Sylva Ifedigbo
If one undertakes to do a survey of the few Nigerians who still read books, chances are that a great majority would be reading either a novel by a foreign writer the likes of Jeffry Archer, Stephen King, Dan Brown, Hadley Chase, Harlequin series and the likes Or would be in the middle of one of those books that come under the broad title of “Motivational Books”, those books that talk about making millions in a day, about becoming the next Obama, about how to smile to get everybody falling in love with you. Very few, would be reading literary books by Nigerian authors.
The above group is appreciable in that they actually still bother to read. A vast majority do not. A great number of Nigerians can not remember when last they read a book that is not the bible or the Koran. Save for the compulsory texts some of us were compelled to read as students in secondary school, some would never have read anything in their lives. It was a popular joke among my classmates back in the university about one of us who was asked by a lecturer what the last book he read was and he opened his mouth and declared boldly; Eze Goes to School.
It’s no more news that the reading culture in Nigeria is as low as it can get. We don’t need surveys to prove that much. The stomach retching diction of our youngsters, the less than desirable spoken English with tenses all muddled up and the inability of university graduates to draft simple letters is enough evidence of it. What we have today is a Nollywood-English premiership generation of youths who read (if at all) just to pass examinations.
A further evidence of the near collapse in the reading culture is the near absence in our much to be desired book publishing industry of publishers that carry out publishing the way it is known to be done in other spheres, not printers going about in the robe of publishers. To succeed as writers, the few who are still bold enough to write are forced to ‘self publish’, an idea that no doubt has its merits but which brings the whole trade to ridicule and reduces writers into desperate book hawkers.
The few who are opportune, seek and find publishers abroad. Because their main readership is based abroad, they begin to write with that in mind, developing stories for the western audience, such stories that they would enjoy, stories that referred to Africa as a country, that painted Africans as cannibals and child soldiers, the kind of stories that made the readers surprised that Africans drive cars and wear suits.
This new western influenced African writings had a negative feedback on the reading culture at home. Because the books were not written with Nigerians in mind, Nigerians are not interested in reading them. The reason is simple, the tales are drab and almost banal, the very same things we are harangued with on CNN’s Inside Africa. We are aware of the bad roads and the dark nights, we don’t want to read about them again. This is one of the reasons why some of my friends would prefer to read about white folks falling in love in some lonely ranch somewhere in Texas than read about a teenager carrying an AK 47 in some fictitious war-torn African nation.
It has thus become important at this stage to remind our youngsters that it is hip to read. Just as our music has taken over the air space in our parties and in the radio so also should our books be a prized occupant of our intellect. We should read not just because of the entertainment but also to improve ourselves, our spoken English and our communication skills. A hip and happening guy or babe should read at least one book every week. We should begin to proudly walk around with books by Nigerian authors in hand, it should become what defines our status- our Nigerianess. We should begin to discuss books among friends and argue about writers and their various styles when we sit around over bottles of beer or on our wall on facebook.
Just as it is hip to read, it is also hip to be read. Talents abound in Nigeria no doubt, but it is time we began to write seriously and write for our people, telling those other stories that have not been told, those stories we tell in the beer parlour’s and vendor stands, inside the danfo and at the bus stops. We would need publishers for our works, another huge challenge no doubt, but nothing insurmountable especially with such ideas as a writers Agency, Blues & Hills consultancy recently floated by a team of young literary enthusiasts to represent Nigerian writers and link them up to publishers.
I acknowledge the fact that so much more has to be done to make our literary industry what is should be, and I am stating that it is high time we began to do those things. As an opener, I call on all of you to join this campaign to get back the readership. Let’s get the message out there; it is hip to read and Nigerian books have got the groove.
