A Nigerian author, Dr Chris Okoboh, has called for an enactment to curtail children’s addiction to social media and encourage the reading culture, arguing that nations are built on institutions, while institutions depend on knowledge.

The lawyer, who spoke in Abuja as he unveiled four new books and a new website to academics, military officers, legal practitioners and politicians, said his body of work is driven by the conviction that nations are built on institutions, while institutions depend on knowledge.

The four books – Maritime Law in Nigeria, Nigerian Property Management, Nigerian Risk Management, and Arbitration in Nigeria – examine critical areas of law, commerce, institutional governance and dispute resolution.

However, he expressed concern at the declining reading culture among Nigerian children and young people, blaming it on excessive social media use, which he said has diverted attention from books and intellectual development.

Therefore, Okoboh called for concerted action by government and parents to reverse the trend, including legislation to regulate children’s access to social media.

He said his books addressed issues including injustice, oppression and human trafficking, stressing that knowledge remains essential to confronting societal challenges

Meanwhile, Senator Ned Nwoko, who represented the former governor of Kano State and chairman of the occasion, commended the books as sufficiently informative to deserve wider circulation in the higher institutions of learning, public libraries, political institutions and legislative bodies across the country.

Consequently, Nwoko picked 400 copies of the books for Ganduje and himself.

In the meantime, Dumebi Emma-Dibia, who reviewed Maritime Law in Nigeria, stressed the importance of stronger regulation of the maritime sector and better management of risks associated with maritime transactions.

He called for urgent reforms to address regulatory and operational challenges confronting the sector.

Also, Augusta Massey, while reviewing the book, Arbitration in Nigeria, emphasised the need to strengthen alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (ADR) as a more effective means of resolving commercial disputes.

She cited developments in the United Arab Emirates, Rwanda and Ghana as examples of jurisdictions where mediation and other ADR mechanisms have been deployed to improve dispute resolution.