By Anote
Ajeluorou and Greg Nwakunor
THE attention
of the literary world finally turned to Port Harcourt on Tuesday as the current
UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 (WBC). The formal handover was held on Wednesday
at the Marquee, Hotel Presidential. It was graced by a galaxy of literary
personalities and political leaders including former Head of State, Gen.
Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, Prof. Wole
Soyinka, Pa Gabriel Okara, Elechi Amadi, Prof. JP Clark, Prof. Igwe Chukwuemeka
Ike, Prof. Omolara Ogundipe, Prof. E.J. Alagoa, former Minister of Culture and
Tourism, Dr. Graham Douglas, former World Bank Vice President, Africa Region,
Dr. (Mrs.) Oby Ezekwesili and a host of others.
The
year-long duration of the Garden City hosting the book capital has ‘Books: Windows
to Our World of Possibilities’, as theme.
The
resonating message at the opening wasn’t so much only about books but the need
for peace to reign in the country so that the book could truly play its role of
enlightening the minds of even insurgents’ current stands against what the book
represents. In a soul-wrenching moment designed to drum support for the
abducted schoolgirls, chairman, board of trustees of Rainbow Book Club,
technical partners to Rivers State Government on WBC, Ezekwesili led the gathering
to call for the immediate release of the remaining abducted schoolgirls in
Borno, saying, ‘Bring back our daughters!’ She said it was traumatising that
schoolgirls should be taken at a time when it was particularly difficult to get
them into school.
Amaechi
offered to admit the rescued schoolgirls in schools being remodelled in Rivers
State, by way of rehabilitation. Chairman of the opening, Abubakar, sued for
peace as panacea for the book and learning to thrive.
Also,
Soyinka called on President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the schoolgirls were
brought back from their abductors, whom he accused of imposing an unworkable,
ultimate fatwa on the collective existence of all Nigerians. He said
Jonathan’s Bring Back the Book (BBtB) campaign that was initiated in 2010,
which he regrettably lent his presence and support, failed to truly bring the
book back. He urged Jonathan instead to bring back the schoolgirls, as an act
of correction of his poor performance shortly after the Nyanya bombing, as he took
to the dance floor in Kano.
While
delivering a keynote address entitled ‘Republic of the Mind and Thraldom of
Fear’ Soyinka also accused the federal government of impoverishing the book
environment by arbitrarily imposing import tax on books as further disincentive
to education. He charged that books should have free access into and from
Nigeria, as the country was a signatory to all international conventions to
that effect.
On his
part, Amaechi restated the power of literature as escape from the mundane, and
asserted that education facilitated the process, adding, “The power of great
literature is immense, a key to other kingdoms, an escape from the dull and
mundane. But great literature is helped by illiteracy. Only recently, UNICEF
released figures of out-of-school children, with about 10.5 million in Nigeria.
Rivers State Government appreciates the challenges posed by having so many
children out of school; we’re working on reducing the numbers. We have
completed over 300 new primary schools, all of them with libraries, new model
secondary schools and a new campus for our state-owned university.
“As part
of activities for our year as World Book Capital City, we would propose to
complete libraries in 23 Local Government Areas, seven new libraries and one
Port Harcourt Book Centre, where we would be able to host writers in residence
among other things… We are determined to make the most of this awesome
opportunity and while we thank UNESCO and partners for picking Port Harcourt
above such favourites as Oxford, Lyon, Moscow and Incheon, we must congratulate
last year’s Bangkok for an amazing job as we look forward to passing the baton
to Incheon, Republic of South Korea, host for 2015”.
Also,
Ezekwesili commended Rainbow Book Club for bringing the glory of the World Book
Capital 2014 to Port Harcourt and Nigeria. She said “any time Nigerians
competed against the best they win; it’s the greatness within us coming forth.
The most significant thing is not bringing WBC but the enduring legacy of books
in us, that reading culture be embedded in young people. Reading a book
stimulates the brain and decelerates old age. For young people, to read a book
is to prepare yourself for the future. It’s so fitting that we are celebrating
the natural wealth in book reading; it’s a shift from the easy wealth to one of
greatness. We must replace oil wealth with intellectual capital. Make sure that
from today you start to read a book”.
As
chairman of event, Abubakar appraised the UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 event
in the light of World Copyright and World Book Day, which also fell on April
23, and said it was a historic celebration, as it coincided with Nigeria’s
centenary. He commended Governor Amaechi for his, “revolutionary intervention
in the educational sector, in infrastructure and teacher training. Port
Harcourt is haven to book-lovers, with the festival featuring an array of
interesting writers. Port Harcourt has a busy year ahead in implementing its
programmes. It’s our hope that it lives up to the expectation of UNESCO, so it
reverberates across the world as the most successful”.
But the
former Head of State sued for peace so that the book could thrive, adding, “We
need peace in this country. If there’s no peace, there will be no time to read
all the books. All Nigeria must put hands on deck to bring peace to this
country”.
On his part, President Jonathan, who
was represented by his Special Assistant on Documentation, Ms Molara Wood,
praised the organisers for making Nigeria proud, when he noted, “As you all
know, Port Harcourt has for many years been a pivot of book and
literature-centred discussion, as well as a melting pot for writers and artists
whose works help to enrich our lives. It is against this background that the
Federal Government threw its support behind the Port Harcourt World Book
Capital bid. It is to the glory of our collective effort, that the shared
golden dream of the Rainbow Book Club, and the entire readership and literary
community for this city has today been realised.
“The special position of this city
in the Book world owes largely to the Port Harcourt Book Festival, organized by
the Rainbow Book Club, with its monthly book readings, guest writers and
Role Models inspiring the young ones through reading events, library rehabilitation
and other activities. It is no surprise therefore that UNESCO has recognized
these antecedents through its designation of Port Harcourt as World Book
Capital 2014.
“The Port Harcourt World Book
Capital programme is rich and varied, and will touch every age group,
especially the youth. It is heartening to note that the international dimension
will ensure that these activities will resonate around Africa and extend to the
global Book world.
“For the
first time, the shortlist of the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing
is being unveiled in Nigeria, right here in Port Harcourt, as part of World
Book Capital events. Without doubt, the writers on the Caine shortlist will
number among the future touch-bearers for writing from the African continent”.
Rivers
State’s Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru, commended the efforts of his boss,
Amaechi for rescuing the state from criminals that had masqueraded as militants
and thus bringing peace and glory to Port Harcourt since 2008 when he assumed
office. Education, Ikuru also stated, has been one of Amaechi’s legacy in the
state, as he worked tirelessly to reinvent its educational wheels through
remodelling of schools and providing important software for learning. He also
noted, “Since 2008, Amaechi has been sending the message of education,
education, education; education is the key. Even the insurgency in part of the
north can only be resolved through education”.
Also
present at the opening ceremony were delegations from the preceding host cities
of Bangkok, Thailand and 2015 host, Incheon, South Korea, who made
presentations. While Bangkok gave valuable gifts to Amaechi for succeeding
them, Incheon invited the book-loving governor next year to its opening. The
Bangkok delegation also gave cultural presentations including three poets
performing with the accompaniment of a poet-flutist. Thereafter, two pole
fighters took the stage and thrilled the audience, who were followed by
puppeteers, who also excited the audience with their performance.
Both
Garcia of Hay Festival and Elechi Amadi gave insight into Africa 39 book
project, which will also form an innovative part of the UNESCO Port Harcourt
World Book Capital 2014. The idea is to select some of the best writers on the
continent under 40 and celebrate them all through the duration the city hosts
the book capital. Although Lola Shoneyin and Chika Unigwe are 40, others fall
below to make the selection an interesting mix of some of the best young
writers emerging on the continent.
The day
ended with a dinner at Government House, where a dance drama Obele and the
Storyteller was staged.
A day
before on Tuesday, children’s activities took centre-stage at the Banquet Hall
of Hotel Presidential. 100 Years Around Port Harcourt: A Communal Story
written by public secondary school students in the state on the sights and
sounds of their local communities was launched. The idea is to aggregate all
the local flavours each locality has to offer the world, as told in stories by
the young ones, also as a measure of stimulating their interest in their
culture. The book was edited by Project Director of PWBC, Mrs, Koko Kalango and
author of From an Orphan to a Queen Esther, Mrs. Titi Horsfall. It was
also reviewed by Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mrs. Ibim Semitari
and presented by Commissioner for Education, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi.
But
before the presentation, students from some of the participating schools shared
their experiences with the audience on how they approached their subject and
how the project greatly enriched their intellect, as it deepened their
understanding of their local cultures and tradition. Some wrote on marriage
system, chieftaincy titles, festivals, and a lot of other interesting local
materials.
The Deputy Governor, Ikuru, who later joined the school students, commended
them for producing the book and expressed his delight that it came to fruition.
Thereafter, a local drama group presented The Fate of Okuama, a play
that centres on problems facing communities in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
With the discovery of oil wells and their exploration, both land and aquatic
life are drained from the once thriving communal occupations of these hapless
communities who come under the relentless onslaught of oil-induced degradation
of their environment. Ultimately, the deprivations occasioned by these
activities, with blatant connivance of local, powerful interests would lead to
the rise of militancy that threatened Nigeria’s oil interests and peace.
Eventually, a call to cessation of arm struggle is made and reached based on
the book, as a medium of enlightenment in redressing festering communal
problems. The Fate of Okuama is written and was directed by Frank Macualay.
Although successfully executed, and spiced with songs and dances, the plays is
somewhat too didactic, as it echoes the power of the book to transform
repetitively.
STILL on
Tuesday and shortly after the public school students had their book presented,
selected primary and secondary school students from private schools in Port
Harcourt milled into the same hall for the Celebrity Reading event. It seemed
ironic that public school students were not part of this important event that
exposed their private schools’ counterparts to these role models largely made
up of film actors – Chinedu Ihedieze (Aki in Aki and Pawpaw
fame) and Patience Uzoku – from Nollywood. They were joined by the
state’s First Lady, Dame Judith Amaechi.
Interestingly, the level of English language proficiency attained by these two
separate students from public and private schools was glaring. While the public
schools stumbled through their narratives, those from private schools showed
efficient grasp of the medium of communication that put the two groups as far
apart as possible. Unfortunately, both commissioners did not stay to witness
the private schools’ performance to take necessary cues on what to do to
redress the so-obvious anomaly.
Ihedieze
read an excerpt from Jaja of Opobo, Uzoku from The Barber’s Cleaver
Wife and Amaechi’s wife from Beem Explores Africa. The three
celebrities also took time to explain the peculiarities in the worlds they
inhabit, as the students quizzed them closely to have a glimpse of their
personal and professional lives.
They
wanted to know why Ihedieze is so short, to which he explained that he was
thought to have reincarnated his grandfather, who was over seven feet tall. He,
however, said he didn’t believe so or else he would have been as tall as his
grandfather. He told them he was over 30 and married and wasn’t ‘small’, as
they supposed. He also told them he and his acting ‘twin’ Osita Iheme(Pawpaw)
were not twins or brothers at all but professional colleagues, who met by
accident on the acting job, saying fate brought them together. While he is from
Abia State, Iheme is from Imo but that they grew up in reverse states. He also
said, “We are enjoying the unique advantage God ‘dashed’ us!”
Ikedieze
admonished parents not to impose profession on their children or wards, but to
allow them to do what’s in them, adding, “Let them enjoy themselves in what
they want to be. In Nollywood you’re being paid to enjoy what you are
doing”. He stressed the importance of getting a manager as an actor to get the
business side of things right.
On her
part, Uzokwu’s life experience presented an example of the struggle of one
woman who overcame life’s challenges. Now a grandmother, Uzokwu said she has
four biological and four adopted children, with whom she struggled to get a
handle on life. From a teacher to a broadcaster, she fell into bad times when
she was sacked and her husband took ill. But she stated that she adjusted fast
and took to baking, as a way out and from where she found the means to also
start school herself while her own children were also still in school.
But now
she is at the pinnacle of her career just as some of her children were abroad
chasing the golden fleece.
Ultimately, she triumphed and today her success is celebrated all over. On her
perceived wicked role, which Mrs. Amaechi asked her, Uzokwu said it was
producers’ fault to type cast a person in a particular role he or she has
excelled in, and charged viewers to demand otherwise from producers, saying
producers merely responded to viewers’ role preferences for actors. She,
however, stressed, “Reading is the foundation, the key to a successful life and
career. If you can’t read, you can’t know what to say as an actor”.
Uzokwu
said she saw herself in the life of the Barber’s story she read to the
students, as it reminded her of her years of struggling to overcome challenges.
Mrs.
Amaechi also came under the intense lenses of the children who wanted to know
what being the governor’s wife entailed and so on. However, one pupil sought to
know if it was true that she was once a housemaid who eventually rose to be
governor’s wife. Touched, Amaechi took time to explain to her young audience
the true facts and dispel what she saw as aimless rumours making the rounds in
her city. A princess, she said she grew up in the home of one of the greatest
educationists in Port Harcourt from where she attended the famous Abonima
Government Girls College and from then onto Rivers State University of Science
and Technology.
Ikedieze
and Amaechi laced their admonitions to the young people with biblical precepts
that urged them to stay on the straight and narrow path so it could be well
with their future.
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