Literacy advocate Foluke Falayi marks 4th Annual ‘Read With Me’

By Isa Isawade

Literacy advocate and author Foluke Sijuwola Falayi has marked the 4th Annual Read With Me International Literacy Day 2026 in Lagos, Nigeria.

The event, which drew guests from diverse walks of life, took place on Tuesday at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Conference and Exhibition Centre, Alausa, Ikeja.

In her opening address, the prolific author called on Nigerians to take personal responsibility for spreading literacy, warning that the nation cannot achieve true transformation while illiteracy persists.

Falayi recounted how, over the years, she has always spoken to children hawking during school hours before buy from them.

“Whether I need their wares or not, I will always buy before engaging them in conversation about why they were out of school and encouraging them to enroll.

“The outcome of such conversations, especially from children who live with guardians and parents, can be deep and saddening. At other times, they are just flimsy excuses made out of ignorance. Whatever the reasons, without literacy there’s no future,” she said.

Noting that September 2026 marks 60 years since UNESCO established International Literacy Day, Falayi painted a vivid picture of the daily reality of the illiterate, asking the audience to imagine being unable to read an incoming call, an inbox message, a book, a prescription, or an ATM screen without begging strangers for help.

“You will agree with me that reading, writing and comprehension make life possible,” she said. “There are people for whom what we have just imagined is their reality on a daily basis. They exist in our cities, towns, and villages; sometimes, they are our neighbours.”

She urged those who have been transformed by literacy to pass on the gift. “Leave the number alone; do more! Let us encourage those who can neither read nor write, for as long as there are still people who are illiterate and excluded, we cannot witness true transformation. The onus lies with us — on everyone who has been transformed — to transfer knowledge to others.”

Describing the theme of the occasion as “Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity,” she added: “Literacy has brought us prosperity: prosperity for me, for you, and for everyone in this hall and our planet.”

In his keynote address, the main speaker, Afolabi Adelakun, Country Manager of The Sun Books Literacy Initiative, expressed gratitude to the parents and guardians of the students in attendance for giving them the opportunity to be literate.

“Our children know better now because they are literate. They will not be willing tools in the hands of the enemy,” Adelakun said.

He spoke on how literacy aids learning and appealed to the government to intervene when parents fail to provide education for their children, reminding the gathering that “education is a right, not a privilege.”

Falayi, the convener of the event, is an author of over 20 books read from primary to tertiary levels across Africa.