Not a few literary critics believe that many contemporary Nigerian poets have abdicated their traditional role as “town criers” and gone in pursuit of filthy lucre. To buttress this viewpoint, they point to the apparent departure from the tradition of protest poetry which began with late Christopher Okigbo’s ‘Path of Thunder’ and sustained by Wole Soyinka et al. Today’s Nigerian poet, they say, has lost steam, and the vibrancy, vehemence, audacity, fierceness and ferocity of the Okigbos, the Soyinkas, the Osundares and the Ofeimuns have all but disappeared.
Part of the solution, they suggest, is to constantly remind modern poets of the traditional role of poetry, which is to continuously engage the establishment and ensure that it does not derail; to remind them of their sacred duty, which, according to Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009, “is to tell the truth about humanity whatever those in authority have to say”. And this is where the theme of the state convention being organised by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Imo State chapter (ANA-Imo), cuts in.
“We consciously chose the theme ‘Contemporary Nigerian Poetry: The Poet and Speaking Truth to Power’,” Chidozie Chukwubuike, the association’s chairman, tells me in a recent chat.
“We want to hush contemporary poets and stop them from falling into Charles Nnolim’s labelling of them as fleshly. We do not want our poetry to go the way of our contemporary music that doesn’t seem to have a soul. Poetry must be forced back to remain that mask with which that seemingly unapproachable tyrant-king can be confronted,” he says.
The convention date, September 8-9, 2014, is strategically chosen to coincide with the World Literacy Day, says Chukwubuike, who is also a poet, theatre artist, and author of The Poet Wept and Other Poems, The Day the Owl Died, On the Brink of Doom, among other unpublished works.
“The convention is an annual retreat of writers to deliberate on literature and other related issues. It is enshrined in the national constitution of the association. The state branches of the association are supposed to hold conventions in their different states between August and September of every year to prepare and equip them for the national convention which usually comes up between October and November every year,” he tells me.
“We are planning a state convention of international magnitude because we intend to use it to reposition Imo as the nerve centre of creative writing in Nigeria,” he adds.
The convention is open to writers, literary scholars and all lovers of literature, he says. Among prominent literary figures expected to spice up the occasion include J. O. J. Nwachukwu-Agbada, Isidore Diala, Chimalum Nwankwo, Chidi Osuagwu, Chudi Uwazuruike, Romanus Egudu, Charles Nnolim, among others.
Chukwubuike tells me the convention begins with a gala night on September 8 and continues the following day with an opening ceremony to be performed by Rochas Okorocha, Imo State governor.
Other programmes lined up for the two-day event include a keynote lecture, lead paper presentations, public presentation of OGELE, an ANA Imo anthology of creative writing, a reading campaign (supported by Yusuf Ali), with school children, which will feature carnival, reading contest, creative writing workshop, and artistic and literary entertainment, he says.
“We shall announce the winners of the 2014 ANA Imo Literary Contest and prizes will be given out to them. The association shall also give out awards to deserving citizens for their contribution towards the development of literature and humanity in Nigeria,” he further says.
As the chief organiser of the convention, Chukwubuike tells me he will want every participant at the event to leave the convention ground convinced that authors, through literature, have the potential to bring to an end the menace of Boko Haram, stop the spread of Ebola, HIV or any other virus, and that the government needs to invest in literature to “save our future”.
Immediately after the convention, he intends to pursue three major projects, namely, the establishment of 27 LGA chapters of the association in the state; mentorship of young writers in schools in the state in partnership with the Ministry of Education; and collaboration with other stakeholders to launch a war against the piracy of intellectual property.
“We are equally working hard to make the association relevant when it comes to the recommendation of books for literature by the Ministry of Education,” he says.
“As you know, my constituency is Imo and that is why we shall concentrate our energies on Imo State to improve the wellbeing of the indigenous writer. We have also begun a discussion on how to persuade the Imo State government to allocate land for us to build a writers’ resort. We have plans, and God on our side, we shall succeed,” he adds.
Asked about logistics arrangement for the convention, he says they have arranged hotel accommodation for invited special guests coming from outside Imo State and also negotiated reduced cost for other writers, scholars and art lovers who may wish to be part of the event.
“There is no registration fee, and that is why our conference materials will be restricted to special guests only,” he adds.
On the state of literature in the country, he says it is very unfortunate that not many individuals or organisations are eager to commit money to the promotion of literature.
“I wish our people can realise that literature is the surest instrument for the attainment of immortality and no investment in it can be too much,” he adds.
CHUKS OLUIGBO
