Why is this needed?

Too many children in Nigeria are aging without a basic education and this significantly limits their potential as citizens. 

In addition, the Nigerian education system has lost its glory by occupying the 145th position in primary education advancement in the world’s record just a few years ago and it has not improved. There is a united voice with stakeholders that the quality of basic education is in crisis. And if you walked through 10 of the closest public schools to you, you will immediately be concerned about how any child could acquire a world standard education in the schools that currently exist.

We are not getting into the politics of education, the funding, teacher salaries, school supplies, buildings, and other governmental issues but rather taking a grassroots approach to ensuring that every underserved Nigerian child is able to read.

We are doing this because believe that our ability to succeed as a nation is closely tied to the level of opportunities that we offer to the least in our communities.

What ages are you serving?

Our libraries are open to all children. Our learning centers are focused on children ages 4-8. 

What entails a basic education?

For us, a basic education constitutes the ability to read, write, perform basic math. We will do this in an environment that fosters basic kindness towards others. 

Only disadvantaged children?

No. We believe the need is most prevalent in disadvantaged communities but we also realize that even in some advantaged communities some children are falling through the cracks and missing out at this very critical developmental stage. As much as it depends on us, we do not want to leave any child behind. Our intent is therefore to make our libraries and learning centers available in all communities regardless of socioeconomic status. 

Tell us about the libraries/reading rooms.

Books and libraries often serve as a powerful window to worlds of opportunities but unfortunately, in Nigeria, there are very few libraries or reading rooms available to the neediest children. As a supplement to the free literacy and numeracy education in our learning centers, All Nigeria Reads is on a mission to setup libraries/reading rooms in every local community where all children can go to read or to be read to. The goal is to ensure that every Nigerian child can walk to a reading room from their homes. In addition to offering books to children, each reading room will offer a story time where children can just come and listen to books being read by volunteers. We believe that these libraries/reading rooms in conjunction with the free literacy and numeracy education, have the potential to change the country for the better. 

What is the history?

It all started with the founder’s vision for a better tomorrow; one where the next generation is positively engaged, improving their communities, and delivering positive value every single day. It all started with her longing to reduce child marriage, radicalization and terrorism, crime, poverty and other vices that stem from children not being positively engaged. All Nigeria Reads is using literacy to positively engage the next generation of Nigerians. 

The program was officially launched on the 1st of June 2019.