Out of Africa

This summer, I had the immense honor of meeting Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (who’s article for the Guardian is featured in my last post).  She talked a lot about her journey toward writing and becoming a writer: from writing about people with blonde hair and blue eyes playing in the snow and eating mangos to writing about about Nigerians playing in the sand and eating mangoes. All-in-all, it was a great hour+ spent.

When I first read her book, “Purple Hibiscus,” I fell in love. Here was a story about Nigeria and Nigerians that was cliche, that didn’t proliferate the horrible Western ideals of Africans. It was modern, unlike the books written by Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka (both who I also admire) which are rooted more in historical Nigeria. Her other books, “Half of a Yellow Sun,” and the most recent, “The Thing Around Your Neck,” are equally as great.

In the clip below (which is from one of the TED talks), Adichie repeats a lot of the things she mentioned in the talk when I heard her speak. Her point is this: without a variety of stories, with only a single type of story, the world is deprived of the truth. The single story of Africa must be changed — it’s stuck in Africans as poor, backwards; Africa as a place of negatives. Newer African authors, like Chimamanda Adichie, are becoming more prominent in the Western world and are changing this single story.

And I’m thankful for that.

The clip is engaging, funny, and informative. But most especially, for me as an aspiring writing, it’s eye-opening.

It’s about 19 mins long, so if you don’t have time to listen to it all, here’s some “soundbites”:

“Show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become. … Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person. … Start the story with the failure of the African states and not with the colonial creation of the African states, and you have an entirely different story. … The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story the only story.  … But there are other stories that are not about catastrophe, and it’s very important, it is justas important to talk about them. I’ve always felt that it’s impossible to engage properly with a place or person without engaging with all the stories of that place or that person. The consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of dignity… it emphasizes how we are different, rather than how we are similar. … Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity. … When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.”  

– Chimamada Ngozi Adichie, quoted from a TED Talk
(filmed July 2009, posted October 2009)

Introducting Solving Africa.

Written and organized by journalist Kingsley Kanu Jr. Solving Africa is a project/quest to discover how young people can contribute toward the development of Africa. 
He is a currently on tour of seven African countries— Dakar (Senegal), Accra (Ghana), Lagos (Nigeria), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Tunis (Tunisia), Nairobi (Kenya), and Johannesburg (South Africa). In this interview with Farafina magazine, he explains what Solving Africa is all about: 

This project is a collection of dreams; asking young Africans what they see as wrong or right with the continent and their role in its development. But it’s not a policy book. This is first and foremost a work of creative nonfiction that I hope makes people think about some of these issues. …

The African dream is to leave Africa. There are many people like me. We are often at the tops of our classes and each year, our SAT scores and achievements prove that we can run with the best from any country on earth. We have capable people who do not see Africa as theirs to build as much as something to sidestep. But if it isn’t this generation of an educated, uninformed African middle class, who else is going to care? Who else has the resources – social, political and economic – to care?

For those of us in the Diaspora, let’s keep up with his findings and see how we can contribute as well!

NOTE: I received this story in my e-mail and therefore, unfortunately, do not have a link for the original.

THE TRIAL OF A GOAT 
By Reuben Abati

The Vanguard newspaper considered the story so important it had to position it strategically on its front page on Friday, January 23: this is the story of the goat that was paraded, the other day, as a robbery suspect by the Kwara State Command of the Nigerian Police Force. Even the BBC published the story on its website. We are told that a group of vigilante security men had tried to arrest two men who were trying to steal a Mazda car somewhere in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara state, when suddenly the two suspected robbers took to their heels.
The vigilante men, who in many parts of the country now help to secure life and property, due to the inefficiency of the police, gave the robbers the chase. One of them escaped. The other one rested his back on the wall, and turned into a goat. The local vigilante refused to be outwitted. They promptly arrested the goat (in a bold display of citizen action) and took him(?) to a police station, where the goat was dutifully arrested and detained. The goat has since been paraded before the press, apparently to show how efficient the Kwara Police Command is, and in the words of the State Police PRO, Mr Tunde Mohammed, the goat, ram or sheep (there is an identity crisis here) will not be left off the hook until investigations have been concluded.

If anybody is wondering what is going on here, I urge that person to consider also a similar story that broke a week earlier in the Isokoko area of Agege, Lagos. This other story was also so important, it made the front page of the PM News. It is the story of an Okada, motorcycle passenger who after using the helmet that was provided by the motorcyclist suddenly turned into a tuber of yam. Persons who claimed to have witnessed the miraculous transformation raised an alarm and called in the police. The motorcyclist and the tuber of yam were arrested. Both okada rider and yam tuber are currently being detained at the Isokoko Police Station in Agege, Lagos. The reduction of the Nigerian Police Force to a level where its officials now arrest and detain goats and tubers of yam as criminal suspects is disturbing indeed. It is a strange development in Nigeria’s criminal justice administration system. We have before us a major issue of law and its interpretation. And it is something that should interest our legal experts.

Where is the goat that is now in the custody of the Kwara State Police Command being kept? Behind the counter? in the cell? or in the yard? Will it share the same cell with similar criminals? And how did the Investigating officer take the goat’s statement? In Nigerian law, every one on trial is entitled to fair hearing. Is the Kwara Police Command planning to grant the goat bail? What is the goat being charged for? Attempted theft? Disruption of public peace? Or what? Whatever offence this goat may have committed is bailable. If it is still being kept as at the time of this writing, I insist that the Kwara state Police Command is guilty of a violation of the goat’s rights as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The law is that anyone who is arrested should be charged to court within 48 hours, the offence that has been committed should be read to that person in a language that he or she understands, and the person should be allowed to have access to a lawyer of his or her own choice.

Where then, are our human rights and constitutional lawyers? Gani Fawehinmi, Festus Keyamo, Olisa Agbakoba, Femi Falana, Bamidele Aturu, Jiti Ogunye, Mike Ozekhome, Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa… there is some work for you please in Ilorin. A citizen of the Federal Republic is being detained beyond 48 hours by the Kwara State Police Command. He is also being denied bail. His offence has not been communicated to him in a language that he understands. And yet, the Nigerian Police have been parading him on television and maligning his character Yes, he is a goat. But if the police consider him a legal entity worthy of arrest, as a criminal suspect, a hardened armed robber for that matter, then certainly, he deserves to be treated according to the law. The Yar’Adua administration says it is committed to the rule of law. The matter armed robbery suspect turned goat in Ilorin provides a test case for this.

And when you gentlemen of the law, great officers in the temple of justice are through with the Ilorin case, please do not forget to go to the Isokoko police station in Agege, Lagos where a tuber of yam, that was once allegedly a human being is also being detained as useful evidence in a similar case. Both cases should be pursued all the way to the court of law. We need to know, and their Lordships should provide the necessary education in this regard, whether a goat and a tuber of yam, although previously said to be human beings can be put in the dock in a court of law in Nigeria. And to ensure fair hearing, what language would a goat or a tuber of yam speak before the court? Would there be interpreters in court to translate the goat-speak during cross-examination? And will farmers be invited to differentiate between a normal tuber of yam and a human being that turned into a goat? I plead that this is a matter of urgent national importance. And a great test for jurisprudence.

It has been said to my hearing that the Criminal Code forbids sorcery, and witchcraft, and that such unscientific occurrences as a human being turning into a goat or a tuber of yam, and the police arresting a goat and parading it as a criminal suspect is unknown to Nigerian law. It was a goat that was taken to the Ilorin police station and a yam to the Isokoko police station in Lagos and the police men on duty believed those who brought the reports, so much, that they quickly took action against the goat and the yam. These are law enforcement officers at work. I don’t want to condemn any police man. I believe that the courts should be allowed to pronounce n this matter once and for all.

Two years ago, one woman was said to have turned from a bird into a human being somewhere in Lagos and she was lynched to death. Before then, one boy called Samuel was burnt alive on the streets of Lagos, after he had been accused of witchcraft. Soldiers and policemen watched the execution and joined the mob in the act. Television stations recorded it all and played the footage later in the day. In Akwa Ibom, most recently, many children were accused of witchcraft and they were tortured , killed, burnt alive and so on. The belief in the supernatural, indeed in metaphysical possibilities is so rife in our land.

Nigerians are animists at heart. They believe that every living being has a dual spirit. A goat can turn into a human being and vice versa, and a tuber of yam could be human. Local folktales are full of such references and in more contemporary times, the churches and local movie producers have turned the myth into reality. The only place where the metaphysical is treated with utter non-chalance is in the statutes. The law and the Nigerian people are at different ends in this regard. One of the issues that the court of law can address is whether or not the time has come to accommodate this social reality in our laws. We have to take serious precaution lest all criminals adopt the tactics of turning into cats, goats, cockroaches etc. And the police would do no other job than to go about arresting animals.

While all that is being considered, the courageous lawyers who choose to take on these human rights cases, (pro bono of course) should insist that the goat in particular should not be subjected to any form of torture. The Vanguard and the BBC have different photographs of the goat that was involved in the matter of failed theft. It is needless to reiterate that it is the right goat that should be charged to court. No man can be tried for an offence that has been committed by another. As it is with men, so it should be with goats. And where are the animal rights activists in Nigeria? By now, they should have been on the streets defending the rights of a member of their family who is obviously under stress in Ilorin. They must insist that the Kwara Police Command must respect all international conventions and treaties on the rights of detained persons to which Nigeria is signatory.

Now that this matter has become a matter of public interest, the Inspector General of Police must ensure that his men produce the detained goat upon request and that the yam that is being kept as evidence in Isokoko is carefully protected. On no account should it be said that the goat is a victim of accidental discharge or that it attempted to escape from custody and got shot in the process. The proper weight and size of the tuber of yam in Isokoko must also be properly documented. And may the Lord be with the Nigerian Police Command as it tries to reduce the number of criminals on Nigerian streets by putting an end to the nuisance of the goat in Ilorin police custody. Let someone shout alleluyah please.

If I were A Governor…

If I were a state Governor in Nigeria today, I would hurry up and quickly find a way to get close to any of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s daughters. There is such a big scramble for the President’s daughters today. It is not a good thing for an able-bodied, young man like me to be left out of the race. But yours sincerely can’t even make any attempt because he is not a Governor. Only Governors are acceptable as Presidential daughters’ suitors please. UMYA and Mama Turai are not even looking at people like us. Two daughters have already been taken by state Governors. Well, God dey.

If I were a Governor, walahi, I won’t waste time to get my own Presidential daughter too. Imagine the benefits: direct access to the President whenever and wherever, a full taste of Presidential anointing in my own bedroom whenever, well when able, and forever. It is also a powerful talisman against any threat of impeachment. Who will dare threaten to impeach the President’s own son-in-law? And of course, I will get a second term. Who will dare challenge the President’s son-in-law? And if any body tries it, I could always fall back on the good sense of the INEC Chairman and his men.

How about love? I am in love with the President’s daughters already without even meeting anyone of them. Love, that is the simplest part of it. And I would prove it. Look, to show that I love the President’s daughter, once she agrees to marry me, I would invite musicians from Congo, South Africa, China and the United States. I assure you Beyonce will be invited too. And Rihanna. And Shakira. And I will invite that boy, what is his name?, the one that sang: as you dey do me, do me, do me… give it to me someone. Nobody has declared a public holiday yet to mark his wedding to the President’s daughter. If I were a state Governor, I would add that extra dimension and declare a public holiday. Why hasn’t someone thought of that? Come to think of it, it is a good idea you know?

I spent all of yesterday working as support staff for focus groups. Half of the day was with Africans (sub-Saharan black Africans, primarily from West and Central Africa). One of the main complaints about the US media is how it portrays Africa. Everything is primitive or bad or poor when it comes to Africa. Forget the bustling cities of Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. Forget the amount of progress being made all around the world.

Well, I found this image on-line — the “World at Night” — and it kind of reinforced some of those complaints.

     (to see a larger picture, click here)

As you can see from the picture – there are barely any city lights (the white spots) in Africa. Instead it’s pretty much all dark (meaning no lights at all) or there’s that nice long strip that’s all red (signifying “wildfires” as the source of light at night). I’m sorry, but seeing as places like Ghana and Chad actually have electricity pretty much 24/7 … as I’m sure does Ivory Coast and possibly places like Kenya and Cameron … this map just frustrates me.  You also got to love how Lagos, Nigeria is pretty much lit up by “natural gas flares” (the green).  Can Africa get any more primitive?

And it’s all based off of information gathered from NASA (of course).

NOTE: I’m equally enraged by the “fishing fleet lights” off the coast of South America. But at least they get some bright white lights on their continent. And Australia?? … let me just focus on Africa.

No matter how bad you claim they are … you know you can’t resist African films. Just the way Indians (and others around the world) love all the crazy nuances that make Bollywood, Bollywood — we Africans, too, love the often bad acting, soap opera dramas our film industry produces.

Well … for all you proud African-film watchers, and even for you closet ones, here’s a chance for you to contribute. The African Council for Arts and Culture recently announced a Name and Logo Contest for the Nigerian and Ghanaian film industry. All lovers of the new African Cinema and Music are invited to submit proposals for the following categories:

1. GHANAIAN FILM INDUSTRY:The Ghanaian home movie sub sector is informally nicknamed “Gollywood”. The Council feels this name sounds too much like “gullibility”, which they find as ”an insult to the creative talents of Ghana.” So fans … submit a serious name and logo proposal for the Ghanaian Movie Industry. PRIZE: N200,000 Naira (two Hundred Thousand Naira or equivalent in Ghanaian Cedi).

2. NIGERIAN FILM INDUSTRY: The Nigeria home video sub-sector is currently nicknamed “Nollywood.” “Nolly” apparently means “nothing, so …”  again, the Council does not ”feel comfortable promoting ‘nothingwood.’”  Also, why they feel it’s an insult to the pioneers of the industry to simply “jump into the “wood” bandwagon just because the Indians call theirs “Bollywood” and the Americans “Hollywood.”” A Nigerian way is needed … so Nollywood fans here’s your chance to make your mark on the industry. Prize money for the name and logo that will replace the “nothingwood” name is N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira).

3. YORUBA LANGUAGE FILMS: The history of the Nigerian film industry is linked with that of the Yoruba language films. The Candomble and Capoera in Brazil, the Orisah and Santaria in Cuba, Calypso in Trinidad and Tobago all have roots in Yoruba Culture. It’s definitely a Diasporic culture, and therefore the film industry should be of interested to the Yoruba Diaspora. All the Yoruba films I have every watched are about juju … highly amusing, but something the Council is disappointed with. Their biggest problem, voodoo is ”portrayed in the home videos as forces of evil that are negative and inferior to the Abrahamic religions of Islam and Christianity.

We pray the brave Yoruba filmmakers, artistes, designers, politicians, intellectuals and millionaires take the lead in branding and placing the Positive Progressive Virtues of our African Civilizations in their moves, music and lifestyle for posterity.

“Yoruwood” is the current name being “whispered” for Yoruba home movies. So a more serious one, along with a logo, is in search. The prize money for the name and logo of the Yoruba Film Genre is N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira)

4.THE HAUSA LANGUAGE GENRE: This is a newer film sub sector of the Nigerian home video industry, which is emerging. Right now, since the main location of development is in Kano, they current name is … you guessed it … “Kannywood.” A more respectable name is needed. Prize money = N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira)

5. IGBO LANGUAGE MOVIES: Not to be left out, the Igbo language movies is another sub-sector coming largely out of the eastern Nigerian city of Enugu. Big surprise here though. It’s not called “Enuguwood”, or “Igbowood” or “Iggywood” or any wood-ism. The informal name is “Ikenga.” But something more serious is still needed. The prize money is N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira).

Three other categories exist, CROSS OVER MOVIES, ADULT CONTENT AND EROTIC ARTS, and AFROMEDIA NIGERIA FILM & CULTURAL ENTREPRISES DEVELOPMENT FUND (ANFCED). Prizes are awarded for all of them.

For more information, read this release from Nollywoodwatch.com. Deadline is September 30, 2008.

I think the coolest thing about this is that the African Council for Arts and Culture is a Diasporic organization based in Germany. It just shows how active the community in the Diaspora can be, and how they can help to initiate change for the African continent.

Now start working on those names and logos!!!

Right now I’m really interested in the history and culture of Liberia, since I’ve worked on some articles and am hoping to do some other work about Rainbow Town and the Shine Foundation in the future. While doing some random reading/research, I fell across this piece published in the New York Times Magazine. It’s an excerpt from journalist Helene Cooper’s book “The House at Sugar Hill,” which comes out in September.

The piece is compelling, and I’m eager to read the book in its entirety when it comes out. While it’s a memoir, it offers historical information about Liberians – both natives and descendants from former American slaves. I learned so much from the little printed in the NYT magazine.

 It also tells a personal story of choosing to return home after being absent for so long. Regardless of where she lived, Africa remained a part of Helene Cooper and “The House at Sugar Hill” recounts how she found it again.  

by Leila Noelliste

From the outside, parking garage attendant Kobina Azhir looks like an American-born Black man. But Azhir, a Ghanaian seaman who came to the city 22 years ago, is one of 23,000 African immigrants living in metropolitan Chicago.

On May 31, the United African Organization, a partnership of 20 African immigrant communities, held a summit at the DuSable Museum of African American History, to shed light on immigrants like Azhir. Alie Kabba, executive director of UAO, said that “public eduction” is necessary since African immigrants are often overlooked, or misunderstood.

“We realized a few years ago that the challenge for (African immigrants) is to end our invisibility and help to educate people about contemporary African issues in order to better understand the experience of African immigrants and refugees in Illinois,” said Kabba, who came to Chicago from Sierra Leone in 1991.

The second Chicago Summit on African Immigrants and Refugees attracted more than 200 African, Arab and Latino immigrants, as well as African American supporters. Issues that Africans face within their own countries, as well as in Illinois, were discussed in plenary sessions. Though the number of participants is higher than last year’s 160, the modest turn out is a reflection of Africans’ struggle to catch broad attention and support.

“Within the larger immigrant community, we tend to be overshadowed by the Latino community because they have the numbers. So when people think about immigrants, they think about Latinos, and not Africans,” Kabba said. According to 2000 U.S. Census data, there are approximately 582,000 Mexican immigrants living in metropolitan Chicago, compared to just 23,000 African immigrants.

Nigerians make up the majority of that count. European and Asian immigrants account for 366,000 and 321,000 respectively. Like most immigrants, Africans come to America to flee political instability, pursue education, or establish a better life.

They are the most educated immigrant group in metropolitan Chicago and nationally, Kabba said. According to 2000 U.S. Census data, 95.4 percent of African immigrants who had entered metropolitan Chicago in the past 10 years had a high school degree or more, compared to 39.1 percent of Latin American immigrants, 73.8 percent of European immigrants and 85.3 percent of Asian immigrants.

But when it comes to accessing language, housing, employment and medical services African immigrants still suffer “institutional neglect,” Kabba said. He added that this is particularly damaging since African immigrants face the dual challenge of being Black and foreign. “Resources are directed to the community with the largest numbers, which is Latin Americans… The francophone (those from French-speaking African countries) have a language barrier.

“When I hear about bilingual resources, I think, ‘The definition of bilingual has got to go beyond Spanish. It’s got to include those in other communities’,” Kabba said. Carol Adams, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services, spoke at the summit and said that the state would take an “extra step to be inclusive” of African immigrants.

“When we talk about doing things for African American women, we are also including women who come from Africa,” Adams said. And the relationship between Africans and African Americans is critical, though plagued by miscommunication. The selection of DuSable for the summit was to represent the link between African Americans and African immigrants, who Kabba described as the “new African Americans.”

“Culture is a dynamic process,” said Kabba, and it’s a fact he has himself experienced. He had plans to move back to Sierra Leone after getting a degree in public policy from the University of Illinois, but a lengthy civil war in his homeland kept him here, where he is raising his 7-, 9-, and 12-yearold children.

“Being an African here is such a temporary identity. It’s a bridge to connect us to a more permanent space, and that permanent space is, naturally, within the African American community,” Kabba said. “When my kids grow up, they’re not going to think Sierra Leone. They’re going to think South Side, West Side, Chicago.”

(Source: The Chicago Defender)

I had meant to do this a while ago, but kept on putting it off. But as our class is coming to an end, I wanted to take the time to mention the blogs of some of my classmates who have featured Africa in one form or the other in their blogs.

• James Edwards – The Violence Project: With an entire blog about violence in Chicago, it’s kind of hard to feature news pertaining to Africa. But James did it in this post about Francis Oduro, a Ghanaian international student who was shot to death. Along with the Violence Project, my prayers go out to the Oduro family.
• Holly Fox – Familienpolitik: A new family law in Mali that would give illegitimate children inheritance rights is the subject of this post. Islamic groups are against this change and Holly provides an interesting comparison to the meaning of marriage and a marriage certificate in Mali versus the United States.
• Christa Hillstrom – Human Goods: In an earlier post I had linked to Christa’s blog about slavery in Mauritania. A more recent post looks at a former slave in Niger who is suing the government for not enforcing anti-slavery laws. In a country were human rights groups estimate about 43,000 people are still living in slavery, this is just the kind of accountability African countries need to be held to.
• Erin Halasz – Wikileads: Erin’s blog follows the online conversation about Wikileaks and the myriad ways in which its uncensorable, untraceable documents appear in public discourse. If you don’t know what Wikileaks is, basically it’s a site that leaks a whole lot of info, but is primarily user-generated like Wikipedia and stuff (Erin, or anyone else who knows, correct me if I’m wrong!). Some of the confidential documents received anonymously includes corruption in Kenya and other “shoddy standards of human rights” in sub-Saharan Africa. One of Erin’s particular posts highlights a recent posting on Wikileads of an invoice for Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Defense, charging the country for a shipment of Chinese rockets, bombs and rounds of mortar.

I hope you take the time to check out their blogs, and while these are the only posts about Africa, each is very interesting and sophisticated. To see more blogs from my class, check out our class Web site.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart.” The book is hailed as the beginning of modern African literature. Chinua Achebe, hailed as the father of African literature.

There have been a lot of good interviews, articles, conferences and ceremonies, honoring the legacy both Achebe and his book has created for African writers.

The following is an interview with Evan Mwangi, an English professor at Northwestern University, who teaches African literature (and is from Kenya) about the beginnings of modern African literature, its evolution and how Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” fits into it all.

Audio

Interview Transcription

Bunmi Ishola: We can kind of start out sort of with the history of African literature; where it all started out.

Evan Mwangi: The major books in African literature started in the 1950s. They started writing in the 1950s, and they did not make as much impact as “Things Fall Apart,” which was published in 1958. And so it ["Things Fall Apart"] became like the benchmark of African literature. And mainly, all these novels, were mainly a response to what the writers felt were distortions and misrepresentations of Africa by Western writers. [Achebe has said that he wrote "Things Fall Apart" to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," and to books written by colonial masters like Mr. Johnson].

BI: Do you think, in a sense, that the book deserved to be the benchmark?

EM: Yes, the book is very well written. Achebe also has a very balanced view of both the Europeans and Africa. Those [older novels written by the West] would idealize colonial Africa as a perfect, romantic place. But Achebe views Africa from a much more objective position. So that he’s criticizing the pre-colonial culture, as much as he’s criticizing colonialism for some of the bad things that happened in Africa.

BI: And after this book was published, what was the development of Africa literature?

EM: Almost all the major authors in Africa wrote their versions of “Things Fall Apart.” So that, almost every country had a “Things Fall Apart;” again, talking about the contact between Europeans and African cultures, and the controversies that arose out of that. The writers persisted in talking about the pre-colonial past way into the 1960s. But later, in the late 1960s, they started talking about the disillusionment with post-independence condition. And mainly what I think they are doing by going back to pre-colonial past is trying to let African know that they have beautiful culture, that they need to preserve their culture. They should have confidence in themselves as a society.

BI: More recently there have been a lot of writers of African descent just coming up lately. I’ve noticed many of the ones that are getting the most remarks [Chris Abani, Chimamanda Adichie, Sefi Atta, Helon Habila] are from Nigerian. I don’t know if you have any theories as to why?

EM: Most likely it’s because of the exile. [In] Nigeria, military dictatorship has been really bad. So writers have been able to go to exile. It happened in the apartheid era too. There were a lot of writers operating in exile. And that’s why there’s a very strong Nigerian diasporic writing, I guess. I think, the reason that Nigeria is so prominent in African Diasporic writing could be because of the economic and political circumstances. If you remember, people like Chris Abani have been jailed. Yeah, he was jailed by Sani Abacha.

BI: I know, for both, at least, Abani and Adichie, they mentioned that Achebe had a lot of influence on the reasons why they write now, and even they way they choose to write. What do you see some of these influences being, and why do you think he is such a strong influence? 

EM: I think it is mainly the emphasis on the thematic relevance of the texts. Like when you read Adichie, she’s very sensitive to the politics of Nigeria. Even if she’s writing, like in [Half of a Yellow Sun], she’s writing about Nigeria of the 1960s, she’s commenting about the present. Just the way Achebe, still, when he’s talking about pre-colonial past — he’s not so much interested in romanticizing that past, he’s commenting about the present-day Nigeria. So, to say, the level of themes, and making sure they [newer African/Nigerian writers] are relevant to their communities, they have followed in the footsteps of Achebe. But they are also changing, they are not just imitating Achebe slavishly. Like Adichie forgrots gender a lot, in a way you may not find in Achebe. Even Chris Abani; issues of gender and sexuality are very prominent in his writing. So they use Achebe, just the way Achebe used the past — in a critical way.   

BI: Where do you see African literature going in the future?

EM: That’s a tough question. But, I think it’s growing. There are people who seem to see African literature as maybe off. Mainly because the kind of writers they see published in the West, they seem to be addressing Western audience as opposed to the African readers. So that this literature becomes part of the West, and the literature in Africa dies off. But I think there are very strong literary traditions in almost all regions of Africa. I think the literature is very good, and it’s going to be talking about issues to do with the Diaspora, issues to do with gender and sexuality. Literature that maybe the Achebe generation may not have been very much interested in.

Nigeria’s House of Reps failed to pass a Freedom of Information bill recently. It’s the FIFTH time this bill has failed to pass since it was first written and introduced.

What’s the big deal?

If the bill is passed the media finally can dig into the past of Nigeria’s corrupt law makers and politicians … letting it all hang out there. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?

Here’s a blog post from African Loft, which links to stories from Nigerian papers about the failure of this bill and what it means for the country.

With recent arrests of journalists, and the fact that most African countries (e.g. Somalia, listed as the worst country in the world for journalists) struggle with creating free presses, is this one more sign that African can’t expect a REAL free press any time soon? Will free press only be a mirage?