“We implore you to support the books very generously in order to encourage the author to write more books for our pleasure and intellectual development,” he stated.

In their separate remarks, Senator Gershom Bassey (Cross River South) and Senator Eteng Williams (Cross River Central), who represented the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, commended Duke for documenting the history of the people of Cross River and Akwa Ibom states for generations yet unborn.