By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
I can never get tired of celebrating Nigerian literature, arguably Nigeria’s greatest gift to the world. The politics of Nigeria is a disaster that makes the whole wide world laugh at the so-called “Giant of Africa”.
Ever since the inspiring emergence of Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Nigerian writers have continued to astound the world with their seminal works.
The Nigerian writer of today is poised at the
crossroads of profound societal re-engineering, and capturing the daily flux of
activities can indeed be quite tasking to even the most gifted of writers. As
Achebe deposed in Anthills
of the Savannah, what survives after the epic
battle is the story.
Creating a platform for the many stories of our
epoch is a splendid generational statement. There is so much writing going on
in Nigeria in this age, and there has been the argument has been raised in some
quarters that Nigerian writing thrives more in exile.
Publishing outlets are said to be few and far
between within the shores of Nigeria as opposed to the teeming outlets in the
Western world as exemplified by, say, London and New York. The truth of course
is that many masterpieces are lying dormant in computers because of the lack of
well-organized publishing ventures.
Literary magazines are needed as they will go a
long way in filling the void. A short story or poem or critique that stands out
may eventually prove the forerunner of a fruitful literary career. When Achebe
in 1981, at Nsukka, initiated the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), there
was the palpable fear that the body might die in infancy, as writers all over
the world do not have sterling qualities of leadership and communal bonding.
Creative writing happens to be the loneliest of
occupations, and it is always a war getting the writer out of his hermitage to
bond with others. ANA has famously survived through the years. The writers’
body has had its share of ups and downs, and it is not uncommon to hear
detractors mouthing “ANA for anarchy”, but the fact remains that in its many
years ANA has given voice to the voiceless, and meaning to a polity that others
would have scoffed at.
The many novels, plays, poems and sundry literary
works that have appeared over the years have learnt needed meaning to the
Nigerian experience and the larger human condition. The coveted literary prizes
are highly regarded, though controversial in some instances.
It is praiseworthy that ANA at no time championed a literary orthodoxy. The diverse ideologies have a ready playground on the hallowed altar of ANA. The major aim has always been to celebrate literary excellence rather than political correctness.
Of course, nobody is talking of celebrating meaninglessness for the heck of it. Great art has to be married to the milieu to merit the ranks. Nigerian writing has garnered all the major prizes across the globe. In winning the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, Wole Soyinka served a powerful reminder to the world that the body of work created by African writers, especially Nigerian wordsmiths, ought to represent the necessary future for world writing.
Achebe won the Man-Booker International Prize for
his inimitable body of works by beating such eminences as Philip Roth, Salman
Rushdie, VS Naipaul etc. To cement the authority of Nigeria in the matter,
sundry writers such as Ben Okri, Helon Habila, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sefi
Attah, etc., have followed up ever since, winning esteemed prizes like the
Booker, the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Orange Prize, the Wole Soyinka
Prize respectively.
Even so, as Achebe did argue in first collection of
essays, it is morning yet on creation day. The absence of requisite criticism
has been cited as a major drawback of the new literature.
Time was when renowned Nigerian critics, notably,
Abiola Irele, Ben Obumselu, Dan Izebvaye, Michael Echeruo, Biodun Jeyifo,
Charles Nnolim, Ime Ikkiddeh, Sunday Anozie, Theo Vincent, Emmanuel Obiechina,
Sam Asein, Ernest Emenyonu, etc., were all the rage.
It would appear these days that too many poetry
collections, novels and plays are chasing too few critics. This way, some of
the eminent writers of today are bogged down doing literary criticism instead
of concentrating on the major function of literary creation.
With the emergence of literary magazines it is
hoped that the new critics of the age will now have a platform to launch
themselves onto the heights. Through
the power of the printed word there is hope to give voice to the veteran and
the tyro, the guru and the innocent.
What will unite the company is the esteemed goal of
literary excellence, for it is from the virginal that the world grows to
celebrate the original. It gives me unquantifiable joy celebrating the
novelists, playwrights and poets for keeping the Nigerian literary flag aloft
on the world stage.
*Uzoatu is a poet, scholar, journalist, playwright and public affairs analyst
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