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A Point of Interest: Book Writing and Reading
Taking a closer and critical look at some book writers especially Africans; I have paged through many books penned down by our fellow African writers and guess what? In the end I’m not a happier man, when I put some of these books down, some did make me feel angrier, some made me feel disappointed whereas some imposed in me a feeling of being a stupid African and not wise at all. I read books and articles by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Kole Omotoso, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Bessie Head, Galesiti Baruti, Kgadime Oliver Matsepe, Yodi Karone, Yaba Badoe, Thomas Mofolo, Mpho Matsepo Nthunya and many more, the list is endless. I believe that writing is about enriching the readers and at the same time to instill in the reader a propensity of continuity especially in reading more. But many of our writers just write for the sake of doing it and getting money. If the authors can divorce the ignominious inclination of degrading our dignity and exposing the weaknesses in us to the other people, especially the Europeans and start encouraging our people without making them feel like second hand humans, it will be for a good course. We will not be right to allow good command of English language as a weapon against us through which we are being humiliated with an aim of debilitating us from achieving greatness, depicting us as villains. We need to realise a watershed which will be glue that inspire us to stick together and fight our own battles together, reducing a huge number of blacklegs, to join us in a struggle to liberate us from the shadow of tainted Africanism. For the sake of African progenitors, stop belittling their progenies, but come up with ways that will teach them to prosper and treat one another with dignity, and more importantly, to give them windows of hope for their survival without looking up to the West for relief giveaways, donations and loans whilst they are trotting on very fertile and arable soil without utilizing it to their advantage.
When you look at for example the great author Chinua, all of his books talk bad about his country and speak ill and uncivil of the way his people think. He could have modified his stories to help and also encourage his people to treat matters in a different manner rather than expose them the way he did and in the end exposing himself as an author who could not handle things well. All his books, Things Fall Apart, Anthills of the Savanna, There was a country, Trouble in Nigeria, Man of the People, No longer at Ease, they make me think that he was only looking at the wrong side of his people and the country. Not even one of all these books, misconstrued as great work, lifts the spirits of Nigerians and the rest of Africans, not one of them encourages the people to get stronger and better and in the end, I ask myself the question; what are these books of this great writer and father of African literature good for? Achieving greatness in this manner, like him was in appropriate, you can’t first dissect and destroy your own people like that and then the same people regard you as their father! It’s an utter misconstruction hence a corringendum! The main thing in writing is to help the people see the light and the right one and where possible to empower and encourage the people to make an endeavour to reach the next milestone, to wish them enough strength to conquer their obstacles. It’s like in the family, if there are bad things you don’t go around spreading that sour message to the world but you would rather be part of the problem, exercise a sense of ownership and involvement and start looking at ways you can help correct it. Note that Ken Saro-Wiwa died whilst fighting for his people, he was actually carrying the hopes of the nation on his shoulders, and again an embodiment of peace in his country, he was hanged for defending the rights of his people, hanged by the Black Government, a Government led by his own brothers!! If I’m not mistaken, Sani Abacha was involved.
We are now calling on our new writers to take a more responsible lead and stop making the world think that we are all morons and imbeciles because of what you feed them! This also applies to our media reporting.
With reference from my best author ever; By Chris Kanyane
Monday, July 14, 2014
By: Modiba Kadi
