‘Government takeover of schools biggest mistake in Nigeria’

, before he went on to establish Spectrum Books Ltd., in 1978, the Amsterdam-born Berkhout has earned himself accolades and respect among authors and academics in Nigeria.

Speaking to The Guardian on the telephone, he said, “I understand that the virus targets people above 70 years more and all my friends are over 70. I have cancelled the celebration. Indeed, I have gone on self-isolation now to protect myself and my people.” I came to Nigeria from The Gambia. I was working for Oxford University, and my time was over and they wanted to transfer me to Europe. On the same day, they asked whether I was interested in going to Nigeria. The only thing I remembered about Nigeria was that the people were great readers. It was just a new country. I was posted here to start Evans . Then Evans transferred me again to London. I was there for three months. I came back to Nigeria and started publishing books.

So, in those days, Nigeria was a goldmine for anybody. Few population and large opportunities. All secondary schools were in the hand of voluntary agencies. There were only a few schools owned by the government. Taking over schools was the biggest mistake made in the country by the military. The problems are still with us today. Before the takeover, every school was independent. Christ School, Ado-Ekiti was famous for a high standard.

The aspiration of younger writers is increasing. More people want to write. Oyinkan Braithwaite was nominated for Booker Prize. Of course, we’ve got other interesting developments. A lot of qualified Nigerians are living overseas. We have many Nigerian doctors in the US, England and all over the world. When you see a black person in a foreign hospital, you can be sure he is a Nigerian. I did operation a few years ago and the person was a lady from the teaching hospital in Ibadan here.

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