6 July 2026
Academy Press and Ekenua & Co. Launch the Million Classics Programme in Lagos, Placing Animal Farm into the Hands of Secondary School Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 6 July 2026
LAGOS — Academy Press PLC and Ekenua & Co. Limited have launched the Million Classics Programme, a Nigerian civic-education programme that uses the world's enduring classics to build critical thinking, moral reasoning and leadership in secondary school students.
The Programme's Launch Cycle formally opened on Wednesday, 24 June 2026 with the placement of the first 1,500 copies of George Orwell's Animal Farm into the hands of students across three senior secondary schools in Ilupeju, Lagos - the first phase of a wider rollout across further schools in Education District VI in the coming weeks.
Million Classics is delivered through a formal joint venture between Academy Press PLC - a publicly listed Nigerian printing house with over six decades of experience printing the books that have shaped Nigerian education - and Ekenua & Co. Limited, a London-headquartered strategy and delivery firm operating between London and Lagos. The Programme is governed by a Cooperation Agreement and overseen by a joint Steering Committee.
The initiative is built around the Programme Cycle: a complete learning experience in which students engage with a classic text, take part in guided classroom discussions, submit original essays that are judged by an independent panel, and are publicly recognised at an Awards event where three winners receive cash prizes and three-year scholarships. This is the structure that will govern every future Programme Cycle, in Lagos and beyond.
The Launch Cycle is delivered in cooperation with the office of the Tutor-General and Permanent Secretary of Lagos State Education District VI, Mrs Mojisola Christiana Yusuff, whose Reading Culture Initiative is the operational partner for the cycle in the district's schools.
In the coming weeks, school liaisons appointed by the Programme will coordinate a thematic essay competition during the summer holidays, giving participating students the opportunity to engage more deeply with the themes of Animal Farm and to express their own ideas in writing.
Mrs Oluwakemi Ogunnubi, Managing Director of Academy Press PLC, said: "Academy Press has printed books for Nigerian classrooms for over sixty years, and we understand what it means when a young person opens a book that will stay with them for life. The Million Classics Programme is an ambitious and important undertaking, and we are proud to be founding it in partnership with Ekenua & Co. Placing the world's great classics into the hands of Nigerian secondary school students - beginning today in Lagos - is exactly the kind of work we believe our industry should be doing. We look forward to what this Programme will mean for students across Nigeria as it grows."
Osamede Okhomina, Managing Director at Ekenua & Co. Limited, said: "Our students can read. What we owe them is the chance to think — carefully, critically, and for themselves. The Programme is built on the belief that great books, paired with real engagement, are among the most effective tools we have for building a generation of Nigerian readers who become thinkers, and thinkers who become leaders. This Launch Cycle is the beginning of something we intend to grow across the country."
Maxwell Marshall, Local Programme Lead, said: "We are grateful for the cooperation of the Lagos State Tutor-General's office for Education District VI, and for the commitment of our partner schools, educators and supporters who share our belief that access to great books, paired with structured engagement, can broaden perspectives and shape lifelong learning."
Million Classics is a long-term programme to place enduring classics in the hands of young Nigerian readers — one Programme Cycle at a time.
About the Million Classics Programme Million Classics is a Nigerian civic-education programme that uses the world's enduring classics — and the structured reading, discussion, writing and recognition that follow — to build critical thinking, moral reasoning and leadership in secondary school students. The Programme is delivered through a joint venture between Academy Press PLC and Ekenua & Co. Limited, under a formal Cooperation Agreement and the oversight of a joint Steering Committee. The long-term vision is to expand the Programme nationally through a State Sponsor model, giving students across Nigeria the chance to broaden their horizons and better position themselves for the future.
About Academy Press PLC Academy Press PLC is a publicly listed Nigerian publishing company with over six decades of experience, and one of Nigeria's leading printers of educational material. Academy Press is a joint venture partner in the Million Classics Programme, providing the print run, warehousing and primary logistics for the Programme.
About Ekenua & Co. Limited Ekenua & Co. Limited is a London-headquartered firm operating between London and Lagos, working at the intersection of strategy, advisory, capital raising and programme delivery in Nigeria. Its education portfolio includes the Million Classics Programme and the National AI Innovation Programme, developed with the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA).
Media Contact Maxwell Marshall Local Programme Lead max.m@millionclassics.org +234 817 326 0335 millionclassics.org
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