Prominent legal scholar, author, and arbitration expert Dr. Chris Onyemaechi Okoboh has called on the federal government and parents to adopt urgent measures, including targeted legislative interventions, to combat social media distraction and revive Nigeria’s declining reading culture among young people.
Dr. Okoboh made the call during the mid-August launch of four new academic books and an authorial companion website at a public ceremony in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory. The event brought together a distinguished audience of legal practitioners, academics, political leaders, and military officers to address the growing concern over shifting educational priorities among Nigerian youth.
Addressing attendees as the host and keynote speaker, Dr. Okoboh, a prolific author of 67 publications and recipient of the African Best Living Author award, emphasized that a nation’s long-term development relies heavily on research, serious scholarship, and an informed populace.
He warned that unchecked social media consumption is eroding intellectual engagement among the younger generation, leaving critical societal issues unaddressed.
”Through my writing, I speak for the voiceless, and through books offer solutions and suggestions to challenges plaguing us daily as a people… It is fundamental that government, through legislation, and parents must work together to bring back the culture of reading in our society,” Dr. Okoboh stated.
Distinguished guests at the ceremony reinforced the call for educational reform. Senator Ned Munir Nwoko, representing Delta North Senatorial District, served as the Special Guest of Honour while also representing the Event Chairman, former Kano State Governor Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. Senator Nwoko commended Dr. Okoboh’s scholarly endurance and stressed the importance of integrating locally authored legal texts into Nigerian academic and public institutions.
To support the campaign for broader literacy and legal education, Senator Nwoko and Alhaji Ganduje jointly purchased 400 copies of the newly presented books for distribution across academic libraries, tertiary institutions, and legislative bodies.
”No doubt the books are very informative. Not only that, it is a celebration of knowledge, scholarship, and endurance,” Senator Nwoko remarked during the presentation.
The newly unveiled works spanning Maritime Law in Nigeria, Nigerian Property Management, Nigerian Risk Management, and Arbitration in Nigeria, aim to provide updated frameworks for national governance, commercial regulation, and institutional risk management.
Guest reviewer Dumebi Henry Emma-Dibia, Esq., noted that texts such as Maritime Law in Nigeria offer crucial insights into regulatory reforms required to address operational risks within the maritime sector.
Along with the four print volumes, Dr. Okoboh launched a digital author platform designed to provide students, researchers, and policymakers with direct, open access to his broader body of research and publications.
