Make no mistake about it. Good things are happening to Nigerian literature. Anyway, before we get into that, let’s do some mea culpa work, I mean an attempt at course correction.

The NLNG Prize, supposed to be the Nigerian National Prize in literature has not lived up to its name. Judging from the many reactions to its latest failed award ceremony (2009), the prize has obviously distanced itself from any possible goal it might have dreamed of. First, it failed to pull together the Nigerian creators of ideas and culture. Secondly, it failed to add any semblance of glory to the badly soiled image of the Nigerian oil industry. No one would be naïve enough to deny that the latter wasn’t a major incentive behind the prize. Indeed, rather that add an impression of sanity to the oil sector in Nigeria, the prize became a window to its shabby soul.

I am not too concerned that the ugliness of the Nigerian oil industry has been exposed; what troubles me deeply is that the world has now become aware of the hollowness of the Nigerian intellectual culture. Take away Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka, ignore the efforts of the likes of Nwaubani, Habila, Abani, Kan, Dibia, Agali and a few others out, and you have a scenery that evokes wasteland. The truth, though, is that even with these names, no one can really convince the world that Nigeria has a vibrant intellectual culture, or that people appreciate the mind in Nigeria.

Not that we don’t have brilliant minds. We do, but more could be done to harness their gifts for the benefit our culture. There are many ways to achieve this. One is the award of prizes. I would sincerely privilege any other prize, preferably associated with any writer or thinker, but in its absence I’ll start by restructuring or panel-beating the already existing NLNG Prize. Currently the prize is tagged at 50.000 dollars. That’s big, friends. The fattest literary prize in Africa! This is how it could be restructured to help establish a vibrant culture of the mind in Nigeria.

The first and perhaps only condition for the prize, apart from it being open to all Nigerians regardless of where they reside, should be that the work in consideration must be first published in Nigeria. This is as nationalist, yet open-minded, and economically savvy as it gets. Here are the arguments for this: It will attract our established writers like Adichie, Akpan, etc to patronize our local publishers. They can work together to achieve a made-in-Nigeria perfection. In this way both writers and publishers win. Imagine any of these writers publishing her next book first with X, Y Publishers. Surely, Western publishers will pick up her book, and, in paying attention to that book, they will take a glance at other books that made the shortlist. Besides this, in acknowledging the Nigerian publisher, that international publishing house will inadvertently advertise the Nigerian effort.

Invite our big name teachers and commentators of literature to judge. Nigeria boasts of established, and very promising new generation academics and lovers of literature who, I think, would be willing to lend their help and whose judgment can be respected worldwide.

The next thing to be done is to split the money into many parts: 10,000 dollars will go to the publisher of the winning entry. What? Yes, I mean it. This money could be used to purchase thousands of copies of the winning book for distribution to all Nigerian university libraries. If Farafina and Cassava Republic publishers have performed greatly so far, imagine what an injection of $10.000 would do to their project. Besides this, the simple philosophical truth here is that works that deal with Nigerians get to be read first by Nigerians. Am I being too nationalist here? Yes, of course, I love that. I can’t tell about the beauty of my mama and have it read first in Alabama.

Ha!

We still have 40.000. Allahu akbar!

Spread 10.000 dollars as honorary prizes to the other publishers and writers of the books that made the shortlist. 1.000 dollars each could help them towards writing or publishing better books the next time.

And our winner? Oh, sure, he or she will not go empty-handed. But 10,000 dollars would be more than enough for him/her. Wouldn’t it? Give me 10.00 dollars and I will move the world.

Okay, we still have 20.000 dollars in the deep freezer! Use this money to organize a reading tour for the first prize winner. Reading in six places of his/her choice distributed evenly in the four geographical areas of the country would add to the luster of his/her name. The readings could be held on university campuses. A way to facilitate this is to work with the local branches of ANA and the teachers of literature in the universities around.

 Finally, a note on culture. Whoever publishes you shapes your culture; he tailors your narrative to the aesthetic predilections of his consumers. If he doesn’t understand your culture, he might ignore some of its nuggets, delicacies you have been groomed in and which other peoples of the world could enjoy. The only way to avoid this is to work with a local publisher who knows you.

 Culture is a community effort; it is created. Once it takes a life of its own, it begins to bear witness to the humanity of the creators. Let’s all put hands together to put smiles on the face of our humanity. Who knows, we might even be an example to our neo-military leaders. After all, the best way to correct the evil of your society is to be an example of the good.

Comments Page: 1 posted on 12-23-2009, 06:24:02 AM Bode Eluyera Re: How To Make The Mind Matter In Nigeria Brilliant recommendations. The role of authors/writers in shaping and educating the mind can not be overemphasized. How I wish(ed) that they could be implimented. If we want to develop, we need not only to appreciate Nigerian professionals: writers, engineers, actors, actresses. engineers, consultants, bankers, journalists, musicians, e.t.c. first but as well reward them adequately. It's high time we changed our mind set. Charity should begin first at home. We need to respect ourselves first before others can respect us. And this involves appreciating, praising and rewarding Nigerians for their efforts. We need to empower ourselves. A similar view was reflected in one of my articles titled : "Roger Dawson, American Negotiator is a fake" republished with a different title: "Empowering Nigerian professionals in turning around the economy." Go to the Full Discussion Thread Comments Page: 1