A library becomes a lifeline for out-of-school children in a Nigerian fishing community

Image Description: A portrait of a young girl in a yellow-tinted library filled with water. In the background behind her, there are also people on boats and desks shaped like boats.

The children at the heart of  Yenagoa’s Kpansia Market, in Bayelsa State, are hard to miss. From cockcrow to cock roost, they walk and play around the market, often barefoot, rolling discarded tyres when they are not in a canoe paddling in the hunt for fish to help their parents.

“I was in Primary 6 when I stopped going to school. Though I wasn’t happy about it, it was due to my parents’ financial struggles,” says 12-year-old Marvelous Akumogbia. Akumogbia’s parents are fishermen and couldn’t afford his school fees, so they asked him to drop out and join them in fishing, despite his desire to continue his education.

It’s also hard to miss the Yellow House Library in Yenagoa. Its tall wooden frame, covered in bright yellow tarpaulin, stands out. Inside, eager children browse the bookshelves, settle onto plastic chairs or wooden benches, and immerse themselves in stories.  Founded in 2021 by Babawale Babafemi, the library began as a reading club to boost literacy among out-of-school children. Babafemi also wanted a safe home for the collection of children’s and adult books he inherited from his father.

“My father was a former principal at a school in Kwara State. He was an erudite principal who loved to read,” Babafemi tells Minority Africa. 

The library is open every weekend and welcomes anyone who wants to lose themselves in the world of books. Upon arrival, the children are divided into groups, each group selecting a book to review each week. Currently, more than 60 children attend regularly. The children in the Yellow House Library show how libraries can contribute to intellectualism and the overall literal growth of a society.  Before the former governor, the late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha built the first library in 2002, there was no library in the whole state. 

As of  2018, Bayelsa had only three public libraries. Meanwhile, it is one of Nigeria’s 23 educational disadvantages (EDs) states where education is considered unimportant. Being a coastal region, community members only give fishing a priority due to poverty, and that worsens the number of out-of-school children in the state.

“[The children] are easy to identify. I see them every day from Monday to Friday not going to school while their mates do,”  Babafemi says. “I get them to take me to their parents. When I ask their parents or relatives why the children were not in school? They say there’s no money to send them there, so I will talk them into allowing their children to visit my library every weekend.” 

In 2023, it was reported that an estimated 250,000 children were out of school in the state alone, out of 20 million statistics given by the United Nations Education and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO). In March this year, The Cable’s mapping of the states in Nigeria showed that about 7.4% of children are out of school in Bayelsa.

Babafemi considers being literate as the key to a good life because without it life might be difficult. “Reading and writing have played a major role in my life; the people I have met who have shaped my life are from my literary circle. Reading also enhances my mental health,” he says.

Using funds raised on social media, Babafemi covers the transport fare for some of the kids every weekend and also provides refreshments to encourage them to attend the literary club. The club gives the children books to take home, which will be discussed the subsequent week, to encourage them to form a personal reading habit.

The library’s impact is evident. Through regular reading and group discussions, in addition to tutoring handled by Babawale and his friends, children like Akumogbia have re-enrolled in school, performing exceptionally in the entrance exams. Rejoice Ekiza shares a similar story.

“I am a member of the library,” ‘Ekiza says happily. “I joined one year ago, and the teaching in the library helped me in the entrance examination.” Ekiza stopped going to school in 2021 because his family could not afford his ₦4000 (around $2.45) school fees. In 2023, he met Babafemi, who dedicated time to teaching him. Now, Ekiza has returned to school with the aid of constant teaching, scoring 30/40 in both English and Mathematics.

“When I started with the children, to be honest, there was no improvement,” Babafemi says. “They had left school for a long period, and learning seemed strange to them. I dedicated four months to them. Now, there is  an improvement as I have enrolled six of them who passed the entrance examination to school.” 

Twice a year, in order to further encourage children and the community to embrace reading and learning, the Yellow House Library hosts a spelling bee dubbed a “Street Slam” at the local market square. The competition draws in young contestants from around the community, giving them a stage to showcase their skills. In 2022, 14-year-old Blessing Perekosufa, an avid Yellow House Library attendee with dreams of becoming a doctor, won first place. 

Perekosufa helps her family earn a living by hunting periwinkle with a canoe. Three years ago, she dropped out of a government school due to her parents’ inability to afford the fees. Since then, the library has become her favourite place, where she immerses herself in a wide range of literature. 

“I started visiting Yellow House Library three years ago to improve my literacy. I felt so excited when I took second position in the competition. I will never forget the library when I grow up,” Perekosufa says.  Her favourite book is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah. “Reading a mature book like Americanah has not only enabled me to master some big new words but also improved my fluency in English language speaking.” 

Babafemi says that Nigeria’s popular spelling bee competitions rarely include teens from underserved homes, so he organised Street Slam to make them feel included. Ebitare Okilo, 12, another out-of-school child, spends much of his time in his aunt’s shop, yet he managed to take second place in the competition held in November 2023.

“Discussing storybooks with my colleagues is part of my attraction to the library, and our instructors are friendly,” Okilo says. His favourite book is Lark Sontag’s What Every Child Should Know. Having read the book several times, he has learned about the challenges of growing up and how to cope with them, which has given him great hope for the future.

Despite all the good the library is bringing to the community, it faces significant challenges, with limited resources being at the forefront. The children receive no support from their parents, who can barely afford to transport them to the library. In an effort to help Babafemi continue paying their school fees, the children came up with a surprising suggestion: selling sachet water to raise funds.

“Before the library, they had been doing many menial jobs to stay afloat,” Babafemi says. “I know some of the teens from the market, some ground pepper, and some will help carry loads for a fee. To be honest, it’s not something I wish to encourage, but there’s the need for stability.” 

The library is also affected by flooding, which destroys the books. Bayelsa, a South-South state, is one of the 33 of the 36 states experiencing the ripple effect of flooding in Nigeria for years. In the West African country, more than 600 people have lost their lives due to incessant incidence according to a CNN report in 2022. The country’s ministry of humanitarian affairs reports that 1.5 million people have been displaced.

Despite the hurdles, Babafemi and the children press on, envisioning a future where the library grows and accommodates more readers. For Okilo, the Yellow House Library represents a chance at a better future. At the last spelling bee held in November 2023, he stood proudly in the square holding a placard that read in part “We grow through what we go through…but we grow in strength, hope and grace.”

For the children of the Yellow House Library, each book represents a chance to dream and a life beyond the fishing trade. 

Edited/Reviewed by PK Cross, Caleb Okereke, Uzoma Ihejirika, Samuel Banjoko, Adebola Makinde, and Kenneth Awom.