I have a blueprint for ANA renaissance - Professor Umelo Ojinmah

Professor Umelo Ojinmah, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, speaks with Sumaila Umaisha on his ambition to lead the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, saying he has prepapared a blueprint for the a renaissance in the association.

May we have your brief biography.
Professor Umelo Ojinmah: I’m a graduate of English and Literary Studies, Class of 1980, University of Calabar. I obtained my PhD in English and Comparative Literature from University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1988. If you check Daily Times of Nigeria, BBC and VOA of December, 10 and 11, 1988, you will see the headline of  “A Nigerian makes fastest PhD in New Zealand”. I made the fastest PhD in a university that was more than 100 years old. I have lectured in Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa; Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and Nasarawa State University, Keffi, rising from the ranks to Professor of English and Literary Studies.
What is your assessment of the Nigerian literary scene?
Nigerian literary scene is vibrant but we need to energize it more by encouraging the established publishing companies to invest in younger authors. Today, they are more interested in publishing primary school books for high volume sales. We also need to encourage young authors through organising more creative writing ops and writers’ fellowships.
What would you say are the major challenges being faced by the Nigerian writer?
One of the most pressing challenges is the creation of a writers’ village and avenues of assisting budding writers until they can find their feet. Unlike Europe and America where writers make living from their works, it takes time for writers in Nigeria to get to the point of depending on their writing for daily living. We must make efforts to change the climate to enable talented writers take their writing seriously.
Are you vying for the presidency of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, in order to solve these problems?
Yes. But more importantly, to give purposeful leadership to ANA. ANA is made up of intellectuals and we should be at the forefront of proffering solutions to the myriad of problems confronting the Nigerian nation. The committee system has been effective in harnessing people to achieve much and I intend to involve more ANA members to solving these problems through establishing committees with specific mandates and targets.
There several other candidates also contesting; do you think you have a chance?
ANA members are discerning and I believe that if they are convinced that what I bring to the table will benefit ANA members more than the other contestants, they will. After all, we all clamour for good governance.
How prepared are you?
I have prepared a blue print for a renaissance in ANA. The rest is left for us collectively.

(c) Published in the New nigerian edition of 21st august, 2011.

Hoodlums: A Template of Pain

Review of Sumaila Umaisha’s Hoodlums written and presented by Dr. Emman Usman Shehu, Director, International Institute of Journalism and President of Abuja Writers Forum, at the public presentation of the book in Abuja on 21st July, 2011.

Sumaila Isah Umaisha has been the literary editor of the New Nigerian Newspapers for some years and has won a couple of accolades. He also does media consultancy and as a creative writer, he writes short fiction and poetry. Some of his stories and poems have been published in journals, online magazines and anthologies. With such a growing body of material, it is not a surprise that Umaisha has taken the next logical step in his creative writing career by putting together a collection of short stories, published by Hybun Publications Limited.
Titled Hoodlums, this debut collection of 17 short stories is rather unusual because of the seemingly large number of stories which goes against the conventional approach. Short story collections normally do not have this number of stories since the standard average length of a short story is 2, 500 words and publishers want enough pages to justify the publication, knowing that novels tend to have better patronage. Yet, as shall be explained later, Umaisha is able use this large number of stories to his advantage partly because there is a thematic centrality.
The stories provide a platform for him to explore a variety of themes including political violence, thuggery, assassinations, militancy, witchcraft, astral projection, prostitution, drug addiction and insanity. Thus most of the stories are topical giving the collection a strong contemporary relevance, more so given that the background is Nigeria. The aptly named collection
This contemporaneous tone is struck from the very first story called “Militants”. Six-year-old Tene, who should be having an exciting childhood with her friends, is caught in the violent skirmishes enveloping her community, where a group of militants called the Niger Delta Liberation Movement is having a fierce confrontation with the soldiers deployed to the area. During one of such clashes which erupts catching the populace off-guard, Tene is part of the melee scampering to safety. Instinctively , rather than joining the crowd heading to the outskirts of the town, she heads for home where she had left her parents earlier to spend some time at the playground. But just as she overcomes some odds and gets home, the mother who rushes out to take her to safety is felled by an explosive.
This three-page story, as short as it is, provides a template for the rest of the collection, especially the way it ends on a painful and tragic note. This template which includes an admixture of unnerving moments is underscored by the title of the collection. In his defence of the short story format, to counter the various arguments raised to explain its limitations and seemingly declining popularity as a narrative form, Patrick Gates states that: “Since the short story as a form demands that things be left out, left unspoken, it is particularly well suited to narratives that unsettle, that replicate on the page those moments in life where a hurt that was not meant to be overheard or a glance that was not meant to be intercepted have devastating emotional effect.”
It is difficult to think that a reader would go through these stories without being unsettled by the overall commentary. Almost every story is a painful reminder of the sorry state of our country. It is a controlled lamentation. A wailing that sears through our consciousness as we watch the self-serving behavior of politicians who, instead of working to ensure the progress of the country prefer to mindlessly oversee its underdevelopment through lawless behavior such as rigging elections, meting violence on opponents, endorsing assassinations, manipulating election tribunals, refusing to embark on projects that would improve the lives of the citizentry or even destroying those that have been undertaken by a few reasonable ones. The culture of impunity is consciously cultivated by political godfathers.
The society becomes increasingly unstable breeding thugs, rioters and militants who without hesitation take the laws into their hands by unleashing mayhem at every opportunity, thereby further retarding the progress of the society as evident in stories like “ Hoodlums”, “The Godfather”, “The Riot” and “Do or Die”. The police too become accomplices sometimes working in cahoots with rioters.
It is no surprise that more people find ways of manipulating the chaos for their own profit including journalists who exaggerate every crisis, and businessmen who look at all angles that such situations can benefit them including being the ones from whom relief materials are bought for victims in refugee camps. The good values of the society are steadily upturned, to be replaced by vices such as drug addiction, prostitution and armed robbery.
But there are mo
ments of redemp
tion such as in “The Soul Mate”, when Lilian the prostitute ends up marrying Bulus, the Medical Doctor, who had initially reached out to her at a critical moment in her life. So too in “The Godfather” when the new god son, after becoming the Mayor of Gold City, comes to a realization that the right thing ought to be done and damns the consequences. He is assassinated at the end but there is the inference that he has put down structures that could begin to bring some succor to the society.
The redemptive moments may appear insignificant when compared with the larger picture of oppression, exploitation and pain. However, their importance is underscored by being the very opposite of the negativity that suffuses the society. That a prostitute’s past can be overlooked so that she gets a new lease of life, points to the fact that all is not lost. This ray of hope could possibly become a beam of greater restoration.
In “The Last Hiding Place”, the marriage of Amelia and Professor Deen is threatened by addictive habits both have hidden from each other. They have secrets that threaten to undo the union. Sincerity leads to shocking revelations and an awakening that ushers in a new and promising chapter in their matrimony.
Umaisha is at home with the use of irony especially in the manner he sometimes ends the stories with unexpected but refreshing twists. In “Do or Die”, Senator Abu Dambo contracts Saleh to kill a political rival, Alhaji Aliyu Hamza but at the end it is the employer who is killed by the same hired assassin. Alhaji Ibrahim who is gleeful about the riots, looking forward to making gains, has his wife killed. Tene runs home for safety only to be deprived of what symbolizes safety for her.
The closing sequence of “Hoodlums” has this unexpectedness that heightens the horrible situation. Both journalists become victims of the riot they had inadvertently fuelled through their exaggerated reportage. But the bigger irony is that the Police who should be working to quell the riot move around the various gangs providing them with victims, a collusion that accentuates the collapse of security and serves as an indictment, showing that the rioters and law enforcement agents are really no different.
What should have been a major drawback in the collection, the high number of stories, becomes a strength because they not only have a thematic variety, but they are not all of the same length. There are some that a very brief, just about three pages long, giving the impression that the author is experimenting with minimalism. The truth is that given that some of the stories had to be published initially in the literary section of the New Nigerian Newspaper, he may have been forced to work with space constraints.
Fortunately Umaisha manages to use the situation to his advantage because these very short pieces are sometimes the most artistically compelling narratives. Examples include “Militants”, “After the Riot”, “Roadblock” , “The Riot” and “The President’s Portrait” where the painting itself becomes a damning symbol of a leader and this is achieved by detailing the painting process in three pages.
Contrast these short pieces with “Hoodlums” which is weakened by the seeming initial uncertainty of who to focus on in the initial sequence. One gets the impression that the story may have been conceived initially as a novel and then it was abridged to a short story. There is so much background detail about Ben and Mairo which slows down the pace of the narration and would have been better suited for a longer narrative, where all those details would have been fleshed out to strengthen the story. In fact, there is a larger story demanding to be told because the materials are there for Umaisha’s taking, with several characters and situations tugging for amplification because the platform on which they are currently placed is somewhat constrictive.
The elegance of the short story is being able to work within a narrow space, with the writer putting in place just enough essentials. But that space will not be adequate in handling a complex issue as is evident in “Hoodlums” and “The Godfather”. Marisa Silver makes an observation that is pertinent to the present context : “I’m often asked whether I want to turn a particular story into a novel. It’s a flattering question, because it is usually asked by a reader who is captivated by a set of characters. But the truth is, I never do want to do this. An idea appears to me as a short story, or it appears to me as a novel. I suppose that some ideas just feel that they need to be contained, that their power and effect will be most forceful if I express them using the tools of the short story. Other narrative notions have resonances that are like tentacles that reach out, ideas that lead to other ideas. These extenuating ideas circle around the central notion, but the central notion will not be complete, and will not reach its full potential, unless I take the time and space to explore all that richness that surrounds it in words.”
Sometimes the author’s favoured sandwich technique becomes predictable, just as his pre-occupation with telling rather than showing occasionally stifles the immediacy of the stories. There are hardly any typos and the print size is reader-friendly but the binding does not suggest durability and pages may fall apart eventually.
Overall this is a very encouraging debut showing that Umaisha not only has a keen sense of observation, a virtue which every creative writer ought to have, but that he is willing to experiment as in, “The King Himself”, “Seat of Power”, “The Magic” and “The Black Cat”.

NLNG Prize: I’m elated to be on the list!

Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike, a graduate of Government and Public Administration from Abia State University, is a poet, a short story writer and a committed writer of children’s literature. and his commitment is already paying off as his children’s story book, The Run Away Hero, is one of the shortlisted works for this year’s NLNG Prize for Literature, the most prestigeous literary prize in Nigeria. He speaks with Sumaila umaisha about it all.

Let’s begin with your brief biography.
I am Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike, married with two children, live in Owerri, Imo State, a graduate of Government and Public Administration from Abia State University, and occasionally I do write – occasionally, as in when PHCN attempts a two- or three-hour flash, so I can charge my laptop and type away; occasionally, when the kids are away and the home is a cocoon of tranquility; occasionally, when I am not too sapped from the day’s work and I can coax myself to do some writing. Now, I’m social, not too social, as I just can’t afford to be. I like travelling, and I like idling with a book in hand; that is, if I am not watching a good film.
Can you remember exactly when you started writing?
I have been writing since my teenage years, the usual nonsense and scribble, but I guess you are referring to serious, sensible writing, which is something I decided to take much more seriously in 2001, after seeing my poem being published in Champion newspaper. But before then I had become fascinated with literature in general and was reading poems, prose, plays with such avidity,  probably because I didn’t study it in my secondary school back then. To me, it was like just discovering a pleasure, which you’d ignored all the time.
You seem to specialize in children’s literature; why?
Haba, specialise indeed! I don’t really specialise in children’s literature, it is just that I sometimes like to write fiction for children and whenever I think of children of these days, in this mindless age, I feel so saddened that they don’t have much access to books (most of the libraries in the country are in stark disrepair, you already know that) and I feel I could in some way contribute to the adequacy of children’s books, which is why I have done a lot of children’s fiction of late.
Your new children’s story book is titled The Run Away Hero; why did you choose this title?
I chose the title because the 9-year-old protagonist is not really a hero in the strictest sense of the word. He is what you might refer to as an ‘accidental hero.’ However, he did something heroic and the title thus naturally ensued.
Tell us about your publisher, Jalaa Writers’ Collective?
JWC is not a publisher in the traditional sense of the word, it is more of a collective of writers who feel they can bring their resources together and better their lot, regardless of the prevailing economic disincentive nationwide. Jalaa doesn’t intend to fill the vacuum of any mainstream publisher; rather, it is complementary. For now, we are not accepting manuscripts from non-members, but we hope we shall take this up in the near future once we consolidate on what we set out to do.
How did you receive the news of the book being among the 2011 NLNG Prize shortlist?
Oga Sumaila, how did you feel when you got the news that you were among the last three finalists for the ANA/Anyiam-Osigwe award for best journalist some years back? I bet you were elated, even before you actually won the prize. It feels heart-warming and truth be told I’m elated to be on the list; more so, because I love children’s literature a lot, and wish the government can do more for children’s literature in Nigeria, rather than this glaring indifference and rhetoric we are confronted with almost on a daily basis.
What do you think were the qualities that made the judges select the work?
I wish I knew, but I don’t. In fact, I really don’t know what judges look out for in works of fiction and poetry, except that the work must conform to certain standards, as set out by the prize-giving body, and probably such a work should, as a matter of literary necessity, make for a pleasurable reading.
Of course, you are hopeful that you will make it; what gives you this hope?
I don’t know about that, but let me answer you this way. This is this film The Shawshank Redemption, it was originally a short story by Stephen King; and in this film there is a scene in which Tim Robbins tells Morgan Freeman that, ‘hope is a beautiful thing.’ So let’s keep hope alive and burning, of course, how many people live without hope? That’s virtually impossible, even the beggar is hopeful that his luck might just turn the next moment.
How do you visualize your life after winning the prize?
Ah, Sumaila. Let’s put this question aside and ask the eventual winner, say, sometime in October.
What do you expect of the present government in terms of arts and enhancement of literature in Nigeria?
I like to hope a lot, but it’s difficult to sustain hope in Nigeria. And so I expect so little from every government that comes into power. I keep wondering why it is much easier for our dear government to spend millions of dollars to put a satellite in space, and yet it can’t revamp our national libraries? I keep asking why each state government cannot refurbish its state library and why the council chairman is not interested in uplifting education at the grassroots? And yet, every one of them has mansions in various parts of the country which termites and vermin live in most of the time, line their garages with fleets of luxurious cars even Bill Gates is appalled to keep. Why is our Nigerian government this way? So you see why I have no expectations from any government, no matter how mellifluous he or she sounds – because if we can’t salvage our educational system how then can we empower people economically?

Umaisha’s Harvest of Crises

Title: Hoodlums
Author: Sumaila Umaisha
Publisher: Hybun Publication International
Year of Publication: 2010
No. of pages: 110
ISBN: 978-49181-2-1
Reviewer: Usho Smith Adawa

The spectrum of criminality in Nigeria cut across all facets of life. Violent crimes have become a brand in virtually every aspect of life, incited and perpetuated by hoodlums. Hoodlums, a collection of short stories, focuses on various spheres of existence and how it is desecrated by hoodlums. The hoodlums under the guise of ‘freedom fighters’, the hoodlums in security uniform, the hoodlums in the name of Godfathers, the hoodlums in government offices, the hoodlums that feast on the spoils of the society – contractors, the hoodlums at check points and the hoodlums in politics. These are strata through which violent crimes are inflicted on innocent members of the Nigerian society.
The collection is written against the background of certain violent incidents in Nigeria’s immediate past. The collection is a panoramic survey of crises between 2000 to date.
Thematically, Hoodlums deals with: Criminality, Philosophy, Illusions, Love, Deceit and Faith. A reading of the collection would automatically group the stories according to the following order: Criminality; “Militants”, “The Godfather”, “The Riot”, “Roadblock”, and “Do or Die”. Philosophy; “After the Riot”, “The King Himself”, “The Forbidden Path”, and “Seat of Power”. Illusions; “The Black Cat” and “The President’s Portrait”. Love; “The Last Hiding Place”, “The Outcast” and “Soul-mate”. Deceit; “The Honourable Minister”. Faith; “The Magic”. “Hoodlums”, the title story, combines the theme of love, philosophy and criminality.
From these arrays of themes, the collection inferred perfect images of hoodlums, comic relief provided by love, deep cogitation and absolute trust in divine guidance.
A random synoptic analysis would show that “Militants” and “After the Riot” deals with wanton destruction of lives and permanent psychological debasement of the survivors of the gory experiences. “Hoodlums” dwells on individual determination and love, the inflammatory tendencies of negative journalism, subtle advocacy for religious tolerance and extra-judicial killings. “The King Himself” is an examination of the irony called sanity or insanity. In this story, a presumed insane character is imbued with a superior mental state lacking in the assumed sane people. The multi-millionaire politician, businessman cum bureaucrat has a mental imbalance which ranks him lower than the insane king.
“The Seat of Power” is a departure from the central flow, it is a hallucinatory debunking of a “millennium bug” which was rumoured as having the capacity to bring the world and existence to a standstill. Technology in this story became an invading threat to cosmic balance as a result of its usurpation of divinity and act of worship to the supreme deity. The story ended on a victorious note, the divine’s defeat of technological menace.
“The Godfather” is reflective of the degenerative effect of godfatherism and its truncation of service delivery to the electorates to whom the political class owe their allegiance. In like vein, “The Honourable Minister” is a story that satirizes the political hypocrisy in Nigeria. It publicly showcases the failed but applauded projects and policies embarked upon by the power that be, which bears no correlation with the yearning and plight of the masses. The most outstanding idea in this story is the terroristic delight of public office holders in Nigeria. An excerpt from the story sums it up:
“Who says to be a Minister is a small thing?”
“What is a masquerade without the mask?”
“Without thunder and lightning, how can the mortals appreciate what goes into rainmaking?” (pg 88).
Another vital part of the story is the evasion of reality and a fake projection of the business of governance:
“Sir, this lingering crisis between the academic union of Universities and …”
“The issue has been addressed,” snapped the permanent secretary.
“The National Electric Power Authority…”
“What about it?” The Minister was visibly running out of patience. (pg. 90).
This question and answer session stemming from the Minister’s address, ended with a practical demonstration of what the reality of the day was:
“… NEPA is no longer NEPA, but Power Holding Company of Nigeria PHCN! And it is now repositioned to….”
The entire hall went blank—solid darkness. (pg. 91).
Here we have a critical positioning of fact; Power Holding Company of Nigeria is repositioned to ensure total and absolute darkness in Nigeria. It is also positioned to serve as a conduit pipe through which national resources will be ‘legitimately’ looted.
Amidst these tensed existence, the collection provide relief through the medium of love as can be seen in the relationship of Ben and Mairo, Prof. Ameh Den and Amelia, Bulus and Lilian and the relationship between Ilema and her mother.
As a collection of short stories, Hoodlums has succeeded in engaging implicit use of words to narrate series of events and incidents involving individual’s mental and physical activities. The immediacy achieved between the reader and the subject portrayed cannot be equaled to the immediacy found in other genre of fictional prose writing. Hoodlums is in complete compliance with Sir Hugh Walpole’s prescription that: “a short story should be a story: a record of things happening, full of incidents and accidents, swift movement, unexpected development, leading through suspense to a climax and a satisfying denouement.” No single story in this collection fall short of Walpole’s extrapolations. Another credit of the collection is its brevity and straightforwardness.
In a nutshell, the collection attempts to portray the several dimensions of violence and crime in modern time Nigeria. The author however, was unconsciously impaired by absence of intense use of symbols and imagery in the process of composing the collection. This limitation may be assumed to be intentionally contrived in order to call the attention of the readers to the ugly realities of Nigerians. Hoodlums is a sure delight to short story enthusiasts and an immense contribution to the commonwealth of the short story as a sub-genre of prose fiction.
Usho, currently doing his Masters Degree programme in Literature at ABU, Zaria, is a member of Kaduna State chapter of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA.

Bound to Violence

Reviewed by Denja Abdullahi

Hoodlums, a collection of 17 short stories of varying length, is a much awaited work from the author, Sumaila Umaisha. For well over a decade, his stories have been read on the literary pages of major Nigerian newspapers, online magazines and one cannot forget his appearance in that seminal collection of short stories published by the Association of Nigerian Authors in 1999 entitled Cramped Rooms and Open Spaces. Followers of Sumaila Umaisha’s writing know he has an unpretentious knack for telling stories seething with the extra-ordinary richness of emotions of the ordinary man and woman. Umaisha tells believable stories set in familiar environment which call attention to the nobility of the human soul or the depravity that can assail it if negative extraneous impulses are not curtailed.
Many who have read his pieces here and there have wondered when he would bring out a book and the coming of Hoodlums seems to have laid to rest this concern. Readers of Umaisha’s stories before now are unanimous in their understanding of his predilection for x-raying the intentions and actions of characters in the midst of crisis, mostly violent. Going beyond the text, the author has lived most of his adult life in Kaduna, the hotbed of recurrent ethno-religious crisis in Nigeria, and it seems this fact has taken a hold of his writings, which often focus on chronicling the human-angle ends to the faceless crisis that have been bedeviling that city. Therefore, the title of Umaisha’s debut collection of short stories, Hoodlums, immediately betrays the social realism inherent in his creativity.
Four stories in the collection engage the controlling narrative construct of a writer immersed in witnessing and chronicling humans in crisis situation. “Militants” is a very topical story told in the flash fiction manner on the bombing spree of the Niger Delta militants and their effects on the family particularly the young caught up in that environment. “After the Riot” takes the reader through the hallucinating mind of a man who had suffered grievous loss in a riot in which he was not even a party to the contending sides. “The Riot” tells the satiric tale of an Alhaji Ibrahim who plays Empero Nero as he watches with a binocular while the city burns, taking pleasure in exploring the sight and sounds of the unfolding carnage, only to be surprised in the end when the corpse of dear one was brought home. The title story “Hoodlums” focuses on the experience of a sensational journalist whose reports feast on and sometimes inflame riots. The journalist, Ben, one of the most memorable characters in the book, who has a penchant for sometimes filing in “reports in advance of the events” (p17), together with a colleague, get a dose of their own medicine from a very unlikely source in an uncanny manner of retributive justice.
The author in this collection dwells on the many dour faces of politics in stories such as ‘Do or Die”, “The Godfather” and “Seat of Power”. Other stories such as “The Last Hiding Place”, “The King Himself”, “The Honourable Minister”, “The Outcast”, and “Soul Mate” explore one human angle story or the other in varying depths. Some other stories in the collection are distinguished not by their subject matter but by their form as they seem to end abruptly before they get started. This form is what short stories critics call short short story or flash fiction. Writing in the flash fiction form in the hands of a writer who is not adept at it gives the reader a feeling of incompleteness or shallow attempt at story telling particularly in the eyes of a reader at home with the expansive world of the novel or the long short story. As such stories in the collection such as “The Black Cat”, “The President’s Portrait”, “The Magic”, “Roadblock” and some of the earlier aforementioned stories, that are in the flash fiction form leave the reader with a queasy feeling of unease suggestive that the author is merely experimenting with form, sometimes not too successfully.
The short story form is one in need of encouragement in our clime and is equally one in which to have a collection of all very successful stories is nearly impossible. Readers of even the most accomplished short stories collection coming from the stable of a renowned short story writer often come away with the feeling that some stories should not have been in the collection. In Umaisha’s Hoodlums there are definitely stories that should not have made the collection due to their thematic misalignment or should have been further worked upon for a future collection. That does not take away the many instances of brilliance in some of the featured stories, particularly those stories that are decipherable as emanating from the author’s social realist concern about living in an urban environment fraught with recurrent disharmony.
Sumaila Umaisha’s Hoodlums has come at a very auspicious time when we have seen recent happenings in real life mirroring the world of some of the most striking stories in the collection. Correlating some of the stories in the book to recent happenings in our socio-political sphere foregrounds the fact that we are moving in circles and may not have learnt anything from the past nor have we made any effort in overcoming most of our societal problems. Literature is a medium for reflection and re-appraisal and the many tales told in Hoodlums offer us again this opportunity.

Denja is former National Secretary of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA.

Gripping Tales of Violence

Title: Hoodlums
Reviewer: Uchechukwu Agodom
Publisher: Hybun Publications International;
Pages: 110 pages.

A loud explosion desecrates the peaceful atmosphere of the six-year old Tene and her friends as they are going to a playground. Everybody runs for cover including their teachers. It is a rumour that becomes a reality. The rumour was that the militants would attack. The attack was “a protest against the heavy military presence in the Niger Delta area.” (p.9) Tene risks being trampled upon “by the moving forest of adult feet” (p.10) as she races toward home, with the hope of finding peace and orderly world once she sees her parents, to the extent that her “daddy would command the sound to stop scaring her and it would stop instantly.” (p.10). As she gets home there is another explosion. She sees her mother also running for cover, but another explosion lifted her (mother) high and smashed on the ground.
This opening story “Millitants” of Sumaila Umaisha’s engaging collection of short stories is a powerful reflection of an aspect of the gory situation in the Niger Delta. The story ends abruptly, leaving the reader to figure out the end of the story, maybe; some readers may think it is a finished business, but some may think otherwise, but for the writer it is a finished business.
The second story, “After the Riot” also comes with a great style. There is an echo of death. There is humour too. Zabi runs to catch up with a woman he thinks is “very much like his missing wife.” (p.12). Missing because he has not seen her six days after the riot. He imagines his wife would ask him questions like, why he did not look for her after the riot. Zabi, on forming what he would give her as answers, tells a story of a tragic part of the riot he witnessed, including how he dressed like a madman to evade death. But when he gets to the woman he realises that the person is, after all, a man.
In the powerful story “Seat of Power,” there is a kingdom in a thought-controlled era where technology has no need for the use of wire. To communicate to a person, one only needs to think about the person and the intended message would automatically go to the person. It is an ambitious science fiction which revolves around Saeed, the king of a tremendously advanced civilization, Huza’u Kingdom. Saeed is to rule for a staggering 3000 years. But his friend, Shamna, claims God sent him to save him; that he should abdicate the throne. The story journeys back to the reality that Saeed is actually in a state of drowsiness in a lift, and all the event of thousands of years took place just within seconds; between the ground floor and the tenth floor. The writer succeeds in dramatically infusing science fiction in the story.
“The Godfather” displays godfather antics. Chief (Dr.) Odaudu Okpetu, the Godfather, who does not want a second term for his godson, Gangi, the mayor of Gold City, is angry. He is angry because the Gangi, whom he earlier bankrolled into the office, awards contracts to his opponents. Though the mayor has paid back the loans he gave him, because of his lack of loyalty to him, he decides that Obata, the manager of his farm, Odaudu Farms, will be the next mayor though Obata says he is politically inexperienced. The election comes with all its bloody strings and the godfather’s new godson wins. Obata never knew there would be bloodshed, as his godfather never told him. The bloodshed disturbs him and he decides to atone for the sins against the dead by improving the lives of the people. But Godfather is not happy with such action, especially as he is not consulted. Mayor Obata decides to go on in the face of blackmail from godfather. And this leads to the mayor’s mysterious assassination.
The story “Magic” from page 77 to 79 is about Bologi who is desperate to know if the power of his desecrated charm for wealth has gone. In the story, “Soul Mate,” Lilian is in a condition of “lingering grief and loneliness” (p.83) due to the death of her parents during an ethno-religious conflict in the city. She finally finds love with Bulus, after a long tortuous walk.
“The Honourable Minister,” a story that is stunningly creative, spinning a drama in a short story, giving a short story the badge of drama, humorously dramatizes how a minister runs his duties, exposing the foibles, vanity and failings of a state. Children perform before a real minister, displaying huge element of mockery and criticism of government performance. “The Black Cat” is a powerfully told story about an old woman who visits her youthful days when she enjoyed life, life of prostitution, rejected men who wanted to marry her, messed up her wealth, and when old and rejected lives with a cat, becomes prayerful, and recognizes the transformative power of the cat. She is lifted from her plane to other planes, by her new state of life, and by From page 96 to 98 is a hilarious story titled “The President’s Portrait”. Artist Amedu keeps reworking his painting of the president to get the best piece of the art which he intends to present to the president during his inauguration. At first he paints a beautiful picture, but as news on the extent of rigging that took place during the presidential election comes in, he keeps repainting the work to reflect the real president whose profile continues to change from innocence to ugliness.
The title story, “Hoodlums”, is an outstanding story that deals with violence, criticism against journalists, and the hazards of the profession. There is a tragic clash between Christians and Muslims in a religiously charged city (Kaduna). A police inspector accuses the journalists of causing the riot through their sensational and dubious reporting. A security team of policemen and soldiers dumps the two arrested journalists in the two hottest spots of the riot; they drop the Muslim journalist in the Christian-controlled area and the Christian journalist in the Muslim-controlled area – where they will most certainly face death. In “Hoodlums”, the writer balances his story to show his awareness of religious sensitivity and to appeal for religious balance in a multifarious country like Nigeria. There is an excellent use of flashbacks to develop the story “Hoodlums.”
“The Forbidden Path” is a moving story, powerfully told, and poetically rendered. It is about the suicidal journey of Onkwo, the woman who “had overstayed her days and had seen the forbidden masquerades.” (p.54). The superbly told story is greatly worth reading several times, over and over again.
There is a wide range of themes: corruption, greed, power, violence and drug abuse. Some of the stories carry the crushing weight of reporting. And there is good use of suspense. For instance, in the story “The Last Hiding Place” The reader is gripped from the beginning of the story. The writer uses the power of thought to drive some of the stories. Also irony plays a good role in bringing out the beauty of some of the stories. Other stories are packed with humour like “Hoodlums” and “After the Riot.” In fact, “After the Riot” is loaded with good style. It is one of the best stories.
Though Hoodlums is good for everybody, I strongly recommend it to politicians, religious, political, traditional, and economic leaders. They should read and experience the grim and horrific effects of riots, injustice, do-or-die mentalities and other societal dysfunctions in some of the stories. I recommend the book to the citizens of countries like Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Uganda and Columbia where there are recurrent waves of violence, greed and corruption. With Hoodlums, Umaisha has succeeded in creatively showing to the world the complex situations that characterize, in varying degrees, some hotspots in Nigeria.
Uchechukwu Agodom, is a writer, poet, columnist and social commentator. ucheagodom@yahoo.com. +2347064881550.

Rhythm of Fear and Violence in Umaisha’s Hoodlums

Reviewed by Isaac Attah Ogezi
In the late 1980s, Achebe, in his timeless classic, The Trouble with Nigeria, classified Nigeria as one of the most unsafe places to live in the world today. Daily events in the country have made this assertion truer in our times than in the late 1980s. Only last year when the nation was in a euphoric mood of celebrating her fiftieth anniversary, a gift of bomb blasts at her seemingly impregnable Eagle Square was handed to her. If the army barracks and the Police Force Headquarters in our federal capital could have their share of bomb blasts, where lies our security? Indeed, the perennial ethno-religious crises in Kaduna, Jos, Bauchi and most parts of the north appear to have come to live with us like the Isreali-Palistinian crisis. The Niger Delta militancy in the south-south, the emergence of the extremist Islamic sect called Boko Haram in the north and the obvious disaffection and disunity among the citizenry have made fear the commonest denominator
in Nigeria today, the all-pervasive kind of fear that preceded the Civil War in the late sixties which prompted Okigbo in his poem ‘Come Thunder’, to lament: ‘… a great fearful thing already tugs at the cables of /the open air.’ It is this fear, which is more often than not trailed by violence and debauchery, that has become a recurring decimal in our chequered history as a people and forms the fulcrum of Umaisha’s collection of seventeen short stories, Hoodlums.
In Hoodlums, Umaisha explores several themes, ranging from fear and violence in our polity, feminism and the plight of children during crises, politics of bitterness and godfatherism and love, to metafiction and dystopian literature. In the stories, ‘Militant’, ‘After the Riot’ and ‘Hoodlums’, we see the gory pictures of the activities of the Niger Delta militants and the ceaseless ethno-religious violence in the country. In a season of anomie such as Nigeria’s, hoodlums are daily birthed; whose targets are the sane, ‘those who still had a future’ (p. 13). Umaisha unravels further the moronic psychology of hoodlums on the same page 13 when he wrote: ‘When the hoodlums sighted someone, they would rush and beat him repeatedly till he fell. Then they would slaughter him. The more a victim pleaded with them the more brutal they became. After slaughtering such a victim they would set the body ablaze.’ Hoodlums are therefore
psychopaths who revel in bloodletting. They are monsters and bloodhounds. Like J. P. Clark’s all-embracing definition of casualties in the Nigerian Civil War in his famous poem ‘Casualties’, Umaisha sees hoodlums as not only those who physically unleash violence but include even the educated elite who fan the embers of disunity such as the journalists who incite crises by sensational reporting. On page 27, Umaisha made a Police Inspector speak his mind, thus:
‘“Do you see those hoodlums out there?” He pointed at some fleeing matchete-wiedling youths. “You and your editor and all the other journalists who help to escalate this crisis by sensational reporting are no better than them. They are all hoodlums and they will be treated as such.”’
In reply to this accusation, Ben, a journalist character in the title story unwittingly drops his guard when he pleads: ‘I don’t think it is too late, sir. One editorial is enough to do the magic. The fighting will stop. Even the reprisal attacks in other parts of the country will stop … ‘(p. 29). The activities of hoodlums on rampage will always result in mayhem as graphically painted on page 26:
‘The number of policemen and soldiers on the streets was obviously too small to cope with the situation. Dead bodies were everywhere, the driver barely avoided running over them. The sight was so horrible that grave silence pervaded the van.’
In ‘The Outcast’ and
‘The Forbidden Path’,
Umaisha shows his disenchantment with our patriarchal society for its preference for men over women. In ‘The Outcast’, Ilema was discarded in a rubbish dump by her mother when she was an infant on account of her being a female child (p. 40). Umaisha paints the picture of a callous society that does not forgive a woman’s childlessness as he aptly put it in the mouth of his character Mummy on page 43: ‘“I am an outcast”, she continued. “I was rejected by my people. I was branded a witch and rejected because of my inability to bear a child. Even though in my desperate quest for a child, I moved from one husband to another like a harlot, they still failed to understand my plight. They said I couldn’t give birth because I ate my babies in the womb.” Because of the sexist society that she lives in, Mummy dreams that Ilema will ‘grow into a woman of substance, into a man’ (p.
45). Similarly, in ‘The Forbidden Path’, Onkwo, the oldest person in Irebu village is branded a witch and ‘… from that day, children never went near her again’ (p. 55) because apart from having one of her sons ‘lost to the city’ (p. 55), the rest of her other ten children are dead including her husband!
Stories like ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Do or Die!’ poke fun at our unsophisticated politics of bitterness and godfatherism. ‘The Last Hiding Place’ and ‘The President’s Portrait’ depict metafictive processes of creativity and the enigmatic nature of artistes generally, while ‘Seat of Power’ describes a dystopian world reminiscent of Orwell’s masterwork, 1984. It is worthy to note that despite Umaisha’s dark world marked with violence and savagery, the victimization of women and children, politics of ‘do-or-die’, somehow love survives. In ‘Soul Mate’ and even the doomsday title story, ‘Hoodlums’, love flourishes even in a time of war. The love between Ben and Mairo in Kaduna cuts across the religious divide. It is pure, unadulterated love that is religion-blind. This is a bold, no-holds-barred story that shows that Nigeria needs writers like Umaisha who are detribalized and de-religionized. Writers who, when possessed by the creative muse, will utilize the social function of literature to unite rather than to preach sectionalism and religious intolerance.
Unarguably, Umaisha’s Hoodlums is a celebration of the blissful marriage of topical themes and aesthetics. As a poet, Umaisha has been able to transfer the subtlety that poetry is renowned for to his short stories, thereby placing some high demands on the readers to read between the lines to be able to fathom some unsaid things. Umaisha employed great economy of language like Hemingway in Hoodlums. This kind of cryptic use of language is evident in ‘The Forbidden Path’ when the writer used just two versified lines on page 57 to tell the entire story of Onkwo, why she is labelled a witch. This is a skill which reinforces the short story’s unique singularity of effect apart from the fact that it can be read at one sitting, with no single word wasted. Edgar Allan Poe, in the first real analysis of the short story, posited that: ‘In the whole composition, there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect is not to the one pre-established design. And by such means, with such care and skill, a picture is at length painted which leaves in the mind of him who contemplates it with a kindred art, a sense of the fullest satisfaction.’
Perhaps, the apparent weakness in Umaisha’s Hoodlums is the lack of experimentation in narrative styles. All the stories conform to the traditional form of storytelling in the mould of folktales evident in the works of the early masters of the short story form such as Poe and Melville. In the entire seventeen stories, none of them is Chekhovian nor experimental like Hemingway’s.
There is no doubt that the short story is more similar to poetry than the longer prose form of the novel, and just like poetry, form is as important to the short story, if not more important than the subject. Also, in one or two instances, Umaisha’s characters are flat, cowardly and not invested with heroism like Iyayi’s Heroes. The character of Ben, the journalist in the title story, is that of a despicable coward on page 30, as follows: ‘He got down on his knees and began to pray – something he had not done in a very long time … No one looked back except Ben. And what he saw was beyond words. He slumped.’ In ‘The Outcast’, Ilema’s character is portrayed to be weak when, upon the revelation of the circumstances surrounding her birth, ‘she suddenly lurched forward and slumped to the floor’ (p. 45). Melodrama in fiction is always accompanied with weak character portrayal. Ironically, the effect of melodrama in literature is always the opposite and negative, for instead of striking the reader hard in the face, it falls off flat on the ground because of its lack of verisimilitude. On page 11, Umaisha wrote:
‘Mummy was running fast. She spread out her arms when she saw Tene. The little girl also spread out her arms, running towards her as fast as she could. But just before she got to Mummy, another explosion went off close by and something she could not see lifted Mummy high and smashed her on the ground. Mummy struggled to her feet but fell back.’
The same can be said of Ben’s ‘hazy image of Mairo, weeping and stretching out her hands, inviting him to come over’ on page 29. Well-packaged and edited, Hoodlums is almost error-free save for a few lapses such as ‘contentious difference’ (p. 14), ‘And as he presently focused on a mob” (p. 99) and ‘His heart skipped a bit” (p. 102).
Be that as it may, Umaisha’s Hoodlums announces the arrival of an accomplished short story writer in Nigeria, who, in the succeeding years, will continue to give us more snapshots of the human condition and nature in a manner not amenable to the novel form. Even the great masters of the short story genre such as Melville, Turgenev, Chekhov, Hemingway and Katherine Mansfield could not boast of an accomplished first collection like Umaisha’s Hoodlums. It is indeed a must-read for all those aspiring to excel in short story writing and for those on the lookout for real entertainment.

Umaisha unleashes his Hoodlums on the public

Hoodlums, a collection of short stories by Sumaila Isah Umaisha, an Associate Editor with the New Nigerian Newspapers, and Chairman of the Kaduna State Chapter of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, was presented to the public in Abuja, Thursday.
Held under the chairmanship of the Honourable Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. Labaran Maku, at the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, the event was attended by dignitaries from all walks of life.
The event began with opening remarks by the chairman, who described the publication of the book as timely in view of the prevailing security situation in the country. According to the minister, who was represented by Mr. Olufela Oshunbiyi, Deputy Director in the Ministry of Information and Communications, Umaisha’s collection of short stories, which centres mainly on the causes and effects of violent crises in Nigeria, is quite topical and deserves the attention of every Nigerian.
Presenting his paper titled ‘Understanding Crises and Conflict Resolution in Nigeria’, the Guest Speaker, Dr. Joseph Golwa, who is the Director-General, National Institute for Peace And Conflict Resolution, re-echoed the timeliness of the book and the need for Nigerians to learn the bitter lessons contained in it. Violent crises as being currently witnessed across the country, he said, were not only inimical to national development, but a serious dent on the image of the country. He called on all and sundry to imbibe the culture of tolerance, justice and peace, which the book preaches.
The Chief Presenter, Engr. Kailani Mohammed, publisher of Liberator newspaper, and the Chief Host, Dr. Jerry Agada, President, Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, also expressed concerns over the security situation in the country, hoping that copies of the book would be widely circulated to inculcate in the reading public the need for peaceful co-existence.
According the Book Reviewer, Dr. Emman Usman Shehu, Director, International Institute of Journalism, the book provided the author the platform to explore a variety of themes including political violence, thuggery, assassinations, militancy, witchcraft, astral projection, prostitution, drug addiction and insanity. “Thus, most of the stories are topical giving the collection a strong contemporary relevance,” he stressed.
The Special Guest of Honour, Nasarawa State Governor, Alhaji Tanko Umaru Al-Makura, did not only extol the effort of the author in producing such a timely book, but purchased a large number of copies for schools in Nasarawa State. The governor, who was represented by Malam Shehu Othman, also called for peace as, according to him, no meaning development could take place in a state of chaos.
Also, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Modibbo, the Director and Chief Executive of the Universal Basic Education Commission, who was represented at the occasion, pledged to purchase and distribute copies of the book to public schools across the country.
The event was punctuated with an entertaining interlude; a thrilling performance of one of the short stories, ‘After the Riot’ by Odoh Diego Okenyodo, Managing Director, Isu Media.
The public presentation was followed by a reading session organized by the Abuja chapter of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA. The event, which took place on Saturday (two days after the public presentation) at the French Cultural Centre, Wuse II, attracted many Abuja-based writers, including Professor Umelo Ojinmah, Dean of Faculty of Arts, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, and Chinyere Obi-Abasi, who is on the shortlist of this year’s NLNG Prize for Literature.
It was an exciting moment as the Guest Writer, Sumaila Umaisha, read from his Hoodlums, while the audience critiqued the stories. At the end of the reading Professor Ojinmah announced his intention to recommend the book for his Literature students.

Published in many Nigerian newspapers.

I have the ability to change ANA - Dzukogi

Malam BM Dzukogi, a poet, short story writer, essayist and former Financial Secretary of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, is contesting for the post of National Secretary of the association in the next convention. In this interview with Sumaila Umaisha, he says he is sure of victory because he has all it takes to change ANA for the better.

For some time now there have been talks about you trying to contest for the position of National Secretary of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA. What is the motivating factor?
B.M. Dzukogi: Let me start by saying it is not just talks about it, it is real and we have announced our intention. The motivating factor is simple. I have reached a stage where I have to take my service forward. So the motivation, largely, is to establish at the national level things we have done here in Niger State. It is a service, burdensome, but it is beautiful.
What are the things you have done in Niger State that you want to replicate at the national level?
It depends at what point one was. Hilltop Model School, you are aware of the little we have contributed to that environment, establishing teen authorship, establishing arts centre there and many other things. In Niger State, of course, apart from the fact that my presence is a motivating factor for the younger ones, which is also a contribution to service, because it is like bringing them forward. There are some other things we introduced during my time as the secretary of the state chapter of ANA from 1994 to 2000. And the one that will readily come to mind is the issue of Annual Schools Carnival of Arts and Festival of Songs (ASCAFS). Apart from the anthologies we pioneered, there are other programmes like visitation to schools, trying to found literature library.
There is still an EXCO in place, only winding up their first term. Given the tradition of ANA where EXCO members are often given automatic second term, how are you going to dislodge the EXCO?
Giving automatic ticket to people should be discouraged because this EXCO has totally remained redundant. And that’s where the trouble is. When we encourage automatic second term we are indirectly encouraging third term. Second term should be left in the hands of the people, the electorate. If they want you based on what you have done, they will vote you in again for the second time. For instance, if we are able to secure our first term and we fail to perform, the people should throw us out. That is the beauty of democracy. In any case, once the first term elapses, then a fresh environment has been created for any other person to aspire for any position.
When you said the present EXCO is redundant what do you mean?
What have they done? They have not done anything. Truly, there is nothing I can hold on to now as something they have achieved. During Okediran’s era everywhere was active, we were part of that EXCO and we know how much activism he brought into the leadership and everybody had no choice than to follow – many things; colloquiums, inauguration of branches, workshops here and there. Okediran was doing all of those things, he was seen; we were everywhere. In the present regime, no activities; the only thing they have organized so far is the colloquium for JP Clark. And if I’m to narrate what happened there it will be too bad. They have actually not measured up to half of what Okediran did. This is redundancy. What they should have aspired to do is to do as much as he has done or do more. If you can’t do more than that then you must retain the frequency of what he did. But nothing – some much quiet.
And you think if you come there you will change the situation?
With all sense of modesty, I think I have the ability to change the situation. I have the ability to change ANA. The office is not the thing, but the occupier of that office; it is the leader who makes the office. You will see an office that is seemingly insignificant, but if you have a creative person there he brings his creativity to bear on the office.
So how is ANA going to look like under you?
It will be largely based on our antecedent. For example, if we were able to successfully do series of anthologies in ANA Niger, which we did not have to wait for conventions before we release them, I should be able to do that at the national level. If we could introduce ASCAFS in Niger State, we should be able to do that nationally. In doing these things, you need to connect with organizations and individuals of influence for them to give you the necessary support. They don’t need to give us the funds; they only need to give us the administrative funds – funds for organizing the events. Securing a secretariat in Abuja, even if it is temporary, shouldn’t be a problem for us, because we have people there that we will talk to, to be able to release offices for us to use. Even the Niger State governor will be too willing to do that for us there at the liaison office. I should also be able to carry the teen authorship further, going into universities now, which is a little step above what we do in secondary schools here. For example, you bring in the Nigerian universities’ literary clubs into the fold of ANA. Now, you are not just engaging them, you are establishing a structure for an aspiring author. For example, a child from secondary school who had experienced teen authorship gets to the university and after university he moves straight to the association. So that building of structure is something we should be able to do. Then the colloquium thing; we should be able to celebrate on a larger scale icons of Nigerian literature. We will bring them together to announce to the society their works and worth. And once the younger ones watch this thing unfolding at the national scene, they will naturally aspire to be them. In that way, you are re-organising their thought. There are many things we want to do, which I will publish in my manifesto. What made Okediran succeed was that though he was higher than us he brought down himself to our level, interacted very well and carried everyone along. He goes to the naming and marriage ceremonies of members. Okediran will fly from Abuja to Maiduguri just to attend those things. If the leader is performing, nothing will prevent those under him from performing.
In your statement you’ve been saying ‘our’…
You know, I’m working in concert with Remi Raji. And it is a long time of muting of this quest. Truly, my concept of leadership is the one that is driving me forward. Although today leadership in our society translates to wealth, such that if you are vying for a position people will think you are not serious, you are just pretending, when you get there you will do a different thing. But such thing happens when you have not developed a strong philosophy in life. I know very well that the name I have secured is greater than the instant wealth one would get. In any case, if you do something very well, you will also get people’s goodwill, and that is better than wealth. Life should be about being contented with what you have and the influence you exert on people positively.
On a final note, what is your level of preparation, and from the reactions you are getting so far, what do you think are your chances?
Truly, the Nigerian literary environment knows Dzukogi, and if I say I have no confidence in them to accept my aspiration, I must be lying. I’m just too convinced that they know what I’m capable of, know the kind of person I am and are willing to accept me. In any case, I’ve spoken to a lot. I started speaking to people from December, 2010. I text Prof. Olu Obafemi, I text Zaynab Alkali, Odia and many others. And their responses were all positive. Someone even said ‘you have my one hundred and one per cent support’.

Interviewed by Sumaila Umaisha and published in the New Nigerian.

NLNG Prize Shortlist: I feel ecstatic! - Obi-Obasi

The fact that Chinyere Obi-Obasi, a graduate of English Language/Literature and Law, is a writer of no mean repute has just been confirmed by her book, The Great Fall, being shortlisted for the 2011 Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas, NLNG, Prize for Literature. She speaks to Sumaila Umaisha about it.

Let’s begin with your brief biography.
I am a graduate of English Language/Literature and Law. Was called to the Nigerian bar in 1993. Practised law for seven years before joining the bank. I spent the last five years of the practice with Tayo Oyetibo & Co. I currently work with UnityBank Plc and is married with 5 children; four girls and one boy.
How did your writing career begin?
I read a lot from childhood. I did some writing in secondary school, did more in my first degree while reading English Language then I did a lot more while reading Law which saw me finish a manuscript and send it off to a publisher. It was neither acknowledged nor published. I did not do any writing in Law School or during law practice. I started again when I began to work in the bank.
You seem to specialize in children’s literature; why?
Not exactly, having five children, I am at home with kids and can relate to their needs. I have done a lot of short stories. I recall my short stories can be found in these anthologies; Camouflage and Eko O nibaje. I have published short stories in ThisDay newspaper and read my stories at many literary fora.  I am currently working on an adult book I titled ‘The Birth Mark’. I am also writing a talent management book and a motivational book.
How did you receive the news of your being among the 2011 NLNG Prize shortlist?
I got a call from Mr. Ahmed Maiwada about 7.30pm on Friday 22nd July, 2011.
How does it feel?
I feel ecstatic, humbled and grateful to the Almighty God who saw the many lonely nights I had to work long and hard and crowned my efforts with success.
What do you think were the qualities that made the judges select the work?
The judges mentioned certain criteria that guided them. I guess they believed my book met all those criteria. I particularly agree with the editing part and the fact that everyone can enjoy it. I am grateful to Ejah Sule, Maiwada, Ben Ubiri, Spencer Okoroafor, Dr Rex  and my publishers who at one time or the other made very useful suggestions.
Of course, you are hopeful that you will make it; what gives you this hope?
The prize is open because if you say six books from 126 then each of the books is a potential winner. My hope is built on God and nothing else.
How do you visualize your life after winning the prize?
I see a more vibrant writer who will intensify effort having set this kind of standard.
What is your writing schedule like?
Because I have a large family of one husband and five children and work in the bank, I spend all my time trying to balance correctly so that none will suffer. I write mostly from 2am till dawn.

(c) Interviewed by Sumaila Umaisha and published in the New nigerian of 14th August, 2011.

Biafran war was unnecessary but inevitable

Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, a professor of English at the University of Lagos, has written over 34 books across genres – novels, short stories, poetry, plays and children’s literature – and academic books and articles published locally and internationally. Her latest work, a novel titled Roses and Bullets, highlights the Nigerian civil war from a fresh angle that portrays the war as unnecessary but inevitable. In this interview with SUMAILA UMAISHA, she speaks about the book.

Let’s begin with your short biography.
My name is Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, a professor of English at the University of Lagos and a three-time head of the English Department. I was born in the south east but have lived in various parts of Nigeria – east, west and north. I have a doctorate degree from the University of Ibadan and B.A. and Masters Degrees from the University of Lagos. I was appointed a professor at the University of Lagos in 1999. I have written over 34 books across genres – novels, short stories, poetry, plays and children’s literature – and academic books and articles published locally and internationally I have travelled extensively in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia.
Why did you entitle your new novel Roses and Bullets?
The title is symbolic. Roses symbolize youths who perished in the Nigerian Civil War which is also referred to as the Biafran War. The youth fought the war and died in thousands, just like the young children who died of starvation. As Herbert Hoover said, “Older men declare war, but it is the youth that must fight and die.” So the youth are the flowers of the land that were bighted too soon; they sacrificed their lives. As a matter of fact this also applied to the Federal side. Bullets represent violence and death. There was so much violence and so many deaths in the war. There could be other interpretations, but these will suffice.
There is something unique, something philosophical about the relationship between your major characters, Ginika and Eloka; what statement are you trying to make here in relation to the Nigerian civil war?
The love shared by Ginika and Eloka is the type of love that is strong, genuine, ennobling and beautiful. Under normal circumstances such love should last a lifetime and bring out the best in the individuals concerned. But war is abnormal; the civil war destroyed this love. One of the statements the novel makes is that the Nigerian Civil War destroyed a lot of good, positive and beautiful things, especially human relationships and lives. It also destroyed property and infrastructure. It shattered dreams and hopes.
Coming from the eastern part of the country some might conclude you wrote the novel from your personal experience. How would you respond to this?
Well, I was a witness to the war – I was a schoolgirl when it was fought. So I write from hindsight and experience. But this is not to say that I was exploring my personal experience; for instance, I am not Ginika, as some people have presumed.
How much of the novel is fiction and how much fact?
A lot of it is fiction, but there are factual events or happenings that have been transmuted into fiction while some are retained as they actually were, for example, the names of some personages and some towns.
Writers like Chukwuemeka Ike, Elechi Amadi and Chimamanda Adichie have written on the civil war with love as a major theme and one might think these authors have exhausted the subject-matter. What fresh angle do you think you have introduced into the novel to make it stand out?
Love is a great theme any writer can explore in fiction; this has always been the case. Consider, for instance Dryden’s All for Love or Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra (both on the same subject) or even Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. These are great works that explore the theme of love. I believe my treatment of this great theme is different from those of the Nigerian writers you mentioned. Mine focuses on the experience of the youth, exploring the true meaning of passion, human frailties accentuated by war and the notions of morality and self-sacrifice.
From the tone of the novel, you seem to be saying the war was unnecessary. Can you expatiate on this?
Yes, the war was totally unnecessary – so many crises in Nigeria were and still are unnecessary – but it was inevitable.
There is something didactic about the novel; what lesson are you trying to impart?
I wonder if one should be talking about lessons, as I assume each reader should form his or her opinion in this regard. However, one thing I can say is that war is evil. It has always been so and will always be so: it hardly solves anything. Roses and Bullets exposes the horrors of war. Nigeria fought a civil war between 1967 and 1970, but did it solve anything? The issues are still there and people are acting as if a war was never fought! In her powerful novel, Song of Solomon, the distinguished African American writer, Toni Morrison, shows us that human beings do not learn from past mistakes – a phenomenon that Wole Soyinka refers to as the stupidities of human action and history. What else can one say after reflecting on the works of these famous masters? Literature is life; good literature makes profound statements about life. I believe Roses and Bullets has done this.
From the feelers so far, in terms of sales and criticism, how is the novel being received?
The novel came out in March, 2011. The sales are okay but not fantastic yet – only few Nigerians invest in books or bother to read anyway. But I can tell you that the novel is well received: strange enough, even people who haven’t read it are excited about it perhaps because of the subject matter. I receive a lot of calls, emails and commendations for writing the book.
You are into all the genres of literature; which of the genres would you say you find it easier to write in?
I can’t say really. However, I am comfortable with all of them. It is amazing that one genre captures my imagination at a given time and I immediately obey. For example, when I was ready to start writing Roses and Bullets, poetry hijacked me and I bowed, wrote poems until fiction reestablished dominance and stole me away. Again I obeyed and wrote Roses and Bullets. So it depends on my mood or state of mind. For example, in June 2011, an idea for a short story came and I immediately wrote one and sent it abroad. I don’t know if it will be accepted for publication. I wait for news.
Don’t you think it would have been more effective in terms of communicating your ideas, if you had written a play on the civil war rather than a novel?
No. I don’t think so. Roses and Bullets could only be realized as a novel – an extended fictitious narrative – by virtue of the complexity of its plot and its rigorous delineation of character and exploration of motives.
The novel is 518 pages; as a lecturer and a housewife, how did you find time to put this together?
If you are passionate about what you do, you will find time. I am passionate about writing and I try to find time to write in spite of all that I do as a wife, mother, grandmother and university teacher and researcher.
Are we expecting any work of this nature from you again or you have exhausted the subject?
Well, only time will tell!

(c) Interviewed by Sumaila Umaisha and published in the 7th August, 2011, of New Nigerian newspaper.

Gamji Memorial Club celebrates Abubakar Imam

14TH July, 2011 could be described as a very special date for the students of Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru, particularly members of the school’s chapter of Gamji Memorial Club, as they organized a memorial lecture to commemorate the literary icon, Abubakar Imam. The event, which marked the 8th Annual Gamji Week, 2011, took place at the Resource Centre of the polytechnic, with distinguished dignitaries in attendance, including Malam Tukur Abdulrahman, Managing Director, New Nigerian Newspapers, and Professor Zaynab Alkali, former Deputy Vice Chancellor of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, in attendance.
The event, under the theme, “Late Abubakar Imam: Examplary Life for Today’s Leaders” began with a welcome address by the President of the chapter, Halima Abdullahi Sarki, in which she highlighted the aims and objectives of the club. According to her, the club is aimed at inculcating in the youth the virtues of Sir Ahmadu Bello, former Premier of the defunct Northern Region and Sardauna of Sokoto. This year’s edition of the annual lecture focused on late Abubakar Imam because, according to her, the renowned writer, journalist and statesman the two lived exemplary lives promoting the same ideology and moral values that enhance the human dignity.
In her opening remarks, the Chairperson of the occasion, Professor Zaynab Alkali, also extolled the virtue of the duo and commended members of the Gamji club for commemorating their monumental legacies. The legacies were further enumerated in a citation on late Abubakar Imam.
Highlight of the event was the lecture, which featured two topic: “New Technologies for an Ancient Profession: Challenges for the Nigerian Writer”, by Professor Remi Raji, Head of English Language Department, University of Ibadan, and “Literature and Development: Talent in Service of Humanity”, by Professor Zaynab Alkali.
In his paper, Professor Raji extolled the literary qualities of Abubakar Imam, examined the challenges being faced by the contemporary writer, especially the Nigerian writer, in the emerging communication technologies and how the writer could surmount the attendant disadvantages and utilize the advantages to achieve literary excellence. According to him, “In order to surmount the challenges of writing in the digital age, the consciousness or sensibility of pre-modern, pre-computer world has to be jettisoned. The catchword in the business of e-writing should be re-orientation of the psychology of the different publics - publishing, author and the larger constituency of the real or virtual reader.”
He observed that with the new technologies, “many Nigerian “authors” appear ready and raw on such social networks as facebook, twitter, youtube and bing, in dire hurry on the road to compulsory fame and quick riches without giving serious attention to the craft but according more interest to personal visibilities and self-ventilations in the public sphere.” And this, according to him, makes writing in
the digital age doubly daunting as badly written works, in terrible, ugly and awkward language are foisted freely on a readership that is few and far between. Hence, “The editor is no longer relevant, in fact the editor is dead, and the author is king, as long as there is a ready listserv or a contrived blog”.
To this end, he concluded by advising that the emerging author must consider the wisdom that writing is first an intimately privatist work which demands years of hard cerebral labour involving observation, imitation, experimentation before that unique milestone of originality. “Everyone who thinks he can write is a writer, just as every rough diamond is a gem; however, in order to achieve refinement, in order to achieve remarkable and genuine recognition, the writer must be engaged in the constant acts of reading, thinking, revision and experimentation,” he concluded.
In her own presentation, Professor Zaynab Alkali observed that literature is aimed at teaching, informing and raising the consciousness of the readers. She, however, observed that in Nigeria, literature is not playing its role fully because of some shortcomings, which include low reading culture. She then called on the federal government to take further steps, in addition to the ‘Bring Back the Book Project, to implement the age long policies with regard to developing and sustaining the reading culture. She called for the preservation of our oral and written literature through the recommended systems, namely, schools language centres, writers’ workshops, book development councils and media, through interactions between young and old writers, international reading festivals organized under writers’ workshops, or book development councils, to foster international relations with foreign sister organizations based on the exchange of ideas. If these suggestions are implemented, according to her, our literature would, among other things, be one of the best sources of wealth creation for the nation, thus positioning the writers as national leaders and torch bearers. She added that “This can only come to pass when Nigerian writers are sincerely ready to speak up, and place their talent in the service of humanity”.
Responding to the presentations as one of the discussants, Malam Tukur Abdulrahman, commended the presenters, stressing that they have so exhaustively discussed the topics that there was hardly anything else to add. He then re-iterated the points made, particularly concerning Abubakar Imam’s journalism career as the first editor of Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo newspaper, a subsidiary of the New Nigerian Newspapers. Malam Abdulrahman, who was also editor of the Hausa language paper, asserted that contrary to the belief that this aspect of Imam’s legacy no longer exists, Gaskiya newspaper is still alive and comes out every Monday and Tuesday. On the aspect of writing and the new technology, he advised writers to make the best use of the new information and communication technology to enhance their crafts.
In his goodwill message, the Special Guest of Honour, Governor of Niger State, Dr. Aliyu Mu’azu Babangida, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Muhammed Bawa, described the occasion as a forum for sober reflection on the personalities of Abubakar Imam, Sir Ahmadu Bello and what they stood for, which is good governance, equity and justice. He said in view of the prevailing lack of employment, polytechnic education, which is job-oriented should be truly deployed towards empowering graduants economically. This message was re-echoed by the Mother of the Day, Mrs. Jummai Aliyu Babagida, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Gender Affairs, Hajiya Hauwa Muhammed.
In his remarks, the Chief Host, Alhaji (Chief) Garba K. Muhammed, (Jakadan Kagara), who is the Rector, the Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru, spoke on the significance of the occasion and the efforts of the polytechnic towards ensuring the graduation of self-reliant students. He also advocated for the teaching of indigenous literature in school, as it was the case in the past, for the effective inculcation of moral values in the Nigerian child.
Special Guest of Honour, Justice Mamman Nasir, National President and Patron of Gamji Club, represented by Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua, explained the aims behind founding the club, stressing that it was free for everyone who shares the same values and philosophies with Sir Ahmadu bello and Abubakar Imam to join.
The event was rounded off with presentation of certificates to paper presenters, discussants, outstanding members of the club and executive council members of the club, and a visit to the Abubakar Imam Memorial Garden, which is stll under construction.
(c) Reported in the New Nigerian edition of 17th July, 2011 by Sumaila Umaisha.