The study focused on the effects of poor reading culture on the academic performance of secondary school students in Aba Education Zone, Abia State, Nigeria. The study consisted of 105 respondents randomly selected from six public secondary schools in the education zone. A rating scale was designed and used for the study. Two research purposes, two research questions and one null hypothesis were formulated and a t-test method and test-retest method using Cronbach alpha was used for reliability of the instrument. The statistical tools used for the data collection were the mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics. The study established that reading culture does significantly affect students’ academic performance. The study recommends that all the school stakeholders should encourage training or workshops for their teachers to enable them acquire the necessary techniques that will make teaching and learning interesting to the learners and also concludes that strict monitoring of teachers should be encouraged immediately after due performance.