By Gregory Austin Nwakunor
and Anote Ajeluorou
The world of books and those
who create them is always a fascinating one, especially with the way ideas
about society are thrown up. This year’s Port Harcourt Book Festival organized
by the Mrs. Koko Kalango-led rainbow Book Club was no exception. There were
writers from far and within and they came with their bagful of inspiring ideas
on how the book could advanced and how society can better be improved.
Right from its opening on Tuesday, October
22, when former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili spoke on Literature
and the Creative Economy and admonished writers to engage more with other
segments of the arts for an enriched banquet, there was no holding back on the
floodgate of ideas. Rivers State governor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, also a
student of Literature, came hard on writers for failing to do more in their
writing to expose current political ills in the country, as a way of galvanizing
a critical mass in the polity to push for needed change.
As always, Amaechi said he always keeps faith
with A man of the People, Chinua
Achebe’s all time expose on Nigeria’s political malaise that is still fresh
from its first publication in 1966. Amaechi argued that since that book, no
other writer or book has taken on Nigerian politics as frontally as Achebe.
Ezekwesili echoed this view when she posited,
“Writers can
leverage their goodwill with the broader society to amplify the voice of
citizens. A collective led by writers who are well connected to those issues
which assail the broader society can actually help build the culture of public
debate and citizens' demand for good governance. The absence of these
democratic processes or institutions is the leading cause of failure
of governance. The fact that evidence-based citizens' engagement with
democratic institutions exerts the kind of intellectual rigour that only they
can fill makes it necessary for the literary community to collaborate. It will
make them natural leaders of the intellectual process of mobilising the kinds
of citizens that relentlessly demand for accountability and results from those
that govern at all levels.
“A backward or forward integration of
writers' solid content with the mass reach of musicians or
actors/actresses can in turn produce formidable policy entrepreneurs. Such
advocates for sound policies can facilitate the quick ascent of the
creative economy to the top of public agenda. Partnership can only lead to a
race to the top for all sides or a rising of standards and quality. The writers’
community should be at the centre of the British Council supported project that
is mapping of the creative economy to generate evidence-based data for
advocating informed policy interventions by government. That would be more
productive a venture for the creative industries than any attempt at losing
their creative freedom, which has been their critical success factor.
“By resisting the temptation to invite
government to provide generalised subsidies that could stifle their growth the
literary community will bring their legendary independence of thought and
action to the benefit of their larger community of citizens who have earned a
living completely devoid of reliance on the public treasury. Their message of
the monetary and non-monetary values of diligent effort/ hard work is perhaps
one of the best value repositioning that any group could give to our leaders
and citizens alike.
“There is a dignified life outside of oil
rent. Indeed, there is a rewarding life of individual drive to create and excel
that resides within millions of our citizens that will accelerate our rise to
the largest economy if we committed ourselves to making it happen”.
IN
responding to Ezekwesili’s keynote, Dr. Obari Gomba, Chika Unigwe, copyright
lawyer and publisher, Ayodele Ayeni and Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina
praised her for the forthright presentation of Nigeria’s woeful economic status
and how the creative industry, with literature as leader could positively the
game-changer from an oil-dependent economy.
Gomba, a literature lecturer at Department of
English Studies, University of Port Harcourt, posited that the creative sector
of the economy has a direct bearing in wealth-creation. He argued further that
as writers, “It’s sheer masochism for them to remain poor. We don’t need to
work hard but to work smart because I like the good things of life; I would not
allow the system to drag me down. I should be able to drink good wine as a
writer”.
For Wainaina, the dynamism in the new music
revolution in vogue across Africa should rob off on literary creativity. He
urged the political class to promote policies that art-friendly. Wainaina
expressed happiness at the new platforms of social media capable of delivering
content faster to audiences for which he pronounced the death of the book,
saying, “The book is dead as it is today. So, why not put content on screens
for our pupils. This is the African hurricane, which is Africa fully
transformed or slide. We are no longer in a place of choice. We need not fear
change”.
2012 winner of The Nigeria Prize for
Literature and Belgium-based author of On
Black Sisters Street, Unigwe, said although there were fewer platforms for
literary creativity like Kenya-based Kwani?,
a journal for creativity that gives diverse writers, writing was on the
ascendance on the continent, especially Nigeria. She carpeted against
government’s support of art, and said but for Belgium government’s grant she
got, she would not have had the space and time to write.
She noted, “Government’s investment in
creativity is not a bad thing. Digital technology has helped contact across the
world. There are readings and book clubs. What I see is a huge collaboration of
writers. There are publishers now as against when I left 18 years ago. I’m
thinking of a Writing Centre because I’ve been a huge beneficiary of writing
centres of other governments. I’m looking at setting up a Writing Resort,
Application Developers; but we need to get government support”.
Ayeni contended that there was a “fundamental
place for literature in creative economy because a developed nation consists of
a developed people” and added that there was too much “miles between literature
and the other sectors of the creative industry”. He, however, noted that
literature was the “mother of creative industry because all others feed on it”.
The copyright lawyer further charged writers
to see themselves as entrepreneurs, and advised that embracing an economic
model would assure them of the good life. Ayeni assured it was only as
entrepreneurs that writers could be said to be creating value since commerce
was key in intellectual property, saying “It’s like real estate, and you need
to protect it by knowing how valuable it is. Government should be interested
and must help in fighting piracy. We need some force, which writers don’t have.
We need collective management organisations (CMOs)”.
In summing up the session, chairman of Port
Harcourt Literary Society, Dr. Chidi Amuta, urged support for the proposed Creative
Village soon to be built, as part of facilities for the UNESCO World Book
Capital 2014 which Port Harcourt won early in the year. He said it would
“provide a non-governmental platform to harness the creative economy; we urge
those with enough cash to support it. I’m delighted there are younger chaps
coming up to take over the baton of creativity. There’s a lot of hope in the
creative economy in the younger generation”.
The session was moderated by art and culture
writer, Omolara Wood.
ON
the sub-theme ‘Literature and the Performing Arts’, comedian, Julius Agwu,
radio presenter and poet, Uzo Nwamara and spoken word artist and writer, Sammy
Sage Hassan made useful presentations. It was moderated by 2013 winner of The
Nigerian Prize for Literature, Tade Ipadeola.
Hassan pointed out, “I’ve never seen poetry
separate from prose or film. For me literature is one, a body of cultural and
philosophical expression of ideas. The divide is merely academic. Art for me is
more than words, an expression of emotions using words. Artists communicate
culture, philosophy”. Although he writes jokes, Hassan said he lacked the
timing and punch to deliver jokes and quit being a comedian as a result.
He, however, faulted those who ascribe certain
roles to writers as sort of society’s savior. He said it was not necessary for
him to write to save society, but that it was a universal given for all human
beings in society to do something for public good.
Agwu said there was nothing like doing
something with passion, “doing something that satisfies you. I discovered early
enough that entertainment was for me. The turning point was when I decided to
study Theatre Arts to get a grasp of the theoretical part”.
Nwamara opined radio affect listeners in
different ways. He lamented poverty being suffered by writers as a result of
lack of patronage of their works. He urged artists to “do a rethink to come out
of comatose. We don’t take what we should take seriously. The writer is dying
because we celebrate failure and mediocrity. We’re being devalued. There should
be endowment for writers. A serious writer cannot be a businessman”.
Nwamara drew an interesting parallel from
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart,
when he stated that Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, a musician, died of swollen
disease, a result of poverty or hunger. Unoka was a flutist and Umuofia, like
modern day Nigeria, didn’t not give him due recognition and died a shameful
death. He averred, “You cannot live in an environment where you are starved.
Writers need nourishment. Failure of understanding who Unoka was is a metaphor
of the artist in Nigeria. On the last day, he took his flute away with him at
his burial.
“Obi, Unoka’s grandson in No Longer at Ease, didn’t want to be
like him and so stole money to overcome poverty”.
On the performance value of his art, Agwu
said, “My performance is didactic; while making you laugh, I make sure you
think and say, ‘Na true o!’ He also
stated that one of his comedy products, Festival
of Love, which he celebrates at Valentine’s Day, is in response to the
bloodletting in parts of the country and as a way of stemming such.
While noting that there was a need to reward
those who make people laugh, he also argued that Nollywood is the most kleptocratic industry in Africa, as it
virtually copied with acknowledging or paying for materials it uses.
ALSO,
a session was devoted to ‘Digital Technology and Literary Sector’, where
opportunities in digital technology, with its many social media platforms, can
be harnessed by writers and publishers alike to leverage on writing and its
delivery for end users, readers. Moderated by Atodele Ayeni, it had Farafina
Chief Operating Officer (COO), Dr. Eghosa Imasuen and filmmaker, Chris Ehindero
as panelists. Ehindero stressed that while the platforms were exciting, what
was usually lacking was the solid content to put on them. He submitted that
what would help reading culture was not social media but the use to which it is
put but delivering valuable content.
Sophie, who made her presentation from London
via Skype, presented the many
opportunities and recent trends in digital publishing and how best to leverage
on them. She asserted that publishing was a massive gamble, which must be
approached with care.
SESSIONS
were devoted to some of the writers that held workshops at the festival. Such
writers as Wainaina (One Day I Will Write
About This Place), Unigwe (On Black Sisters Street), Agwu (Jokes Apart) and Horsfall (From an Orphan to a Queen Esther).
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