By Anote Ajeluorou
Already in its 15th year, the Lagos Art and Book
Festival (LABAF) has proven itself to be the showcase of a cultural awakening, with
regard on how to revitalise the book in the consciousness of Nigerians
(particularly Lagosians) for whom the book may long have given up on. But if
anything, Lagosians are still hip with the book given the enthusiasm with which
they thronged Freedom Park, Lagos Island, venue of the cultural picnic that has
books, as its central-showpiece.
So that even
from the pre-LABAF events that started on Monday, November 11, with
master-classes in creative writing and an examination of the publishing
environment, to the events proper that had Nigeria’s Centenary: The Lagos
Narrative, as theme, the book took a handsome pride of place in the affairs of
the lives of some Nigerians who still think that the ingredients for their
country’s development reside within the pages of the book, a potent tool Nigeria’s
leaders have thrown out the window long ago. The attendant result of that
insane action has been all too clear for all to see.
But organisers
of LABAF clearly wish and think otherwise. They know too well what the book
stands for, and have continued to stick out their necks to promote it year in
year out irrespective of the paltry support they get. It’s for this reason that
the culturally-committed pair of Jahman Anikulapo and Toyin Akinosho must be
commended for never letting the book conversation die. Fittingly also, the 2013
LABAF celebration was aptly in memory of Africa’s legendary man of letters,
late Prof. Chinua Achebe, who died in March this year.
And so, on
Friday, November 15, the stage was set for former Minister of the Federal
Capital Territory, former Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises and
chieftain of All Progressive Congress (APC) party, Mallam Nassir El-Rufai
formally raised the curtain on the festival in a conversation on his
controversial book, The Accidental Public
Servant, with Mr. Martins Oloja, editor of The Guardian, moderating the explosive session. Indeed, the session
lived up to its billing as El-Rufai left no one in doubt about his views on
sundry political issues. His session was titled, ‘A Career in the Centenary’.
His being confined to his hotel room in Akwa the next day during the
governorship election in Anambra State, might not have been unconnected to
statements he made at the session.
Comic star,
Julius Agwu, took ‘My Encounter with the Book’ at the mentoring session. His new
book, Jokes Apart: How Did I get Here?
has been making the rounds and inspiring young people on the need to get
education first and be determined in any chosen career path.
This was
followed by the festival colloquium, with the theme, ‘The Nigerian Centenary’
and anchored by Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Indiana
University, Bloomington, U.S., Akin Adesokan. His keynote was on ‘Henry Carr in
Lagos: A Narrative of Modern Nigeria’. The session had Tolu Ogunlesi and Tade
Ipadeola, with Tunji Lardner moderating.
At LABAF, children’s
participation is key in a catch-‘em-young manner, with Ayodele Olofintuade of
LAIPO and Shola Alamatu of CATE guiding the children on reading, performance
and making of handicrafts for bodily adornments. The Lagos Story and a jazz
Night were also held on Friday to mark the start of a great festival.
DAY Two of LABAF also recorded a packed programme. As
a festival that prides itself for making the book the star rather than the
authors, with a proper distillation of the ideas contained in them for societal
development, the first collection of short story book in the science fiction
genre in the country, Lagos 2060 was
presented. With eight contributors, Lagos
2060 is a bold book that envisions what the future possibly holds for
Lagosians. Although hard copies of the book were unavailable for the audience
to buy, three of the authors were on hand to read excerpts from their stories
and to also discuss some of the issues they raise.
Publisher of
the collection, Ayodele Arigbabu moderated the presentation that had Terh
Agbedeh, Afolabi Afolabi and Chiagozie Nwogwu. Although Afolabi said he wasn’t a
big fan of scifi, he became interested in the genre after attending a workshop
where story ideas were discussed; he tried his hands on one and it worked. His
story is ‘Amphibian Attack’. For Nwogwu, Lagos
2060 is “a very big thing; I’ve always felt there’s a whole lot of things
in my culture that can be turned into scifi”. He stated that by 2060, Lagos and
Nigeria would be much the same with very little difference or change, just like
it was some 50 years ago or so, with Lagosians still relishing their amala, or the politicians still doing
their thing.
For Agbedeh,
however, the idea for a scifi book is exciting, especially the way working
towards the current book was announced, particularly the workshop that backed
it up. He also said although 50 years from now might be different, yet nothing
much would have changed. He said it would also be about romance and a lot of
other things, and a way of looking at Lagos of the future but also Lagos of the
past.
However, these
three fictional prophets, who have envosioned different things for the future,
said they would not feel unease if their prophecy didn’t come true come 2060, as
they have merely dealt in the realm of fiction!
Also, The New
Gong Books also made its presentation. Led by its editor and publisher, Mr.
Adewale Maja-Pearce, the outfit presented its books comprising of a collection
of short stories, with contributions from Molara Wood, Mazim Uzoatu, Igoni
Barrett among others. In speaking about his outfit, Maja-Pearce said he was
open to accepting all kinds of manuscripts ranging from poetry, short fiction, full-length
novels, which could be published on demand (POD) and readily made available to
would-be buyers. The session was heralded by a reading by Chuma Nwokolo; he
read from his collection, The Ghost of
Sanni Abacha. Maja-Pearce also read from the new collection he’s just
published.
It was quickly
followed by a symposium on ‘The Key to the Knowledge Economy’ session, that
dwelt on a link between books and financial intelligence. Kingsley Moghalu’s Emerging Africa: How the Global Economy’s
Last Frontier Can Prosper and Matter, Dambisa Moyo’s How the West Was Lost and Africa
Must Be Modern were the books up for discussion, with Okeowo Niran and Tade
Ipadeola squaring up while Tayo Fagbule of BusinessDay
moderated the session.
Ipadeola
expressed excitement at the kind of economic literature coming from Africa to compete
or rival those from the West, saying they were books that deal with cause and
effect, with Nigeria as reference point in Africa’s development stride.
However, Ipadeola faulted the authors for not taking into account Africa’s long
history and that they were usually prescriptive rather leaving the argument
open for further and fuller debate.
In reviewing How the West Was Lost, Niran said the
author anchored his presentation on such factors as labour and capital, which
he said the West seems to have lost sight of, instead it now delegates its
manufacturing needs to China and concentrate on such speculative financial
science as hedge funds and debt buying, of which bubbles burst a few years back
in 2008 and from which the West was yet to fully recover. He urged African
countries to be mindful of these pitfalls in their financial dealings for
healthy economic future.
Niran
particularly cautioned the continent to be wary of capitalism and wholesale
market economy, as models to follow just like the West. He said China’s guided
and regulated market system would seem to be the best given its robust outcome.
In his
opening, Mr. Fagbule examined China as the economic model to emulate with its
emphasis on production and cheap labour. He said while America and the West
were busy borrowing to finance their huge deficits, China was busy saving huge
reserves in America and has become the biggest lender to America. The implication
is that while America bequeaths debts to its offerings, China would be
investing in every part of the globe with profits from those debts. With its
huge reserves, he said, China was reconsidering the one-child policy so it
could have enough people to enjoy its wealth.
Wired
Literature took its turn, with Anwuli Ojiugo and Dr. Eghosa Imasuen taking the
spot and discussing how e-books and e-devices interfere with the way people
normally interface with the book. With such books as Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr
and You Are not a Gadget: A Manifesto
by Jaron Lanier. It was generally submitted that whether we like or not, the
internet or e-reading truly interferes with reading. Ojiugo specifically said
e-book impacted the level of concentration and robs people of the power of
reflection, introspection and contemplation needed for deep thinking, which
become lost in the babble of social media.
Ibadan-based Nelson Publishers Limited presented
a collection of short stories, Dream
Chasers and a new series for children’s story called Ivana and Daara of Cowrie Creek Series. Some of the contributors
like Jumoke Verissimo, Lola Akande and Silver Ifidigbo were on hand to respond
to their works.
ORGANISERS of LABAF 2013 couldn’t have chosen a more
appropriate way of tagging the session on The Caine Prize for African Writing,
as The Caine Prize for Nigerian Writing? In its 14 years of existence, Nigerian
writers of the short fiction genre have won it four times. This year alone, the
five shortlisted were Nigerian writers! So, indeed, it might well have been
established for the pleasure of Nigerian writers, who have dominated the prize
so far.
On hand to
discuss the explosive session were 2012 winner, Mr. Rotimi Babatunde and one of
the shortlisted writers for 2013 edition, Elnathan John; it had activist and
poet, Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo moderating.
The session
plumbed such contentious issues as African writing needing validation from the
West and the cultural and institutional power that still resides with the West
and how it determines the type of writing coming from Africans for them to be
accepted and rewarded.
The session
dovetailed into a master-class on New Writing: Writing for Young Adults. It was
moderated by publisher/editor, Sarah Odedina and had two British authors, Alan
Bissett and Matt Whyman to tackle the subject. They submitted that considering
an audience before writing a book could be a tricky issue and that each writer
learns to do it as best as he could.
After which
the books of 2013 session came on. Four authors and their books were up for
celebration: Tade Ipadeola, with his prize-winning book, The Sahara Testament, Iquo Eke’s shortlisted, Symphony of Becoming, Igoni Barrett’s Love is Power, Or Something Like That and Sammy Sage Hassan’s Dream Maker. Of the four, only Hassan
was absent, and it turned out a fairly humorous session with Ayodele
Olofintuade moderating.
IT was evening already. And time for Festival Arthouse
Party, with Prof. J.P. Clark-Bekederemo, who will be 80 next year; Mrs.
Francesca Emanuel, who was 70 recently; Dejumo Lewis, 70 and Chief Rasheed
Gbadamosi. Clark came with his adorable wife, Prof. Ebun. The citation of these
illustrious Nigerians was performed by inimitable actress, Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett.
When it was dancing time, Emanuel, Ajayi-Lycett, Lewis and Gbadamosi all took
to the floor. But it was Emanuel that show real class as she rocked!
DAY Three turned out to be a celebration of the
documentary medium in telling Nigeria’s centenary story. A combination of
unavoidable absences cancelled out the ‘The Book of Nollywood: Nollywood Insider,
which are Till November: Memoirs of a
Nollywood by Charles Novia and Shaibu Hussein’s Moviedom… The Nollywood Narratives. Instead, documentaries on
Nigeria’s centenary and how the book meets film on the live of Nigeria’s
foremost Yoruba language author, D.O. Fagunwa were shown.
First was Naij: A History of Nigeria by Jide
Olanrewaju that traces Nigeria’s tortuous history culminating in the current
democratic system. Another documentary that the audience saw was A Journey to Amalgamation, which traces
the country’s journey to 1914, which is fitting as Nigeria celebrates that
landmark event next year. It was, however, commissioned by the Federal
Government and contains a high dose of praise of those who should be held for
some of the woes the country suffered in the past.
But more
illuminating was the documentary D.O.
Fagunwa: Literature, Language and Literalism, which gave the famous novels
their proper contexts, as no less literary luminary than Profs. Niyi Osundare,
Femi Osofisan, Tunde Babawale and others opportunity to examine his works.
Fagunwa’s fictive power and place in Africa’s literary corpus could not have
found a better outlet than this documentary. There was another also on some of
the important luminaries that have shaped the history of the country.
The visual art
section was no less captivating, as Jelili Atiku and his colleagues gave
installation art another meaning. The exhibition stood on its own throughout
the festival.
A poetry slam
and reggae splash concluded proceedings at the weeklong festival that was
easily a collage of ideas distilled from books. No less was the plenty of beer
that flowed on the food court of Freedom Park, a park that proclaims the sheer
delight of freedom in artistic, cultural and pluralistic expressions.
However, LABAF
events were too packed together that there was hardly a moment to take a
breath. It would be proper to space out the events for guests to experience
every aspect of the loaded programme. Otherwise, LABAF 2013, just like previous
editions, will continue to be star venue to lovers of books and the ideas
contained in them!
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