By iwu juliana james librarian at covenant university, in canaanland, ota, ogun state, nigeria introduction book publishing has been. The printing industry has worked hand in hand with the publishing industry to provide people with reading materials such as books, newspapers and magazines. Prerevolutionary book publishing was concentrated mainly in moscow and st. This is because of the ripple effects of the action on both publishers and authors alike. Last year, chairman, literamed publications nigeria limited yinka lawalsolarin said a major problem militating against the growth of the nigerian publishing industry is the nonimplementation of. The book publishing industry in nigeria problems and prospects. Problems in providing adequate numbers of highquality books.
This action has over the years been a bottle neck for publishers and authors in achieving their aim of reaching out to the public and making sales from their respective publications. Literamed publications nigeria ltd, a leading childrens book publisher in nigeria was incorporated in 1969. The subjects of the papers range from the economics of publishing in nigeria and the prospects for the industry in the electronic age, through debates about government book policies, to training and the role of publishing organisations both in nigeria and internationally. The group has been involved in kidnapping children and killing christians in the country. Issues and problems, the african book publishing record on deepdyve, the largest online rental service for scholarly research with thousands of academic publications available at your fingertips. It is a critical sector that apathy to intellectual culture in the country.
At the time of this research, there was no stable electricity. Nigeria has had a fairly robust book publishing history starting from the establishment of university college, ibadan uci in 1948. The book publishing industry in nigeria problems and prospects volume 1987 abiola irele. What is the history of book publishing in nigeria answers. Unqualified authorpublishers, poor production, inadequate distribution. Samuel kolawole, raised issues of infrastructural problems, piracy associated with ebooks, availability of electricity to charge the devices, he said ebooks were desirable and that nigerian publishers were positioning themselves for the challenge ahead. The government of nigeria has not taken the necessary steps. The problems with the publishing industry washington monthly. Introduction on the face of it, nigeria has a vibrant book publishing industry, with perhaps the largest number of publishing houses in any african country. The possibilities and challenges of digital african publishing. The paper examines the concept of national development within the nigerian perspectives and the problems associated with its national development. After independence, longman was fully incorporated in nigeria.
Publishing in nigeria is nowadays often thought of. Literamed publications nigeria limited lagos, nigeria. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise cambridge core to connect with your account. The role of education in national development were highlighted followed by the place of publishing and book trade in the promotion and support of knowledge acquisition and dissemination as basis for national development in all spheres of life. Publishing in nigeria from the aspect of the nonindigenous publishing house. Iwujames, juliana 2011 problems of the book publishing industry in nigeria. Lack of professional expertise in bibliographic work and marketing. At one stage, prospects for thebook industry in nigeria appeared rosy. The subjects of the papers range from the economics of publishing in nigeria and the prospects for the industry in the electronic age, through debates about government book policies, to training and the role of publishing organisations. The main problem with this view is that it confuses printing with publishing, a blurred perception common in nigeria, perhaps due to the collapse of the publishing sector during 1980s structural adjustment. Longman publishing company was registered in nigeria on august 10 1961. Over the last two decades, childrens publishing in india has burgeoned, moving away from quasiencyclopaedic tomes to works that break with the industrys earlier conservatism and span a.
According to the erstwhile directorgeneral of the raw materials research and development council, prof azikiwe onwualu, the pulp, paper, paper products, printing and publishing sector of the nigerias economy as at 2010 employed over 300,000 people with investments worth over n100 billion the punch, wednesday, july 7, 2010. Publishing contracted sharply during world war i 191418. The largest book publishers are educational publishers, notably university press plc formerly oxford university press nigeria, founded 1949, longman nigeria plc, macmillan nigeria publishers ltd and evans brothers nigeria publishers ltd, all of which are affiliated with international groups. The process of concentration in the printing industry, publishing, and bookselling gained momentum. Authors forum, an idea conceived by the management of university press plc as a forum for finding solutions to the numerous problems facing the book industry in nigeria, a yearly event which is attended by authors and others from different parts of the country, showcasing lectures and theme discussions. There is no doubt that there is a crisis in the book trade in nigeria today, caused. Problems of book publishing in nigeria severe infrastructural problems. Pdf problems of the book publishing industry in nigeria. Book piracy has been an issue trending in the nigerian publishing space recently. Book industry reels in debt as publishers, booksellers bicker. Opportunities, challenges of book publishing in nigeria in.
Before the 1914 amalgamation of the diverse peoples on the geographical entity named nigeria, publishing. The onibonje publishers experience after 50 years by iwu juliana james, pacific northwest library association pnla quarterly, volume 75 no. Niyi osundare told sunday sun in 2005 that, despite his many awardwinning books and bestsellers, he was yet to reap from the fruit of his labour. In the northern part of nigeria, there is violence caused by a group called boko haram that is fighting for a state governed by sharia law. Problems of the book publishing industry in nigeria. Granis 1967, defined it making publicto send forth among. She is currently based in abuja, where she is working for the british council on a research project looking at approaches to gender within teacher training in nigeria. The steps involve supporting both governmentowned publishing companies and other publishing agencies in their quest to promote the art of publishing in nigeria. Unqualified authorpublishers, poor production, inadequate distribution, and lack of capital are all evident. The major problems facing book publishing in nigeria are listed below. May 07, 2014 nigeria has had a fairly robust book publishing history starting from the establishment of university college, ibadan uci in 1948. The group has been involved in kidnapping children and. The modern commercial printing industry has been around since johannes gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1450s. Its imprint, lantern books, is a household name in nigeria and west africa.
There is no doubt that there is a crisis in the book trade in nigeria today, caused by a shortage of books and reading materials and a continuous increase in book prices, as is evident from even a cursory examination of shelves in nigerian bookshops. One of the sectors hard hit by nigerias dire economic situation is the book industry, especially the literary aspect. The onibonje publishers experience after 50 years by iwu juliana james, pacific northwest library association. The prospects of childrens publishing in india are. The political economy of the publishing industry in nigeria. The study examines the problems of book publishing industry in nigeria as books are effective medium of communication for intellectualism. Get the book issues in book publishing in nigeria putting the necessary infrastructure in place is a challenge to publishing. The subjects of the papers range from the economics of publishing in nigeria and the prospects for the industry in the electronic age, through debates about government book policies, to training and t. Publishing industry article about publishing industry by. It took onibonoje publishers, which marked its 50th anniversary in publishing in 2009, a long, tasking journey to arrive its present status.
Read indigenous publishing of tertiary level books in nigeria. Nigeria shares with other developing countries a variety of problems in providing adequate numbers of highquality books. It is an illegal and illegitimate reproduction of other peoples intellectual property for economic reasons without prior consent or authorization. A discussion of the advantages of having a welldeveloped indigenous publishing industry follows. In 1916, only 18,174 titles were published in russia. Publishing in nigeria is nowadays often thought of as a guy with a press and little else besides.
Amazon has devalued the concept of what a book is, and turned it. Textbook publishing in nigeria ode ninu igbo irunmole by d. Opportunities, challenges of book publishing in nigeria in an. In addition to the insights and portrayals of the u. By iwu juliana james librarian at covenant university, in canaanland, ota, ogun state, nigeria introduction book publishing has been defined and discussed by various authors. One of the hitches of the publishing industry is paying royalties to authors in spite of the fact that profit is not made in the book published. The onibonje publishers experience after 50 years iwu juliana james iwu juliana james is a librarian at covenant university, in canaanland, ota, ogun state, nigeria. Inadequacy of indigenous publishing in the country. The 1978 nigeria s enterprises promotion decree provided that at least 60% equity of participation in books publishing must be by nigerian nationals with effect from that year book publishing in nigeria became indigenous making it unnecessary to distinguished between indigenous and foreign publishing in the country. Doc the problems of indigenous book publishing in nigeria. Book publishers in nigeria list of book publishers nigeria. The study is descriptive and data sourced from secondary sources.
What are the prospects that are available for the publishing industry in nigeria. Book publishing seems to be taking the back seat in the comity of mass media especially in africa. Emma worked in the publishing field for over ten years and was formerly managing director of macmillan english campus, a digital publishing division of macmillan publishers. Book publishing and piracy in nigeria nigerian law. It comprises fifteen chapters from some of the best minds on the nigerian and international publishing scenes. Indigenous publishing of tertiary level books in nigeria. The book at present is one of the most important tools for that purpose. In the 1980s nigerias fated economic downturn killed off any dreams of a booming selfsustaining publishing industry the hesitantly built paper factories collapsed almost immediately.
Issues like poor financing, government regulation, poor reading culture, piracy and dearth of expertise were interrogated. Jun 26, 2011 problems of the book publishing industry in nigeria. Problems and prospects of book publishing in nigeria. The government of nigeria has not taken the necessary steps to promote the book publishing industry in nigeria. With a promising academia and scholarship, which such milestone institution was bound to generate, some of the leading publishers from the united kingdom such as longman, heinemann, oxford university press, cambridge university press, etc, took steps to be part. Literamed has in its stable over 400 titles of books all widely accepted in nigerian schools. Book piracy and the challenge of saving nigerias publishing. The onibonje publishers experience after 50 years iwu juliana james iwu juliana james is a librarian at. There are many pirates in nigeria who disrupt the art of publishing in nigeria. There are over 100 book publishers in nigeria, with ibadan and lagos as major publishing centres.
Aug 02, 20 in one tiny sentence, everything that is absurd, backwards, selfdeluded, and contemptible about the dying publishing industry. It is an illegal and illegitimate reproduction of other peoples intellectual property for economic. Focuses on the book publishing industry in nigeria. The onibonje publishers experience after 50 years by iwu juliana james librarian at covenant university, in canaanland, ota, ogun state, nigeria introduction. The anxiety felt by publishers, printers and booksellers as well as students, parents and educationalists, is well reflected in the frequent.
Advantages of indigenous publishing in promoting nigerian history, culture, language and social and economic life. Niyi osundare told sunday sun in 2005 that, despite his many awardwinning books and bestsellers, he. Jun 21, 2014 according to the erstwhile directorgeneral of the raw materials research and development council, prof azikiwe onwualu, the pulp, paper, paper products, printing and publishing sector of the nigeria s economy as at 2010 employed over 300,000 people with investments worth over n100 billion the punch, wednesday, july 7, 2010. A discussion of the advantages of having a welldeveloped indigenous publishing industry follows, along with recommendations for establishing and promoting such an. With a promising academia and scholarship, which such milestone institution was bound to generate, some of the leading publishers from the united kingdom such as longman, heinemann, oxford university press, cambridge university press, etc, took steps to. Before then longman books have been in existence in nigeria. Even though nigeria has the largest economy in africa, there are still many problems that it faces. The biggest challenge to the publishing industry in nigeria is book piracy. In one tiny sentence, everything that is absurd, backwards, selfdeluded, and contemptible about the dying publishing industry.