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In the early 90s,
when Nollywood was less than a decade old, I had in a three-part study
characterised it as “providing instant fame for the girl and boy next
door and instant fortune for a hybrid of producers.” Nollywood was a
phenomenon which in its development had minimal links; technically,
professionally and ethically with the older Nigerian Television and
Celluloid-film industries. It set its own standards, which sadly, were
based on the business ethics of its principal financiers, electronic
equipment traders turned producers/marketers. These basically
uncultured traders with limited education shaped and called the shots
in Nollywood, driven by the desire for huge profits from little
financial, aesthetic and cultural investments.

Women as commodities

They viewed women
as ‘commodities’ and worked on the perception that any pretty face
and/or attractive figure (in their eyes) is an automatic actress and
star. Naturally, hordes of all manner, shapes and shades of Nigerian
girls and women propelled by a mixture of poverty, the need for
self-promotion and notoriety as well, flocked to the venues where these
producers and their directors hung out.

It is instructive
to note that these Nollywood moguls didn’t need to go out scouting for
actresses. Rather, their hang-outs like Winnie’s Hotel in Surulere,
became flesh bazaars of aspiring actresses. Skimpily dressed and
flaunting their assets they came in droves to attract the attention of
producers and directors who practically carried out spontaneous public
rehearsals and castings.

Predictably, the
Nollywood moguls could bluff, pick and choose whilst the eager
potential actresses were literarily ready to do anything for bit-parts.
That these star-struck girls and women ‘fought’ each other to secure
parts and, the moguls in turn well aware of the seemingly unending
traffic of aspirants, confidently and callously discarded them at will
to create a fast turnover, soon became the established rules of the
Nollywood casting game!

Celebrity driven

It was not
dignifying or respectful of women. But what was expected of these
Nollywood moguls who held the aces, given their socio-cultural
background? Nonetheless, the girls and women equally share the blame as
they were willing partners in Nollywood’s early ‘debasement’ of
Nigerian women which set a trend that has not been completely
obliterated. There were noticeable improvements as better-educated
(mostly Mass Communication and Theatre Arts graduates) women got into
the industry. This raised the social profile of actresses in Nollywood
but they were still at the mercy of the scriptwriters and
producer-financiers who determined the type of roles they were cast in.

Interestingly,
rather than concern themselves about the cinematic image of Nigerian
women, Nollywood was consolidating, the actresses seemed more
interested in relatively frivolous talk about whether they would kiss
in films or act nude. Being celebrities with huge media (particularly
print) attention became their sole career goal and fulfilment.

Had Nollywood
finally succeeded in producing Nigerian actress-equivalents of
Hollywood’s dumb blondes? There were other manifestations of early
Hollywood, like strong rumours of sex with the producer/director for
bit parts and the presence of big-boobs-exposing no-talent equivalents
of Hollywood’s Jayne Mansfield and Diana Dors!

Stereotypical portrayals

It could be argued
that Nollywood finally took the Nigerian woman out of ‘her place’ in
the kitchen, but in return it put her in the bedroom for too long!
Given that Nollywood, from the beginning, was trade-driven not creative
or talent-driven, is it coincidental that its first huge success was
Domitilla? It was a story of Nigerian prostitutes in Italy desperate
and depraved to the level of having sex with dogs! A true story and raw
slice of life, we are told. A major creative handicap of Nollywood is
that themes that are basically documentary-film material are stretched
out to become movies.

Nollywood has
generally not been kind to Nigerian women. In its quest to create reel
chicks, young, hip/modern and city-wise as against real women,
Nollywood has sold the impression that glamour, fame, money and the
good fast life are all that matter for Nigerian women. So, they have
been stereotyped in Nollywood as pretty, seductive, devious, cunning,
quarrelsome, money-grabbing gold diggers who will readily use their
bodies, juju/charms and love potions to “catch men!” Subliminally
portrayed as ‘pretty toys’ they are also obliquely cast as hard nailed
fight-to-finish/death ‘demons’ in a never-ending and escalating battle
of the sexes in Nigeria.

Not all Jagua Nanas

We have culturally
unacceptable scenes where women slap men and overdoses of men battering
women in horrific scenes of domestic violence. Then there are the
gun-totting bad girls to boot. Two decades after Domitilla, we are
offered a film in which women fight each other with spiritual,
witchcraft and physical weapons in their struggle to “catch” white men
in Nigeria. Definitely, Nigerian women are not all Jagua Nanas and
Opios as Nollywood would want us to believe.

In a country that
has female chief justices, deputy governors, ministers, professors,
Pilots and bank chief executives, where are these women featured in
Nollywood as nation and home builders? Where are the model roles for
mothers, sisters and loving peace-makers? For every wayward
undergraduate soft-prostitute there should be a female Deputy Vice
Chancellor putting right the savage male cults on campuses.

We acknowledge that
Nollywood has produced a number of Nigerian superstar actresses who are
rich, internationally famous, brand ambassadors and shinning role
models to millions of Nigerian girls and women. Nollywood has also
given employment and careers to many thousands of Nigerian women.
Nonetheless, a lot more needs to be done content-wise and in the
profiling of Nigerian women.

Generation Next

The time has come
for another generation of young Nigerian women to come forward and give
a better gender balance and meaning to Nollywood. Three years ago I
taught a practical documentary filmmaking course at the National Film
Institute, Jos, for diploma and degree students. I was amazed at the
potential of these students I later dubbed the ‘Generation Next of
Nigerian Filmmakers.’ Amongst them were skilled and confident female
scriptwriters, producers, directors, camera(wo)men, sound(wo)men and
editors who, given more opportunities and needed encouragement, will
match their counterparts anywhere in the world, including Hollywood.
Let us not forget that the great film ‘Mississippi Masala’ was made by
a ‘Third World’ woman!

We must be wary of
the new clique of Nigerian women and their white counterpart so-called
‘experts’ now on a questionable missionary crusade to ‘help’ the
Nigerian film industry. Hollywood and its European counterparts have
still to come up with genuine visual proof that they respect and can
honour black women and men in their films and TV. We should embrace our
Nigerian sisters from Jos; who are well-trained and intentioned to make
Nollywood do the right thing on gender issues and cinematic role models
for Nigerian women!

The first ever African Women in Film Forum holds at the Colonades Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos on June 16 and 17, 2010.

The African
Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is sponsoring the first ever “Women in
Film Forum” in Lagos on June 16 and 17, 2010. The AWDF should be deeply
troubled by the treatment of women in Nigeria. But then, I am afraid,
Nollywood merely mirrors how society views and treats women. It is a
scandal that had been previously ignored in the reams of work by
(mostly male) Nigerian writers, and the pretend-art of the wretched
offerings of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). Why are Nigerian
women treated so poorly and what should we do about it? The AWDF is not
advocating the censorship of Nollywood, but there is an opportunity to
collaboratively combat a problem. The answer is to begin to attack the
root of the problem until the mirror that is put to the disease begins
to reflect meaningful progress.

I have a love-hate
relationship with Nollywood videos. The several dozens I have watched
are usually crappy productions featuring awful cinematography and
overwrought acting. But you have to give it to the brains and brawns
behind the industry. Nollywood is a huge triumph for innovation, can-do
energy and entrepreneurship. Nollywood is a juicy slap in the faces of
those who stole the money that was promised for the arts. Without
Nollywood, we would have state sponsored monstrosities like the NTA and
her hapless offshoots. Dysfunction abhors a vacuum. Nollywood has
tapped into a hunger for real everyday entertainment and it has hit the
jackpot.

My wife loves
Nollywood videos. From the comfort of the lawns of America she views
the videos as a damning mirror of all that is wrong with our country.
You have to respect the multibillion naira industry that is Nollywood.
Say hello to Nigerian ingenuity and industry, as it reaps gold from the
trash dump of dysfunction

Nollywood mostly
celebrates patriarchy at its basest and most obscene. This is not a
call for faux feminism to rain opprobrium on Nollywood’s head.
Nollywood did not make up the violence, condescension and second class
status accorded women in Nigeria.

Art imitates
society’s ways. Indeed, the sense that a visitor gets upon spending a
few weeks in Nigeria is that Nigeria plods along on the strong backs of
women and children. In return, most of them are treated very poorly by
the patriarchy. In general, most women are taken for granted as if it
is the law. This message is reinforced quite robustly by Nollywood.

It takes getting
used to when you are visiting from a Western nation. Nigeria is a
patriarchy. What is wrong with that? There is plenty wrong with it as
it is currently practised. It is the past tense layered on the present.
This ought to change.

Nollywood is a
mean, brutally honest, crude mirror to Nigeria’s insides. And it is
ugly. In some respects even when it tries to rise above the seamy murk
that passes for life in Nigeria, it is even more revealing.

There is not just
a gap; there is a yawning chasm in the power equation between men and
women in Nigeria. The women who have escaped that gulag owe it to the
less fortunate women to push for change. I am not talking about
Eurocentric prattle about women empowerment, the one that attracts
dollars to NGOs with mission statements written to the test of dollars.
I am talking of a Nigerian centred strategy for treating women and
children with respect.

There is a huge
role here for our writers and Nigerian women who occupy leadership
roles in circumstances that are totally under their control.
Anecdotally, a high percentage of them use the new social networking
media alongside presumably their spouses and partners. Visit Facebook
and you will be impressed by the leadership role Nigerian women play in
facilitating online dialogue. The literary scene is also heavily
influenced by female writers. Under these conditions, Nollywood does
have a role to play that goes beyond merely mirroring what the society
looks like. We should collaborate more.

When it comes to
the welfare of women, Nigeria can be bipolar; what one sees is not
always the experience. As we speak, traditional relationships are under
attack.

Nollywood blurs the lines between stereotype, misogyny and reality.
In these videos, the women are portrayed as needy, aggressive,
sometimes not too bright and Machiavellian. They are dressed for the
kill, ready to be hunted down and killed, literally and figuratively.
The man is the sometimes benevolent giver; he also has the power to
take back what he has offered. Physical and emotional violence are used
to maintain control. And sometimes the demand on the woman is beyond
her powers: A male child is highly prized. Why are civil servants
prizing male offspring over females in the 21st century? Nollywood
won’t, can’t tell you. Their scripts lack any depth, spiritual or
intellectual. It is not Nollywood’s problem, the misogyny. Nigeria has
to fix how it views and treats her women. And then perhaps, Nollywood
will run out of material. And start really entertaining us.

The series of
activities commemorating culture activist, Toyin Akinosho’s 50th
birthday continued on Sunday, May 30 with a variety night at the
National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), part f the National
Theatre complex in Lagos. Early arrivals waited over an hour before the
show started, leading to discussions about the habitually late
commencement of events in Nigeria, where attendees also embrace the
culture of arriving late.

The Dugombas
Troupe’s ‘Akoto’ was the first of the evening’s performances after
emcee, Ropo Ewenla, had disclosed that the event was not the last
centred on Akinosho. ‘Against All Odds’, a solo exhibition by
convalescing artist Uche Nwosu and a play by Soji Cole, winner of a
competition for young playwrights, Ewenla disclosed, would be held
soon. The highpoint of the performance by the Dugombas was a fire and
broken glass eating magician who however revolted some by regurgitating
part of the meat and glass he had earlier swallowed.

Serious genius

Laying the
foundation of what became the trend as the evening wore on, Tunde
Akingbade, the first Akinosho associate to speak, used fine words in
describing the Secretary General of the arts advocacy group, Committee
for Relevant Art (CORA). He noted that the celebrant is a genius for
being able to straddle both Geology and the arts effortlessly. “He has
been a very wonderful guy. Marvellous guy, intelligent,” Akingbade
said. He also explained that Akinosho is a serious man, contrary to
what some believe. “That’s the way geniuses behave. You will think they
are mad but they have a focus,” he said, adding that Akinosho was
always accessible while working at Chevron.

Poet Uzor Maxim
Uzoatu added a touch of drama to the occasion by initially claiming not
to know Akinosho. “Who’s so called?” He asked but went ahead to regale
the audience with tales of their days at the University of Ife and
careers as journalists. “He is a very serious minded young man,” Uzoatu
stated before he read a poem titled ‘Toyin Akinosho’ he wrote on the
bus on the way to the event. “If the god of poetry wrote a poem about
you, you are not a failed person. You are a serious person,” the author
of ‘God of Poetry’ reiterated in his remarks on Akinosho.

An uncle’s concern

Uncle of the
celebrant, Wole Akinosho, gave an indication of how much the family
cherishes the publisher of Africa Oil and Gas Report with. “He is loved
by the family dearly but we don’t see much of him, Arts has taken up
his time. He is a symbol of pride to us; he is the first scientist in
the family. He did his job diligently at Chevron.” The older Akinosho –
famous ‘Uncle Wole’ of the classic children’s television show, ‘Animal
Game’ – rendered a song he used to sing for the geologist when he was
young. He also commented on his nephew’s status as a bachelor. “Toyin o
ti gbeyawo (He has not married),” he began in Yoruba. “It is the desire
of our family that Toyin Akinosho will come with a beautiful queen this
time next year,” he prayed to loud amen from the gathering. Uncle and
nephew thereafter sang a Yoruba hymn, ‘Olorun Bethel’ together.

Barrier breaker

Singer Cornerstone
halted the flow of tributes with ‘Hero’, a song celebrating notable
Black achievers before Modupe Oduyoye, writer and publisher heaped more
praises on Akinosho who sat quietly in a chair, soaking in what was
being said about him and nodding occasionally in affirmation of some
points. “I like people who cross the boundaries of disciplines,”
Oduyoye, himself a contrarian said of the geologist and Secretary
General of CORA. The author of ‘Le-Mah Sabach-Tha-Niy: Lament and
Entreaty in the Psalms’ also commented on the annual Lagos Book and Art
Festival (LABAF) organised by CORA. He charged Akinosho, Jahman
Anikulapo and others in the group to “continue with what you are doing,
Olorun o ni je ko re yin (God won’t let you get tired). Don’t make it
expensive [LABAF book fair], make it attractive to small publishers.
Continue your promotion of the arts; it is better to live in penury
than not be able to sponsor the arts.”

Chair, Association
of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos State chapter read a poem, ‘Fusion for
Toyin@50’ while Bayo Olupohunda spoke of the ‘poblisha’s’ support for
youth and the nurturing of their talents. Another alumnus of the
University of Ife, Edmund Enaibe, x-rayed Akinosho’s life as a reporter
and his meaningful artistic engagements. “In his restlessness, there is
direction,” he noted.

The problem with Toyin

Poet, essayist and
social critic, Odia Ofeimun, who commented on Akinosho’s ‘eclectic
approach to organisation’, told the celebrant “it is not enough to
talk. You should sensitise our society that creativity and productivity
are what make us human, not consumption.” Ofeimun added, “We need
genuine promoters of the arts to sensitise our society to how things
should be run, [people] like Toyin Akinosho.” Characteristically, the
poet also identified areas in which he wanted Akinosho to improve. “The
problem with Akinosho is that he needs to go beyond the eclectic,
ensure that the ideas are coming down in acid.” Ofeimun also noted that
the celebrant “owes us two books.” The author of ‘The Poet Lied’ said
he would tell Akinosho the first in private, but he revealed the other.
“People tell us how well Toyin Akinosho knows about night life. He must
write about night life in this city (Lagos), not only about Nigeria but
also about South Africa that he knows about.”

Filmmaker Tunde
Kelani on whom the task fell to pour the libation, showed he has
started imbibing traits of the artists he works with. “Our ancestors,
it is not that I’m stingy with this wine. It’s just that there are
(only) two bottles,” he said to people’s amusement while performing the
task. ‘Uncle Wole’, Ofeimun and Iyabo Aboaba joined Kelani in front of
the audience to toast Toyin Akinosho, who took his seat among them.

The night ended on a merry note with guests dancing to ‘Eleleture’
‘Arekereke’ and ‘Asabi Alakara’ from ‘Wonderland, Akeem Lasisi’s
forthcoming album. Edaoto, Ropo Ewenla and the artist performed the
tracks together while guests including Kole-Ade Odutola took the dance
floor.

The African
Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) and the Lufodo Academy of Performing
Arts (LAPA) recently held a press conference for the upcoming Women in
Film Forum. The forum, scheduled for June 16 and 17, is themed ‘Women
and the Dynamics of Representation.’

According to a
statement released by the Fund, “This activity is… a crucial
component of AWDF’s Popular Culture project, which is supported by the
MDG3 Fund.”

Speaking at the
press conference, Executive Director of the AWDF, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi,
said the involvement of the grant-making body was to see “how we can
engage more with practitioners in popular culture.”

Adeleye-Fayemi
said what little many people abroad know about Nigeria is courtesy the
indigenous film industry. But matters have arisen over the portrayal of
women in many of these films. In this regard, AWDF and LAPA convened
the forum in the hope that there will be “more affirming images of
women.”

What a woman can do…

Corroborating this
view, renowned Nollywood actress and LAPA director of Studies, Joke
Silva, told of a film she featured in where none of the female
characters was positive. The script was written by a woman, who argued
that it was a portrayal of how women are and what people wanted to see.

Supporting Silva’s
claim, Adeleye-Fayemi said in selecting women-friendly films that would
be screened at the forum, she discovered that “films produced by men
scored the highest in terms of good films portraying women in good
light.”

Concerning the
forum, Silva said industry practitioners, academicians and civil
society organisations will be amongst those taking part in the
conversations surrounding the stereotypical role of wicked women in
Nigerian films.

“Nollywood is
extremely powerful. If there’s any message you want to put out there,
you need to involve Nollywood,” the actress said.

Acclaimed filmmaker, Tunde Kelani said, “It’s not for nothing that man’s first language is termed ‘mother tongue.’”

Kelani said in
making his films, he took the trouble to make sure women are
well-represented in his films. ‘Arugba’, ‘Abeni’, ‘Thunderbolt’, and
‘Campus Queen’ are some of his films in which women have played
prominent and positive roles.

He called the
proposed forum, “a laudable initiative.” The responsibility to ensure
that women were portrayed in a positive light in Nollywood, he however
said, rested mostly with women.

Strength of a woman

“The greatest
problem for us women is that we look at ourselves the way men see us,”
said Nollywood actress Bimbo Akintola, pointing out that at the end of
the day, “Actresses just want to make money.”

The trained
theatre artist, who has starred in movies like ‘Out of Bounds’ and
‘Dangerous Twins,’ said, “I got tired of terrible scripts, awful
directors, which is why I went behind the scenes and started producing.

“We don’t really
think about the power we have as actresses and what we are portraying.
Maybe this forum would help attend to that,” she said.

Silva, who said
she once took the roles of long-suffering women in order to make a
living, listed the kind of roles she would like to see in Nollywood.
“Our flaws are not our totality,” she said while naming some foreign
actresses like Cate Blanchett and Judy Dench, who had played the role
of Elizabeth I, a flawed, yet formidable and inspiring female character.

“Even when you
have a negative role, you can counterbalance with a positive female,”
Silva said referring to her role in AMBO IV movie, ‘The Child,’ where
she plays a controlling power-hungry mother, who is pitted against her
son’s younger, more reserved and understanding love interest.

Director of the
hit film ‘Guilty Pleasures,’ Emem Isong described herself as being very
particular about showing the strength of women in her films. “I think
Nigerian women are really strong,” she said.

Re-writing ‘Nollywomen’

Responding to a
suggestion that a workshop be done during the forum to orientate
scriptwriters on how to portray inspiring female characters,
Adeleye-Fayemi said organising such capacity-building sessions will be
looked at in the months following the forum.

She said her
organisation could share stories with filmmakers that would give a
plausible edge to the movies and in turn ensure that the films have
better commercial value. “(These stories) need to be told with a
certain nuance and empathy,” she suggested.

“One of the best
ways to transform any nation is through the media. The film industry is
a very important tool in changing the nation,” Silva concurred.

Expected at the
Women in Film Forum are prominent African filmmakers, thinkers and
writers, including academic Abena Busia (sister to actress Akosua Busia
of ‘The Color Purple’ fame), Tunde Kelani, Bunmi Oyinsan, Amaka Igwe,
Emem Isong, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Akin Omotoso. They are expected to
“start a gender dialogue on how we can reclaim popular culture to
promote gender equality and women’s empowerment,” said the AWDF’s
Executive Director, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi.

The Women in Film Forum takes place at The Colonnades Hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos, on June 16 and 17, 2010.

A tale of child
abuse and a boy’s life in the Lagos slums, ‘Small Boy’ premiered at the
Silverbird Cinemas in Lagos on May 27, with guests from across
Nigeria’s economic sphere in attendance.

Compere of the
event was TV host and emcee Soni Irabor. Praising Bello’s debut film as
a sign of things to come, Irabor said this showed that, “We have people
who can portray Nigeria in a more realistic sense than just
entertainment. We have Nigerians who are trained to give up their best,
who are conscientious, deep in thought and feel for Nigeria’s
progress.”

He went on to introduce stage and screen icon, Segun Olusola as special guest of honour.

“The beauty of this
occasion is that a very young lady who is in her 20s is inviting a man,
who is almost eighty to come and see her work. It means there is
continuity in life,” Irabor said.

Speaking at the
premiere, Olusola, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Ethiopia and
producer of the classic ‘Village Headmaster’ TV series said, “I wanted
very much to be at this event because we really did not know that these
children would come close to doing what they are now doing.”

The foremost
broadcast media personality congratulated Bello’s parents, saying,
“Your daughter is making a foray into regions that we did not quite
succeed in doing and I’m looking forward to seeing not just this
particular event but also coming into corridors whenever you are
rehearsing your group. You’ll keep me alive much longer if you’ll
tolerate me in the rehearsal rooms to see how you people do things
nowadays.”

Raising levels

The former
ambassador said he was pleased at the occasion of events like these as
such show that “we didn’t go into the theatre, into the media, into
television for nothing.

“Your generation
will prove to us that although we did not quite succeed in raising
levels beyond Nigeria, you are going to take us – from what I’ve heard
about this film- beyond Nigeria, beyond Africa and in different parts
of the world.”

Proof of such
likelihood, he said, was because a former ambassador to Israel had
praised ‘Small Boy.’ The envoy to Israel also told Olusola that the
film has been widely embraced by the Nigerian community in Israel.

“There will be more to come from your direction,” Olusola concluded in praise of Bello.

Also supporting the
young filmmaker on this evening were acclaimed Nigerian poet and
playwright J.P. Clark, and Nollywood personalities Kate Henshaw-Nuttal,
Iretiola Doyle and Kunle Coker amongst other members of the diplomatic
community.

Professor of
Medicine Olu Akinyanju, Sandra Obiago of Communicating For Change
(CFC), filmmaker Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Marlies Allan and Ndidi Dike were
also in the audience with cast members Toyin Oshinaike, Richard and
Mary Chukwuma and Najite Dede, who was accompanied by her sister
Michelle, a former Big Brother Nigeria presenter.

For Children’s Day

Introducing Bello
to the audience, Irabor said, “What you will see soon after you hear
her talk is probably a reflection of what she thinks is going on right
now in our lives in Nigeria.”

He described her as “beautiful and purposeful, one of Nigeria’s very best even in her very young age.”

Bello, whose ‘Small
Boy’ received two AMAA awards in 2009 and two nominations at the 2008
American Black Film Festival, said, “This has been a long, three-year
journey since we shot the film and it has travelled to different
festivals and won different awards.”

Since the film was
premiering on Children’s Day, she asked that the audience join her in
applauding the film’s young cast and the children whose day it was.
“This film has taken me on a journey,” said the young filmmaker, who
has also forayed into shooting music videos with her work on TY Bello’s
popular ‘Greenland’ video.

“When I made this
film I never thought it would get this kind of response. I set out to
make a different kind of Nigerian film and that’s what you are going to
see (in) ‘Small Boy,” Bello said of the work released by her production
company Blu Star Entertainment.

At the end of the
film, when Irabor asked if the audience had enjoyed the show, it was
obvious that they had shared in the protagonist Sunny Agaga’s journey
of discovery after a series of scrapes and lucky escapes. It was a
resounding “Yes.”

‘Small Boy’ stars
Akin Lewis, Najite Dede, Justus Esiri, Norbert Young, Toyin Oshinaike
and Richard Chukwuma as Sunny Agaga. It follows the story of young
Sunny who runs away from home and discovers a life below the law’s
radar doing what young boys should not be doing given the right
circumstances. But what are the right circumstances?

Bello’s debut effort with ‘Small Boy’ is a pointer to the fact that positive change is possible in Nollywood only if we try.

Nothing could beat
the eloquence of a writer at the Farafina Trust Literary evening on May
29 at the Civic Centre. Marking the end of a 10-day Creative Writing
Workshop, the literary evening infused music into readings by the
workshop facilitators – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chika Unigwe, Niq
Mhlongo, and Binyavanga Wainaina. Foremost Ghanaian writer, Ama Ata
Aidoo, was the special guest of honour.

Welcoming the
audience, publisher of Farafina Books and trustee of Farafina Trust,
Muhtar Bakare, said the workshop was a way of ensuring that people take
control of their own stories. “Literature is very important,” he said.
“Ideas lead change in society (and) literature helps us to qualify
these ideas.”

Talent-spotting

CEO of Nigerian
Breweries Plc, Paul Hamers, said the event was a stimulating
experience. He said NB Plc were proud sponsors of the workshop which
empowers youth, especially as part of their aims is to spot and nurture
the diverse creative talent in Nigeria. Praising the award-winning
Adichie as “an icon of hope and a role model,” he asked her to set to
work on releasing another work, as he had read her first three.

Two of the authors
currently reigning on Nigeria’s literary scene opened the floor for
readings over the course of the evening. Both winners of the
Commonwealth Best First Book prize (Africa Region), Sade Adeniran and
Adaobi Nwaubani read from their debut novels, ‘Imagine This’ and ‘I Do
Not Come To You By Chance’, which won in 2008 and 2010 respectively.

Next was the
presentation of certificates to the workshop’s 20 participants. Bakare
assisted Adichie with handing out the certificates to the aspiring
writers who were a mix of bankers, scientists, broadcasters, and
actors. What followed was a sign that these latest twenty had no mean
competition to contend with.

After the
presentation, each of the facilitators delivered a 10-minute reading.
Adichie read from an untitled work in progress. It was the voice of a
young girl, whose parents had turned a blind eye to the fact that her
liberal aunt was a general’s mistress, and not his protégé as they
chose to believe.

Unigwe, author of
the award-winning ‘The Phoenix’ read from ‘On Black Sisters’ Street’,
her most recent novel about Nigerian prostitutes in Belgium. She read
the part where one of the characters, Ama, had agreed to join Senghor
Dele’s prostitution ring in Antwerp’s red light districts.

Caine winner,
Wainaina, enlisted the help of Nigerian writer, Eghosa Imasuen, to read
from a play about Lagos titled, ‘Shine Your Eye.’ Wainaina had the
author of ‘To Saint Patrick’ read the excerpt because it was written in
Pidgin English and Wainaina, a Kenyan, “can not be seen speaking Pidgin
in public.” Wainaina then read an excerpt from his uncompleted memoir,
tentatively titled, ‘I Will One Day Write About This Place.’ South
African author of ‘Dog Eat Dog’, Niq Mhlongo, read the first chapter of
his second book, ‘After Tears’, but not before telling the audience how
pleased he was to be in Nigeria for the first time. The title of the
book, he explained, was drawn from the period following mourning when
South Africans drowned their sorrows in beer.

Ego-rubbing

It was then time
for the 30-minute session featuring special guest of honour and one of
Africa’s foremost female writers, Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian author of the
plays, ‘Anowa’ and ‘The Dilemma of a Ghost.’ Highlighting the “fiery
female” characters in Aidoo’s works as well as her “clear, lucid
sentences”, Adichie praised the author’s creativity as an inspiration.
“I occupy the space of a black African happy feminist because writers
like Ama Ata Aidoo came before me. Her storytelling nurtured mine,”
Adichie said, “I feel a deep gratitude to her for my writing.” The
author of ‘Purple Hibiscus’ hailed Aidoo’s prowess as short story
writer, poet, dramatist, essayist, and academic. She called her a
thinker, teacher, enabler, and inspirer.

Aidoo expressed
surprise at “the kind of ego-rubbing I have received here today.”
Reciprocating the honour given her in the citation read by Adichie,
Aidoo said before leaving Ghana for Lagos, she made sure to mention
during every conversation that she was coming to Lagos as a part of a
workshop organised by Adichie.

“We didn’t even
know that you knew her” or “Now you are claiming to know her too” were
some of the reactions she received when she made the ‘revelation.’
“These reactions from her fans in Accra describe a solid appreciation
of her works because they don’t know her personally. I was ordered to
let you know, Chimamanda, how much they appreciate you.”

Blame the hurricanes on Africa

Aidoo pointed out
that good writing is eternal, and is accepted the same way across time
and space. She thanked young writers and book lovers present for
showing their support and appreciation for writers, saying it was a
good way to rubbish the statement that if you do not want Africans to
see anything, put it in a book.

She then proceeded
to read from some of her works. Dispelling the notion that she
abandoned poetry for other forms, Aidoo said it was all a case of bad
marketing. “When I get a captive audience, ladies and gentlemen, I read
my poetry first,” she said, and read two pieces from ‘An Angry Letter
in January’, her second poetry collection.

The first was
‘Questions’ (a poem about leadership) dedicated to Chinua Achebe and
the second, ‘Speaking of Hurricanes’, was dedicated to female Kenyan
writer, Micere Mugo (who co-authored ‘The Trials of Dedan Kimathi’ with
Ngugi Wa Thiong’O), and all other African exiles.

The second poem was
conceived after Aidoo heard some strange information that hurricanes in
the Americas were due to heavy rains in West Africa.

Aidoo also read a
flash (short short story) fiction piece, ‘Recipe For A Stone Meal’ and
a short story titled ‘She Who Would Be King’ to the enthralled
audience, who applauded Aidoo’s interesting, humorous, and dramatic
reading.

A writer by chance

She was then joined on stage by Adichie, Unigwe, Mhlongo, and Wainaina in a Q&A session with the audience.

The ubiquitous
question of African writing and identity reared its head once more.
Some of the responses from the facilitators showed their displeasure at
always having to answer the query.

Most of them saw it
as unwarranted, saying the writing should speak for itself rather than
certain people trying to dictate that this is what African writing
prescribes. Adichie had an issue with those who felt she could not
discuss feminist themes in her books because according to them it “was
not African.” There were spirited views from the stage, with Unigwe
insisting that she had no issues with being known as an ‘African
writer’.

A question about
the reading culture also proved contentious, but the writers concluded
that Africans do read. Mhlongo, however, said that although Black
Africans in South Africa read a lot, they hardly buy books. Aidoo
pointed out that most of the books are marketed as school textbooks and
that once the school quota is satisfied, publishers hardly care for the
other existing reader-groups. For Adichie, the distribution framework
and affordability were probable causes of books not reaching as wide as
they should.

Responding to a
question on why she wrote ‘The Phoenix’ in the second person narrative,
Unigwe said any writer should use the most fitting voice for a
character’s psychological state. The second person voice was for her
the perfect choice in a character that was trying to distance herself
from her troubles.

“If people want to
make money they should go and work in banks,” was Adichie’s response
when a ‘talent scout’ asked what message to give to his young mentees
who were impatient about making money from their ‘gifts’. The evening
ended on a musical note with Lola Okusami, one of the workshop’s
participants, performing two songs, ‘Lonely Girl’ and ‘Move’ before
Seun Kuti and his Egypt 80 band took to the stage in an energetic
performance.

After the intellectual exchange of ideas, it was time to unwind and
see if the writers’ dance steps were as good as their words.