By Ali Elias
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) is set to host the fifth edition of its Book Reading Programme, featuring journalist, public policy analyst and strategic communicator, Paul C. Nwabuikwu, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The programme, centred on Nwabuikwu’s book, The Pain and the Promise, is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 4pm at the NCDMB Conference Centre, Yenagoa.
NCDMB has invited members of the general public to attend the session, which is designed to provide an opportunity for participants to engage with the author and explore issues raised in the book.
The Board’s book-reading initiative dates back to August 2014 and was conceived as a platform for intellectual discourse, literacy, critical thinking and knowledge exchange. Its more recent editions have featured prominent writers and public figures, reinforcing the programme as part of NCDMB’s broader interest in human-capital development.
The Pain and the Promise brings together reflections on Nigeria, its people, politics, economics, public policy and society, drawing from Nwabuikwu’s extensive experience in journalism, communications and public service.
For NCDMB, the initiative carries significance beyond an afternoon literary engagement. The agency’s mandate is closely associated with local content, skills development and building indigenous capacity in the oil and gas industry, but sustainable capacity also requires people who can read, think critically, communicate effectively and engage constructively with national issues.
That makes the programme relevant to Nigeria at a time when the country needs more informed public conversations about governance, economic development, leadership and the future of its young population. Books provide one avenue for such conversations because they allow complex national experiences to be examined beyond the immediacy of headlines and political rhetoric.
For NCDMB, the challenge is to ensure that the book-reading programme grows beyond an institutional event into a sustained platform for intellectual engagement. If it succeeds in attracting young people, professionals, writers and members of the wider public into meaningful conversations, the Board would be contributing to an important but often overlooked dimension of local content—developing the capacity to generate and interrogate ideas, not merely consume them.