By Anote Ajeluorou
ALTHOUGH Nigerian men and
women of letters and culture have won and been awarded some of the best prizes
and honours on offer both at home and globally, critical affirmation for
cultural production at home is still a mirage. It still needs validation and
affirmation from outside (Europe and America) to make it acceptable at home. For
instance, while Nigeria and black Africa’s first Nobel Prize for Literature was
won by Wole Soyinka, largely for his dramatic output, the state of theatre
production in the country is still poor, as it is still struggling to find a
footing almost 30 years since Soyinka’s literary feat.
For award-winning journalist and latter-day
writer Mr. Sam Omatseye, this situation has hampered the development of a
virile literary culture, as it was still tied to the apron strings of the
colonial masters, who continue to dictate the pace. Omatseye had the Honorary
Fellow of Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) conferred on him recently at
University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos. It was at the 17th edition of the eminent
body’s yearly lecture and investiture, which had Omatseye and two other
academics.
With three DAME and three National Media
Award (NMA) awards in his journalistic kitty, Omatseye has since turned his
attention to creative writing, with The
Crocodile Girl (novel), Lion Wind and
Other Poems, Dear Baby Ramatu, Mandela’s Bones and Other Poems (all poetry),
The Siege (drama) and In Touch: Journalism as National Narrative,
as his titles.
According to him, “To do well in literature,
you have to first go back to our colonialists to be affirmed first by them,
which isn’t a good thing. The literary establishment is still tethered to colonial
loins. The winner of the Nobel Prize 2014, Mr. Jean Patrick Madiano, a French
man, is hardly known outside France. In Nigeria, affirmation is difficult
because you need the media to play up literature, which isn’t happening much in
our media. It’s all about politics; that is what editors understand, which is
sad. There’s more to life than politics. The school system is not helping out
much by not feasting on our writers; the Ministry of Education - both state and
federal - are too far from our writers. They need to work with the literary
establishment, which is not even coherent.
“Our only Nobel Prize came from drama, but drama
is patchy. There’s no special government funding to generate interest in
literature; no book division in the Ministry of Education and libraries have
become outdated things in our clime”.
The
editorial chairman of The Nation newspaper
also said prize organisers ought to generate a lot more media buzz for
Nigerians to patronise the works being honoured. He also blamed the snail speed
of literary development on the attitude of the elite, whom he accused of
philistinism and a lack of interest and respect for an important cultural production
like literature.
He noted, “If Nigeria’s elite showed enough
interest in literature, we will all value our own”.
The continuing brain drain for greener
pastures abroad that ensues Nigeria’s best intellectuals flocked to Europe and
America is also a factor Omatseye blames for the poor valuation of literary
output in the country. He, therefore, called for advocacy amongst the elites so
they could actively promote, participate and openly identify and consume all
forms of cultural productions. Omatseye said his last trip to London showed him
how culture was being consumed voraciously by British citizens, as he could not
get a ticket to buy as most of the theatres were sold out days before the shows,
a far cry from what obtains in Nigeria.
Omatseye, whose literary side just began to
emerge a few years ago, said he was only just beginning to pay serious
attention to his writing career, noting, “Every writer needs a great mentor.
It’s just a part of my life that’s beginning to take off; it has come off
tangentially”.
ON his Honorary Fellow from
Nigerian Academy of Letter, which was earned largely because of his
journalistic career, Omatseye expressed how dazed he was at being so honoured.
As he put it, “It was a real honour; I didn’t see it coming. It makes me feel
self-conscious how I present myself as a professional. They (NAL folks, all
university professors of distinction in the humanities) are people older than
me; they are like my father. People like Chief Emeka Anyaoku and the Oba of
Benin are among past recipients. So, it’s humbling for me.
“I was dazed by the citation about my feat in
journalism; during the military, as a writer, we took on the
establishment. I won three DAME and three Nigeria Media Merit Awards (NMMA) in
a space of about nine years. My columns have generated a lot of attention,
sometimes bordering on sacrilege and heresy. I’ve never missed a week or
repeated a column. I was so right about former President Goodluck Jonathan
towards the last election on his economic mismanagement. But everybody was so
into Jonathan it was as if I was writing heresy”.
Omatseye said Nigerian journalists were still
grappling with how to conduct their journalistic business in a democracy, as
they had not prepared themselves well enough for the transition from military
rule.
According to him, “There is a lot to said in
turning this country into a democracy. At that time it was hectic, especially
for political journalists. I had to go abroad on a fellowship. I couldn’t come
back. In democracy, journalism is trying to find out the role it should play.
Journalists have almost become part of it; its role should be that of being
corrective without being a part of it. We tend to look elsewhere when wrong is
being done. But with President Muhammadu Buhari, it becomes problematic. Our
role is yet defined; it is still trying to find its foot and direction”.
He added that Newspaper Proprietors of
Nigeria (NPA), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and Nigerian Union of
Journalists (NUJ) ought to organise a meeting point to properly spell out the
role of journalists in a democracy. He, however, noted that with some media
owners not being able to pay salaries, the media seem unprepared for the task
ahead. The demand of new technology was also a challenge, Omatseye argued,
which the media was still trying to come to terms with.
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