Acting President Tess Onweme who set the tone of the conference described them as tribesmen. Of course, those who had doubled the description changed their minds no sooner than the conference began. From Tinda Hotel where the registration took place, a bus, courtesy of the Benue State Government transported delegates to their various places of abode. The driver of the bus at one point so much pressed the brakes of the vehicle that those who did not hold onto anything crashed against themselves and empty seats. A young probably an unpublished author whose problems the conference was billed to discuss complained bitterly that eh was yet to write his great book.
The first evening could have been a great bore had the Compere Bongos Ikwue not come to the rescue by cancelling halfway the performance put up by the students of the College of Education, Katsina-Ala Dramatist Tar Ahura. In fact, the melodious voice of Ikwue (retired artiste?) woke up several delegates who had begun to snore. The Kwaghhir which followed attracted so much interest despite the paucity of artists and time relieved and soothed the terrible injuries inflicted by the bore that was the drama presentation.
The opening ceremony on the second day was pleasant “ Governor Fidelis Makka of Benue had urged the tribesmen to establish a publishing house to meet the ever growing demands for books. He also urged that the long standing issue of a Pan African Association of writers be pursued with vigour. Such an association, he said, will not only enhance the propagation of the cultures of the people, but also forge a greater bond of unity. The Governor further broached on the controversial debate of writing in African languages. Said he: the current situation whereby four out of five books published in Nigeria today are written in foreign languages, does not augur well for effective communication of ideas. The governor failed, in our review, however, to reason that the ability to read in whatever language is a matter of literacy. So the issue is really not that of languages but education.
Philosophical Minister of Information and Culture Prince Tony Momoh held the audience spell-bound as he espoused his mystical philosophy. But it was not all mystic “ which was only a path that led him to the conclusion that the illusion of non-partisanship in literature ought to be ¦ Literature, he said, had a home and base from which it be launched.
Said he: In our communities, if you have no obligations, you have ¦ The young artists should find out as individuals, what they are supposed to do¦ Young writers should show hat human beings are equal and should strive to bring down apartheid.
The presidential address by Dr. Tess Onweme did attract no small attention. It was a basket full of praises for the Benue branch and of course of a statement profound hope. Hope that ANAs dream first given life to by late Major-General Mamman Vatsa, to the effect that a writers village will spring up on the beautiful hills of Abuja would soon be a reality. The donations that followed vindicated the hopes “ N25,000 was donated by the Benue State government and N30,000 by the Federal Government. Controversial Minister of Education, Professor Jibril Aminu sent in N2,500, University Press Limited “ N2,000 and Chief Madako N5,000. The dream may sooner than later become a reality.
Then came the solidarity messages. The Union of Writers of Angola in their message said for them, the scared hope had become a reality. Gloria Housea USA based Black American artist said in her message that the efforts to recreate a society was a source of tremendous inspiration and pride. According to her, in the USA, arts was given respectability and recognition. To young writers, she admonished that the study of history is important in writing. So too, she argued is the involvement in the struggle of the people for human dignity. Writing and Struggle are dialectical, she said, adding that we claimed the motherland we claimed Africa.
The Cadbury, through its representative, informed the delighted audience that the company had established an endowment fund and opened an account in the Bank to that effect for a prize to be known as ANA Cadbury prize for literature. Already, N20,000 is in the bank and cheque for the first prize of N2,500 already issued. Then came the Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company (NNMC), through its representative, Ken Saro Wiwa (of basil and Company fame) which announced the setting aside of N30,000 for the award of prizes of 5,000 each with runners-up going home with N5,000 in the following categories: children literature, poetry and novels.
The happiest person, perhaps during the opening session was Dr. Taneru Ojaide, who clinched the Okigbo prize of poetry. A lecturer at the University of Maiduguri, a rather effusive Ojaide who was mobbed by delegates charged young authors to pay more attention to their crafts. The time dissipitated in decades should be used in perfecting arts.
It was disappointing that Chief Abiola who donated N60,000 to a new publishing house to help young authors did not turn up to introduce the poetry anthology of new writings sponsored by ANA Chief Arthur Nwankwo of the Fourth Dimension Publishers, Enugu who was billed to deliver a paper on The Writer and Nigerias Political Education, also took the cue in disappointing delegates.
But the boredom and disappointments occasioned by the failure of invited guests to appear did not stop the conference from discussing even if in tits and gasps, the problems of the unpublished writers and the crisis of traditions in our literature. Moderator Chukwu Emeka, like former WAEC Registrar and author of Toads for Supper set the ball rolling when he listed several problems facing the publishing industry. Besides the lack of literary agencies and the fact that the book trade is undergoing stress, Ike, whose son was at the conference in his right was an author, disclosed that 80 per cent of the manuscripts turned out to publishers were unsolicited.
The young authors made their more dispassionate ¦ This time, they blamed themselves for the rejecting letters they keep getting from publishers. Olu Oguibe, a young poet lamented that young unpublished writers too easily jump to conclusions. He said emphatically the biggest problem of the young writer is that he cannot write well. The issue is why cant they write well? Another problem, according to him, is the fact that the publishing industry was tied up with the need for surplus value and capital returns. Another young writer Afam took the discussion further by insisting that the struggle should be to produce great literature and not to get published.
But, perhaps, no other person put the situation in a more correct perspective than the fashionable, former president of the association, Dr. Tess Onweme. She asked two important questions, who determined the quality of a book and what tradition does the publishers use in assessing a book? She went on to say, publishers are concerned with the viability of their books and other problems she listed as confronting the unpublished writer include the poor reading habits of Nigerians, and the low literacy level. Dr. Onweme also had a word fro the unpublished writers. They should read other writers “ but should not ape. They should be themselves.
Femi Osofisan, the playwright who at the end of the conference was elected President of the association, lamented the discouragement from the media. He said good literary works are hardly recognized, while only the launching of useless books are given encouragement. The banks also came in for a bashing. They are not prepared to assist publishing. The government was not spared either. The government itself is not serious. It has put a lot of barriers on the path to good publishing.
The following day, Saturday, was devoted to a tour of Benue State. The trip was to kick off at 7.30a.m. And so, those who desired to go round Benue State, got themselves ready and were gathered at the Tinda Hotel, it was however not until 9.00am, one and half hours behind schedule that the tour began. Firstly, because of the haste, several people missed their breakfast, for a tour that was disorganized and uncoordinated. The essence of the tour, and in fact, the core of the conference was lost, the chief guide, Benue State Information Commissioner Ada Ugah decided to disallow free movement. For instance, the older group of writers travelled in a separate bus. So too did the young poets whose works thanks to the efforts of ANA, saw the light of the day.
Journalists were also given a bus. As a result, several booked interviews couldnt take off “ and the idea of cross-fertilization of ideas was thrown to the dogs. Then, the unnecessary stops along the way to issue equally unnecessary directives to drivers. As a result of the poor organization and implementation, the tour which was to end at 2.00pm, ended three hours late “ and left too many people exhausted fro proper discussion.
But the richness of Benue State did not make the tour as lifeless. Within the Makurdi metropolis, the market and Agro millers did not arrest the needed attention. Then the shrien at Yandev near Gboko. Tor Tivs palace “ and so battle-red by hunger several delegates rushed out of their vehicles and devoured any hawked food they saw. Apparently, happy to receive such guests, the Tor Tiv, evidently one of the most learned traditional rulers, urged the writers to write in understandable straightforward English. Then, to Otukpo where Colonel Odeh, himself a published and unpublished author treated delegates to a sumptuous lunch. Of course, there was beer for those who cared. Colonel Odeh who owns El-Duniya Hotel cracked jokes and at the end, donated N3,000. He urged authors to show the light and people will follow. A visit to the OchIdoma palace and weary journey back to Makurdi commenced. Only one interruption from the chief guide. Makurdi 88. 1989 where? And will such a place measure up to the standard of Makurdi?
By Rima Shawulu and Maaver Chen
The Standard, Wednesday, November 23, 1988