LENRIE OLATOKUNBO AINA,  PhD, FNLA

DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, NIGERIA

Tel-07035027577; e-mail: ainalo2000@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Dear ……………………………………………………………………

 

Soliciting your vote for the position of President of Nigeria Library Association, 2010-2012

 

I, Professor Lenrie Olatokunbo Aina wish to make myself available for the position of President of the Nigerian Library Association (NLA) in order to take the association to a higher level. Listed below are some of the activities I have been involved in and what I intend to do in the next two years if elected the NLA President.

 

Contributions to the Profession in Nigeria

 

I itemize below some of my contributions to the profession in Nigeria:

 

·         Chairman, NLA Old Oyo State (now Oyo and Osun States) Chapter, 1981-1983.

·         Member of NLA Council, 1981-1983.

·         Chairman, Local Organizing Committee 21st NLA Annual Conference, Ibadan, Nigeria 1983.

·         Ag. Editor-in- Chief, Nigeria Library and Information Science Review, (Oyo State publication) 1987- 1988.

·         Headed the Executive Committee of NLA (Oyo State Chapter) that established Library Forum, 1982.

·         Headed the Executive Committee of NLA (Oyo State Chapter) that established Nigeria Library and Information Science Review, 1983.

·         Established African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science, 1991 (the only LIS journal in Africa cited by Thomson Citation Index). Served as the Editor-in-Chief from 1991-2007.

·         Attracted a grant from UK to organize a workshop for budding authors in Nigeria in 2002. Title: Training Course on Research and Writing Skills for Authors in Nigeria, 7- 11 October,   2002. Ibadan, Nigeria. 

·         Attracted a grant from UK to organize a workshop for editors of LIS journals in West Africa 2002. Title: Training Course on the Sustenance of LIS Journals in West Africa at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 30 June – 5 July 2003.

·         Attracted a grant to organize a conference in Nigeria. Theme: Improving the Quality of Library and Information Science Journals in West Africa: Proceedings of the Stakeholders Conference 7-8 December, 2005, Ibadan, Nigeria.

·         Participated at many meetings of Oyo State Chapter of the NLA during my stay in Botswana. I was also an active financial member. I received the most dedicated Distant Member Award in 2007. I was also a regular attendee of NLA annual conferences while I was away in Botswana.

·         Coordinator, Nigeria Library Association Accreditation and Review Committee, 2008.

·         Resuscitated the moribund Niger State Chapter of NLA. April, 2008.

 

My Manifesto for the New Era

 

Professional Visibility

While it has to be acknowledged that the Nigeria Library Association has performed above average, there is room for radical improvement so that it can compare favourably with other vibrant professional associations in Nigeria. As of now our association in Nigeria is largely unknown outside the library community.  In a recent informal survey that I conducted among 20 undergraduates in disciplines other than librarianship across the universities in Nigeria I asked them a simple question: Can you name 10 professional associations you are aware of in Nigeria? Not one mentioned the NLA. I invite you to try and repeat the same and you will confirm my findings. That NLA has a low profile is not contestable. But can NLA be made one of the vibrant professional associations in Nigeria? Yes it can.  The association needs to address this urgently. It is my intention to raise the profile of NLA if I am elected the President. The association needs a president with both local and international connections. This is why you need to elect me as your President.

 

My mission is to make the NLA as respectable as Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA), Library Association (LA) of UK, America Library Association (ALA) in the international community. I am very conversant with these associations. I witnessed the birth of LIASA in 1994 and attended many of their activities over the years. I was a member of Library Association, UK for many years. I am a member of the American Library Association (ALA). I want the NLA to adopt the best practices of these associations. If I am elected the President of NLA I will strengthen the secretariat of the NLA by exposing the staff to modern techniques of managing library associations so that they will serve us better.

 

Capacity Building and Career Advancement

I will ensure increased capacity building activities in the association. If elected, the association will increase the present tempo by exposing more members to training courses and workshops on a variety of issues. I will ensure that more libraries and librarians benefit. There will be decentralization of most capacity building activities to the six geographical zones of Nigeria. My executive will actively promote the professional sections in the Association. We will support all their activities by assisting them in soliciting for grants and donations to enable them provide capacity building workshops for their members. If elected, I will also provide an enabling environment in which members of NLA can advance in their careers, that is obtaining higher qualifications, while still retaining their jobs. I will encourage library schools in Nigeria to use the opportunity of ICT to expand access to education. The Association will pursue vigorously the issue of on-line distance learning programmes in Nigerian library schools so that more members can progress academically on part-time basis until they reach the pinnacle of their academic pursuits.

 

Co-operation with other Associations

If elected President of NLA I will co-operate with the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA), the Library Association (LA) of UK and the America Library Association (ALA). I will use my connection with these associations to elevate NLA by maintaining close co-operation with them and adopting their best practices for NLA. In addition, I will network with other professional associations in Nigeria.

 

 

 

Transparency and Accountability

Transparency will be my watch word. My executive will ensure that NLA funds are spent judiciously. There will be regular updates on income and expenditure statement of NLA for every quarter.

 

Other Issues

 

In addition to the items listed above, if you elect me your president, I will focus on the following:

 

·         Providing an online quarterly newsletter that will feature all the activities of NLA.

·         Establishing partnerships with well–endowed individuals and corporate bodies in Nigeria on the need to build model public libraries that will be named after them in major cities of Nigeria.

·         Facilitating the establishment of Senate and House of Representatives committees on libraries.

·         Broadening and increasing the membership base of NLA by at least 20% within two years.    

·         Establishing a training fund for the purpose of assisting green librarians in capacity building. Fellows of Nigeria Library Association will play a prominent role in this regard.

 

 

 

Please give me your support by electing me as your President. I count on your support.  For more information, visit my website at:

 

http://www.ainalonlacampaign2009.8m.net

 

Thank you.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

 

 

Prof. L.O. Aina

01/06/10