A true leader is a reader: case of poor reading culture in Zambia

By Winston Muleba Junior 

Reading, whether for pleasure or for academic purpose, is an essential habit that forms the bedrock of human greatness, regardless of age, gender or status. This fact is hardly disputed. A popular saying describes readers as leaders. 

Leaders are readers. Every leader is a reader. Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers. A lot of people read but they’re not leaders. If you’re going to lead, you’ve got to be thinking further in advance than the people that you’re leading. However, imbibing the culture of reading and accepting its importance seem uncommon among the youth. 

It’s a common saying that if you want to hide something from people, put it in a book or long piece article. This saying is a true reflection of what is going on in Zambia as the country grapples to fix the poor reading culture. 

Nowadays, due to the rat race syndrome, some people pay little or no attention to their reading ability such that others on social media like facebook sink low to an extent of commenting with texts like “hit like if you didn't finnish reading” while others would comment like “its too long I can't finnish reading” not knowing that they are championing their laziness and perhaps depriving themselves from learning new things/skills which they could apply especially towards meeting the collective goals of their lives and/or businesses. 

A reading culture is a set of behavior where reading is not only part of people’s way of life but is also constantly used by a good number of the population to read in order to search for information, seek the truth, look for intellectual pleasure and for the sake of reading as a hobby. 

A poor reading culture, where people do not value or do not do any reading except to look for a few necessary items, is harmful to the development of the individual and nation. 

Reading is an essential tool for lifelong learning. It is important for everyone to develop the rudiments of reading and the culture of reading always so as to survive in life. Reading adds quality to life and provides access to culture and cultural heritage. 

The art of reading is a priceless instrument for everyone. It is one of the most important activities of life through which we enter into the life and experiences of others and extend our knowledge, scope of experience and enjoyment. It has critical role to play in the overall development of an individual and the nation at large. 

Due to technological development, reading habits are changing. In our society today, while technology is slowly taking a steady control over individual lives, the reading habit is fast vanishing into thin air. Students now lack the skill of reading. Instead they spend more hours on electronic media. Browsing the net, playing with funky handsets and passing non-stop SMSs seem to be the order of the day, there by making reading a book or any other piece of written material in a quiet or peaceful corner of a library or home become an archaic idea for most school children and adults. 

If you want to be a growing leader of a healthy movement, keep reading. It’s the only way to stay out front.