Writers preach grassroots campaigns for literary
growth
More efforts are being made by the
Association of Nigerian Authors to spread the gospel of grassroots literacy in
Nigeria. At a two-day workshop in Ilorin, Kwara State, penultimate week,
attention was specifically placed on the role of Yusuf Ali (SAN) yearly grants
to ANA for this purpose and more. Edozie Udeze reports.
It has become crystal clear that the
current leadership of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) is leaving no
stone unturned to ensure that literature is taken to the remotest places in the
Nigerian society. Penultimate week at Ilorin, the Kwara State capital,
members of ANA from across the states gathered together to rub minds on the
issues that would help to prosper literary awareness. The theme of the
two-day workshop was capacity building on innovations in contemporary
literary awareness campaigns in Nigeria. It was held at the Knowledge
Platform, Ilorin, where selected state council chairmen of ANA took time out to
discuss topical themes around the Yusuf Ali (SAN) yearly grants to the
association and what more to do to utilize the money well for the good of all.
On hand to deliver the lectures on
three diverse themes were Dr. Wale Okediran, Izuchukwu Okeke and Funmi
Ilori. Okediran’s topic titled managing and financing literary
projects and programmes for optimum results: The practical
realities, drew attention on actions writers should embark upon to ensure
that they write well and also make money from their works. Okediran, a former
president of the Association was clear when he said, “this theme seeks to
strengthen the ability of an organization or agency to achieve a desired
outcome. Therefore capacity building in this area can be defined as
supporting an organization to build and maintain the skills, infrastructure and
resources to achieve its mission”
Having stated this clearly, Okediran
commended Yusuf Ali for his regular sponsorship of ANA programmes and projects,
a gesture that has made it possible for ANA to fulfill most of its cardinal
objectives. He reminded the literary eggheads that the primary aims of
ANA were to promote literature in both the indigenous and English languages and
then see how to ensure that members’ welfare is constantly improved. When
this is properly done, it is good also to make efforts to discover new writers
and try to celebrate international literary events whenever they do
occur. We are equally obliged to celebrate and eulogize and recognize
literary icons in Nigeria”, Okediran noted, urging members to be more
proactive.
In essence, prudent financial
management can help to achieve these goals. But where does the money come
from when ANA is not a financial organization? Okediran queried.
“Yes, we need to engage in income-based rather than budget-based spending”, he
warned. By this, he meant that both as a body and as individuals, it is
necessary to retain positive cash flow balance. However, when a deficit
does occur, there should be accumulated surpluses sufficient to cover the
current year‘s deficit. What ANA is expected to do is to look into areas
where it can establish operating reserves to finance growth and
shortfalls. In the thinking of Okediran, a physician turned writer who
has also delved into politics, it is proper for a writer to write. It is
also financially wise for him to prepare ways to earn a living from his works.
The lecture which drew loud applause
from writers specifically centred on various issues to keep the sector not only
active, but equally help to make ANA responsive and responsible. Okediran
therefore posed; “There should be monthly readings by the state chapters of the
association. Yes, there should be good avenues to keep writers busy and
purpose oriented. In addition, writers should be closer to the older and
experienced writers as sources of encouragement. Taking that further, the
body agreed that good publicity is cogent in this regard. And so when
anthologies are done, it will afford local members the opportunity to get
published.
He also hinted on the exigencies of
residency programmes, which he said often help writers to finish works
they’ve kept for so long or even get new ones started. In any
event, it is when a writer has the freedom and exclusiveness that he needs that
he can be more productive. He postulated thus: “this is a good innovation
to support works of upcoming writers and the established ones. Yes,
writers residency is an enabling environment for writers to complete their
ongoing works in an atmosphere of serene tranquility and quietness needed for
the craft”. Although this concept is still new in Nigeria, Okediran has
started his own Ebedi residency programme which has seen both local and foreign
writers utilizing the facilities to empower themselves more. For this
reason and more, he challenged more Nigerians to turn their abandoned homes in
the society to writers to encourage them to produce more literary materials for
the growth of the society. He insisted that residencies for writers here
in Nigeria is both necessary and expedient. “This is the time to get it going”,
he explained.
On the whole, the ANA executives
were told to look out for well-placed Nigerians who can always be of financial
assistance to ANA. “In doing so, you can approach corporate bodies
with bias for literature. There are also individuals who can help.
And more than that, once money is involved, those who handle it should be
prudent, should be able to keep an open and clean record to avoid doubts and
mistrusts by members. Money meant for projects ought to be well-utilized”, he
admonished.
On his own part Izuchukwu Okeke, a
South Korean-based Nigerian scholar, and a member of ANA, in his topic titled digital
and literary culture in Nigeria: surmounting the challenge of disruption and
enhancing the reach of the story, reminded writers that this is a digital
era; time for writers to brace up. It is time to catch up with the trends
of the moment to enrich writings in the global economy. But he also
quickly cautioned, based on his global exposure and contacts. “it is not all
sectors that have digital love story to tell. While many aspects of the
global economy have beautiful stories with the global innovation, the story
with the creative industry is different. But we can use this means to
write, market and publish our works. For now, we do not all seem to
understand the full import of this digital economy. In well-developed
worlds it is working; it is helping the creative industry and so on. It
is therefore our turn to key in now to grow and prosper”. Okeke, a
doctoral degree scholar in African literature in Pukyong National University,
Busan, South Korea, pointed out. For him writers should use every available
function to slot in their programmes to create more awareness thereby improving
the sale of books. In the end, more books would be sold and authors would
make money.
“This is what happens in South Korea
where books and writers are well celebrated by the society; where there are
social grants to enhance literacy”, Okeke surmised.
In their responses, both the
national president, Denja Abdullahi and the state chairmen commended Okediran
and Okeke for the expository issues they espoused. Abdullahi himself, a
celebrated poet said, “this is an auspicious occasion. We have learnt
more and we are grateful to Yusuf Ali for his kind gestures in the past seven
years. His gesture has helped to stabilize ANA. It has given us
renewed hope and consciousness to move to the next level. In his closing
remarks, vice president Camy Ukah said, it was clear that members had learnt so
much to go home to implement a lot to make ANA more prosperous and evenly
known.
In the end, states were told to go
and do more to continue to endear ANA to the people. ANA was founded in
1981 by Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark and others to serve as an
intelligentia group for writers in Nigeria. And so the yearly Yusuf Ali
N3 million grants have helped to attain this goal. That was why the
workshop became necessary and topical for more literary growth.
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