A Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of Ilorin, Lanre Aina, has called on governments and relevant stakeholders to ensure adequate funding of libraries in the country.

Prof. Aina made the call at the eighth Jire Olanlokun Memorial lecture, held at the Julius Berger Hall, University of Lagos, Akoka, where members of the academic community and librarians gathered to celebrate one of their own, the late Dr. Jire Olanlokun.

The immediate past Dean of the Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences (CIS) lamented that the current practice of librarianship in the country is a sure journey to the extinction of the profession.

Prof. Aina extolled the virtue of the late Olanlokun, describing him as one of the most distinguished university librarians Nigeria has ever produced, even as he charged other librarians to sustain the legacy the deceased left behind.

He said, “Olanlokun did not only serve Nigeria but indeed West Africa, hence he should be immortalised.  It is unfortunate that we have not been able to function effectively since he departed. The major stakeholders in the library system, which include the Nigerian Library Association and Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN), have been found wanting in ensuring that libraries  remain relevant in the country principally because of lack of a council.  So, the government and other professional bodies must ensure that libraries are well funded so that the profession could be practiced effectively so that practitioners would be able to serve the users appropriately.”

In his own remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, Prof. Isaac Adeyemi, who chaired the lecture, urged students of tertiary institutions to awaken the dying reading culture in order to build a bright future.

He also admonished participants to create awareness by exploring the world of communication and technology.