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Nigerian writers
got the accolades they have rightly earned over the years at the eighth
Macmillan Literary Night held on Thursday, November 18 at Agip Recital
Hall, MUSON Centre, Lagos.

Octogenarian,
Chinua Achebe; Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka; dramatist, Femi Osofisan;
poet, Niyi Osundare and deceased writers, Amos Tutuola and Cyprian
Ekwensi, amongst others, were lauded for their contributions to
Nigerian literature.

The event themed
‘Penning Our March to the Golden Year: A Celebration of Nigerian
Literature in the Last 50 Years’, was attended by many lovers of the
written word. The task of introducing some of them, especially the
chair, Tunde Babawale, Director General, Centre for Black and African
Arts and Civilisation, and the special guest of honour, Babatunde Raji
Fashola, the Governor of Lagos State, fell on Nigeria’s first female
permanent secretary, Francesca Emmanuel.

The vice chair of
Macmillan’s literary committee, who executed the task with a touch of
class, apologised for the late commencement of the programme. She
capped her excellent presentation by reading an excerpt from Peter
Enahoro’s ‘How to be a Nigerian’.

Worthy ambassadors

Her husband and
chair, Macmillan Nigeria Publishers, Bode Emmanuel, welcomed guests
thereafter. He noted that the night provided an opportunity to boost
creativity, writing and reading. He said Nigerian literature is
representative of a country on the move as “it constantly draws from
the country’s realities in the best tradition of protest art.” Emanuel
added that it was inevitable that writers would speak out against the
excesses of the Nigerian society after a bloody civil war and ill
managed oil boom.

The publisher
described the emergence of first generation writers including Achebe,
Soyinka, Ekwensi, J.P. Clark and others as a “landmark” because they
succeeded in giving “African literature focus and direction, and
propagated African values to the outside world.” He noted that rather
than abating, issues that first generation writers condemned in their
works multiplied, thus leading to the taking up the gauntlet by second
generation writers. Labo Yari, Femi Osofisan, Abubakar Gimba, Festus
Iyayi and Odia Ofeimun, Emanuel said, have at various times condemned
corruption and other ills in the society. He added that contemporary
writers including Ben Okri and Helon Habila have toed the same path.

Emmanuel further
noted that apart from the Civil War being the cause of poet Christopher
Okigbo’s death and the imprisonment of Soyinka, it has been a major
issue to Nigerian writers, providing a creative outlet for many of
them. Elechi Amadi’s ‘Sunset in Biafra’; Soyinka’s ‘The Man Died’;
Chukwuemeka Ike’s ‘Sunset at Dawn’; Ken Saro-Wiwa’s ‘Soza Boy’ and
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, he noted, are
examples of the country’s rich civil war literature.

The publisher
however expressed happiness that in spite of ills afflicting Nigeria
and its literature, the writers have achieved a lot on the
international scene. He mentioned the translations Achebe’s ‘Things
Fall Apart’ has undergone and Soyinka’s Nobel Prize for Literature as
examples. He further praised writers for succeeding in exporting our
culture to other parts of the world. “Nigeria stands tall in
international politics because of the arts and writers… Nigeria
stands redeemed through the works of writers,” he said. Emanuel also
restated Macmillan’s dedication to quality publishing.

Laudable project

Emcee, poet and
polemicist, Odia Ofeimun, keyed in to Emmanuel’s last statement by
noting that the company did something he had always wanted this year:
releasing four new books. ‘A Childhood Journey’ by Mary Oto Lijadu;
J.C. Agunwamba’s ‘The Poacher’s Daughter’; ‘Too Close to the Rocks’ by
Jide Oguntoye and Onyechi Mbamali’s ‘Your Man Abednego’.

Fashola, who was
represented by Babajide Sanwo-0lu, the Commissioner for Establishment
and Training, commiserated with Macmillan on the demise of educationist
Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa, vice chair, board of the company. He disclosed
that he was impressed by the company’s effort to sustain and project
Nigerian literature through the literary night initiated. “This is a
laudable effort to promote reading,” he noted. The Governor reiterated
the importance of education to development and urged people to buy and
read at least a book a month.

Presentations

Rather than have
the chair’s remarks, Ofeimun tweaked the schedule to take the
presentations, which involved four major Nollywood artists reading
excerpts from some works. Norbert Young, Ihria Enakimio, Tina Mba and
Ireti Doyle all read while the Crown Troupe of Africa performed. The
group’s opening glee was a refreshing piece different from their usual
offering. It earned them generous applause from the audience. Their
second and last presentation, a dance drama titled ‘Our Story’ and Wole
Soyinka’s ‘I Love This Lagos’ were also appreciated.

The quartet of
Young, Enakimio, Mba and Doyle, also did a commendable job, adopting
the mannerisms of their characters. Young perfectly adopted the accent
of a Yoruba man while reading Amos Tutuola’s ‘The Palmwine Drinkard’
while Enakimio did same with Frank Aig-Imoukhuede’s pidgin poem, ‘One
Man, One Wife’. The two ladies were not exempted in convincingly
portraying their characters. Folk group, Nefertiti, accompanied the
artists on some excerpts. The quartet did Ken Saro-Wiwa’s lengthy,
risqué and irreverent pidgin poem, ‘Dis Nigeria Sef’ together to end
the session.

Critical tool

It was only then
that Babawale gave his speech. The CBAAC boss said he was honoured to
have been asked to chair the event and described it as a “night of
fulfilment, education and sober reflection on the state of our
country.” He commended Macmillan for doing a great job over the years
and reiterated the place of the arts in the society. Babawale said one
of the greatest mistakes Nigeria has made in the last two decades is
giving preference to science and technology to the detriment of the
arts. “Literature provides a critical tool with which you can analyse
the society and you need a critical mind to develop. Government must be
told in clear terms that we must do everything to support Literature,”
he said while pledging CBAAC’s continuous support to Macmillan.

Babawale, who pulled no punches despite being in the employ of
government, also condemned the country’s decaying infrastructure.
“Ladies and gentlemen, must this continue? No. Go home and start
reading.”