Chinue Achebe. Wole Soyinka. Amos Tutuola. Ramsey Noah. Genevieve Nnaji. Rita Dominic. They are all veritable whirlwinds, and they are all Nigerian.

The first three are Nigerian writers of great acclaim, and the latter three are Nigerian movie heart-throbs.
They have swaggered in their flowing attire to endless podiums after clinching award after literary award.

They have swamped our airwaves with their Pidgin English. Add the glamorous face of a Yoruba or Igbo bombshell into the mix and partner her with a moneyed but jilted man. The result is a unique Nigerian cuisine.

And Nigerians are on a roll. This was proved by the just announced winners of the Africa Regional Commonwealth Writer’s Prize 2010. During the nominations, no Kenyan was short-listed. Nigeria had four nominees and South Africa had five.

The winners were South African writer Marié Heese (Best African Book) for her novel The Double Crown: Secret Writings of the Female Pharaoh and young Nigerian writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani (Best First African Book) for her I Do Not Come to You by Chance.

And they did not win by chance! In Africa, only Nigeria and South Africa have produced Nobel Laureates in Literature — Wole Soyinka and Nadine Gordimer.

What is the secret? Why do Nigerians beat us in writing everything — from novels, to poems, to plays to movie scripts? It is because Nigerians, like South Africans, embrace their traditions and their cultural diversity.

But countries like Kenya appear to have vowed to discard traditions. Why, then, should anyone be surprised when a fake thing fails to stand against a genuine one?

We should not be surprised when Kenyans are floored by Nigerians in the next literary award. This loss of identity leads to lack of a narrative and has a serious impact on our literature and movie industry.

The power of a narrative has been shown in recent weeks by the mythical Kenyan character “Makmende” who has now become a legend (left).

Many Nigerian movies are anchored in the nation’s traditions. Chimamanda Adichie, the modern-day “Chinua Achebe”, found a compelling narrative in the Biafra War and Igbo culture for her novel, Half of a Yellow Sun.

It’s not shallow and one doesn’t get the queasy feeling one gets reading some Kenyan manuscripts that the writer has been watching too many Mexican soaps.

The Makmende sensation is a wake-up call for us to revive our mythical figures like Lwanda Magere and use them to tell our stories.


http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/magazine/-/434746/906342/-/141eurez/-/

Was this writer serious, really?

Moved to Literature section.

AjanleKoko:

Was this writer serious, really?

It's pretty true though, I mean Nollywood is a 200 plus million dollar industry, third largest in the world, we Nigerians don't always applaud our positive achievements.

In Africa, only Nigeria and South Africa have produced Nobel Laureates in Literature — Wole Soyinka and Nadine Gordimer.

Wrong! J.M. Coetzee has one(he is South African, though), Naguib Mafouz, an Egyptian writer, has one, too.

I don't think that, as generally believed, Wole Soyinka was the first African Nobel winner in literature. Albert Camus, an Algerian, got his in 1957! I think it's in this order, after Camus (I stand to be righted), Wole Soyinka (1986), Naguib Mafouz (Egypt - 1988), Nadine Gordimer (SA - 1991), J.M Coetzee (SA - 2003).

slap1:

I don't think that, as generally believed, Wole Soyinka was the first African Nobel winner in literature. Albert Camus, an Algerian, got his in 1957! I think it's in this order, after Camus (I stand to be righted), Wole Soyinka (1986), Naguib Mafouz (Egypt - 1988), Nadine Gordimer (SA - 1991), J.M Coetzee (SA - 2003).

Albert Camus is French.