By Felix Khanoba
The Nigerian Publishers Association has called on the Federal Government to declare a total war on vendors of pirated books being sold on the streets across the country.
The publishers, who also advocated a massive crackdown on pirates, urged the government to strengthen copyright law in order to eradicate the menace of piracy in the country.
President of the Association, Gbadega Adedapo made this call on Wednesday in Abuja while presenting three brand new Coaster Buses to Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
He said Nigerian authors are worried that most of the books being sold in the country were not from their owners.
He, however, disclosed that the Association was already collaborating with several organisations including Nigerian Copyright Commission in ensuring books are bought from rightful owners.
Adedapo, also called on the government to put in place functional book policy, noting that the issue of piracy was not something that could be taken with levity without strong legal backing.
According to Adedapo, the gesture was a part of the Association’s social responsibility with the hope that the donation would be useful and contributes to the commission’s increased productivity.
“We all know how important education is to a nation and this facilitated the need for us to support UBEC in its mandate since it’s in congruence with our goal too at NPA”, he said.
“We have donated books worth over Twenty Seven Million Naira (N27,000000) to UNICEF For onward distribution at IDP camps and we won’t rest on our oars as we continue to support our society,” he added.
In his response, the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, thanked the members of the Association for their kind gesture, saying that buses would be used for coordination of basic education and staff welfare.
He expressed the commission’s readiness to collaborate with the association on book policy by engaging in the supply of quality and curriculum books for the promotion of education and literacy across the country.
