Group Partners NICO To Launch Cultural Storybook Series For Schools

AfriGrowth Foundation in partnership with the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), has launched the first in the series of “Tales On the Diverse Shades Of Culture”, a cultural storybook series in Abuja to encourage reading.

Speaking at the unveiling of the book, a co-organiser of the event, Dr Dayo Keshi, said partnering with NICO was to further implement and enhance cultural awareness in school children.

She noted that the foundation developed series of storybooks in which the diverse Nigerian cultural heritage was showcased to invoke interest in children and give knowledge of the rich Nigerian culture.

“The book – Tales on the Diverse Shades of Culture – is to present diverse Nigerian cultures in simplified fictional literature for school children, in the vanguard of building their knowledge on our Nigerian cultures,” she said.

She added that 1,000 copies of the book would be distributed to LEA primary schools in Abuja, even as she solicited support of Nigerians to promote knowledge of culture by credible alliance with the project.

The chairman, board of directors, AfriGrowth, Ambassador Joe Keshi, reiterated that the culture of storytelling is a part of Nigerian heritage, adding that reading develops the mind and helps development of writing skills.

In his message, the executive secretary, NICO, Ado Muhammed Yahuza, said the project had the capacity to lay a solid cultural foundation for children and the youth.

The secretary, who was represented by the deputy director, Orientation, Mrs Okoro Franca, stated that the initiative was in tandem with the institute’s statutory objective of harnessing culture for national development.

Highlights of the event included the annual reading culture competition in which three schools emerged top winners out of 15 LEA schools that participated.