Every September, the Rotary Club International set aside the month to enlighten children on importance of literacy. This year was no different, as the Rotary Club of Lagos donated books to children of St. Aquinas Primary School, Surulere.

These books include, Dancing Mosquito by Eki Faith Eboigbe, The Duet (an anthology of poems) by Toki and Damola Mabogunje and A Season For All Things by Damola Mabogunje

Dancing Mosquito, a dramatic piece, talks about the need to keep the environment clean and avoid mosquitoes. Speaking on the event, President, Rotary Club of Lagos, Rotarian Abiodun Role, said, “this is one of the seven focal points of Rotary International, where the club encourages everybody to embrace basic literacy. The concentration is more on primary five and six, because this programme is a continuous one, so, members of the club move into different communities to share this approach to education and complement the efforts of government. It has been happening since the club was established.”

Role added, “it was amazing that we were at a programme and this children from public schools also exhibited so much intelligence just as those in private schools that’s why Rotary focuses more on community and public schools, where the under privilege are so that the efforts are shared. When you read everyday, you learn more so that you can become something in future.”

Director, Service Projects, Rotary Club of Lagos, Rotarian Owolabi Adegoke, said, “this is one of our events and it is basically about encouraging the young ones to read a book a day. We are just trying to catch our children young, to get them accustomed to reading, like building a reading culture, like we say, readers are leaders and any society that does not promote reading is doomed for failure in future.

“These kids are in primary and secondary school, so, if you can get them young now, imagine what will happen in the next four five years.” Author of Dancing Mosquito, Eboigbe, also a rotarian, while encouraging children to read, said, “I wrote the book from reading a lot of books and observing my environment. I wrote because I wanted to pass a message across. In the book, I explained that if you clean your environment, you won’t have stagnant water and mosquito won’t come and stay there and bite you and give you malaria that will send you to the hospital instead of coming to school to learn.”

Head Teacher of the school, Oloruntola Olugbemi Oluyemi, in his remark, appreciated the club for all that it has been doing for them, saying, “we are happy about the kind gestures rotarians are giving to us, they are filling that vacuum and it will assist the children to grow because to read more, is to learn more. We the staff are promising the club that we will never let them down.”