The World Literacy Summit at Oxford University in March 2027 has selected three individuals engaged in literacy initiatives in Lagos to speak.

Dr. Regina Inem from the Regamos Foundation, Adeola Adedunke Adefemi representing the Lagos State Ministry of Education, and Farida Ladipo-Ajayi of The Bookworm Café have been chosen to deliver talks at the summit. They are part of a select group of 450 speakers from over 85 countries, and the only three based in Lagos.

Their talks

Adeola Adedunke Adefemi: “Voice Before Vocabulary: Rethinking Literacy Through a Multilingual Girls’ Radio Initiative in an Underserved Nigerian Community”

Farida Ladipo-Ajayi: “It’s Just Talking: How Nigerian Families Grow Language at Home, and Why They Don’t See It as Literacy”

Dr. Regina Inem: “Every Child Can Read: A Community-Led, AI-Enabled Framework for Accelerating Literacy in Low-Resource Communities”

Adefemi teaches English at Keke Senior High School in Agege. In 2023 she won the African Union Continental Teacher Prize, given to no more than eight teachers across the whole continent each year.

Ladipo-Ajayi established The Bookworm Café in Ilupeju in 2016, supported by a grant from the Tony Elumelu Foundation. Her motivation stemmed from a desire for her son to grow up as an avid reader. The café serves as both a bookshop and a reading club for children, offering a selection of local and international children’s books. Additionally, it hosts reading programs on weekends and during school holidays.

Inem is the founder and executive director of the Regamos Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting widows, orphans, and vulnerable young people through education, empowerment, and advocacy. She is also an educational consultant and a child protection advocate, holding a master’s degree in educational psychology.

“Literacy initiatives are carried out in a variety of local settings, such as classrooms, libraries, and community halls,” stated Andrew Kay, CEO and Founder of the World Literacy Foundation. “The purpose of the Summit is to promote learning and encourage collaboration among all individuals involved in this vital work, transcending national boundaries.”

The World Literacy Summit unites educators, researchers, publishers, and policymakers and is expected to attract 1,600 delegates, alongside ten networking events. It has been hosted at Oxford University since 2012, and the 2027 Summit runs from 31 March to 3 April.