A wife dear to one is whom one admires her children. Book publishing is the mother. Nigerian Publishers Association is the baby of book publishing. Dr Sunday Obiyinka loves book publishing with untiring passion and NPA, book publishing’s baby, is dear to his heart. He has a covenant with his conscience to see NPA work for the benefits of book publishers in particular and book industry and Nigerian education sector in general. This is the reason the major crux of Dr Obiyinka’s intent to lead NPA is to reposition the Association along its established aims and objectives for improved, better performance.
NPA has been in the doldrums of mismanagement, maladministration and non inclusiveness. There is an urgent need to save the Association from further plunge into non vibrancy and non inclusiveness which have ensured that a sustainable book publishing industry continues to be a mirage.
To this end, Dr Sunday Obiyinka, a candidate, seeking to lead NPA to greatness, is ready to champion advocacy and lobbying efforts to address the perennial issues of piracy, copyright infringement and other relevant challenges being faced by book publishing practitioners.
With his focus on collaboration and inclusion, Dr Obiyinka intends to foster working and workable partnerships with the relevant government agencies that have something to do with book publishing, pre-primary, primary, post-primary and tertiary educational institutions, and international organisations in a bid to expand market oppprtunities in book publishing, to strengthen members’ voice as a body and enhance access to funding opportunities.
Dr Obiyinka recognises the need to develop capacity-building programmes for members with a strong focus on both hard copy and digital publishing and sales and marketing. Fortunately, Dr Obiyinka’s recently concluded doctorate degree program which research brought forth remarkable findings on sales and marketing in book publishing will come handy in engendering relevant trainings for members.
To put his vision for collaboration and inclusion into practice, Dr Obiyinka intends to enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing among members through regular organisation of workshops, conferences, seminars and active online fora.
With the expected emergence of Dr Sunday Obiyinka as the next NPA Chairman, the Association is set to ignite an era of transparency, accountability and responsible leadership in its operations. His possession of necessary leadership skills, industry expertise and solid network to drive positive change in NPA puts him in a better stead. His achievements in book publishing are too obvious to ignore. His passion for the industry is not in doubt. His networking skills are what NPA needs to become positively sustainable.
As a team player, Dr Obiyinka believes that he can use the support and cooperation of members to strengthen NPA’s voice, increase membership benefits and services, promote Nigerian content globally and empower Nigerian publishers to thrive in the digital age.
