GAY PEOPLE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EXIST IN NIGERIA; I WROTE TO CHANGE THAT - UGOCHUKWU ANADI

Ugochukwu Anadị is a student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Anadi is a 20 year old essayist who discovered his love for writing during the COVID-19 lockdown. He has gone ahead to write short stories, poems and essays and has been published in Nantygreens Magazine. He also came fourth place in the Hon. Dozie Nwankwo Essay Writing Competition, 2020. Anadi won the just concluded African Human Rights Essay Competition with his essay titled “Human Rights Abuse and Violations in Africa: It’s a Crime to be happy in My Country”. African Human Rights Essay Competition is an initiative of the International Human Rights Art Festival (IHRAF), USA aimed at promoting human rights values in Africa and to positively influence the betterment of the human rights situation in the continent. In this comprehensive interview with Wole Adedoyin, he shared with him some facts surrounding his writing career and his winning essay.

WA: WHAT HAS YOUR EARLY WRITING CAREER JOURNEY BEEN LIKE?

UA: I do not think that I have gotten what can be rightly referred to as a writing career; I'm still at that early stage. I started writing during the COVID-19 lockdown as schools were closed and students were home. It was something I did to keep myself busy, then I fell in love with it. I have always been a reader though, and I think that was the major thing that made me consider writing. I went on to take a paid Beginner's Poetry course at Pendullum Poetry Academy. That course exposed me to poetry, and from poetry, I started writing both short stories and essays.

I was just writing and posting on my Facebook wall before I joined some groups for writers, still on Facebook. It was in those groups that I heared about publishing in Literary Magazines for the first time, and since then, my email inbox has been a deposit of rejection letters. You know, because I want to be published, and because I have people telling me that I write so well on Facebook, I will just write and send to Magazines. And trust editors, they never failed to reject those trashes, most times in sweet languages, but in few instances, in a mean and brutally honest way.

One instance I can never forget: I submitted some poems which I believe were Haikus. The editor not only rejected it but told me point and clear that what I wrote cannot be qualified as Haiku. The editor went ahead to send me a beginner's guide to Haiku in a PDF format. I was pained, but looking at those poems today, I sincerely do not think they even qualify to be called poems. It was just some random scribblings and truly, I was disappointed in myself for writing that in the first place. I mean, this was someone who was the valedictorian in his Beginner's Poetry Class and he's writing what cannot be qualified to be called poem, not to talk more of Haiku.

But on the other side, it can be said to be good. I have published a story titled Nneka with Nantygreens Magazine and just yesterday, my essay, ON THE LIBERALISATION OF SEX was published by Literary Yard Magazine. I was the third runner-up in the Hon. Dozie Nwankwo Essay Writing Competition, which was a competition organized by the same person the competition is named after annually, in 2020. And now, I'm the winner of the African Human Rights Essay Writing Competition. This is my first major win and I'm so happy about it. My inbox since the results were announced has been flooded with congratulatory messages and I never knew that they were people who thought I sell soaps. The congratulatory messages often come with requests that are exactly in this way, or with a little variant: 'cut soap for me o'. (Laughs).

The journey has made me a more serious reader though. You cannot write without reading. There's no magic to that, and that has helped me grow my library. But above all, it has taught me, and continues to teach me: patience. I now know that I can send a piece of writing to a literary magazine, wait for 8 months before I will get a reply, and the reply will come out to be negative. And you know what, at that moment, the earth doesn't stop spinning; the universe doesn't even notice you. It's as if nothing happened, absolutely nothing, while your heart is on fire.

WA: HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS ESSAY COMPETITION?

UA: The first place I saw the call for submissions was in the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (SYNW) Official Facebook group. I mentally took note of it, but I later forgot about it. Two days to the deadline, a reminder was sent in the Society of Young Nigerian Writers, Anambra Chapter's WhatsApp group. I remembered that I promised myself I would enter for this contest but due to procrastination, I didn't up till then. It was then a do or die affair for me. Since I didn't have a laptop and typing with my phone has always been very tiresome and slow for me, I almost gave up.

Thanks a lot to my very good friend, Nnam Onyebuchi Darlington, who availed me his laptop for the writing. I was able to finish everything about the essay: writing, editing and submitting in a night.

WA: WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO TAKE PART IN THE CONTEST?

UA: Human Rights issue has always been something I do care about: deeply. Seeing pictures of old women murdered, or paraded in the most inhuman way on the basis of accused witchcraftry; seeing videos of men stripped naked and beaten, sometimes to death, for being homosexuals; seeing young people like me lying in their own blood because a uniformed man with a gun was annoyed, or because they went out to protest for their rights and life; remembering that Mubarak Bala is still under unlawful detention, and just like him, many others who have been accused of blasphemy, a crime I sincerely do not think exists, a crime I believe to be an insult on the human minds and intelligence, these and many other things pushed me into being interested in human rights issue. So when I saw the call for submissions and saw that it was coming from a well recognized Human Rights organisation, I knew that I had to take part in the contest. That was my little way of fighting human rights abuse and violations in my continent.

WA: CAN YOU PROVIDE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF YOUR WINNING ESSAY?

UA: The winning essay which I titled Human Rights Abuse And Violation in Africa: It's a Crime to be Happy in My Country, was centered on the happenings in my own country, Nigeria. I made a word play on the topic. Being gay can be defined as being happy and then, it's a criminal offence to be gay in Nigeria. So I simply read being happy as being gay.

So it was centered primarily on how the criminalization of homosexuality in Nigeria was and continues to remain one of the worst move by any government in Nigeria; how it has been a tool through which state-sponsored homophobia has been carved into a giant momentum; and how it has enabled the citizens to display the monstrous part of them -- that part of them angry with the society and how it functions -- on the innocent members of the LGBTQ+ community, as if somehow, the gay boy is their problem.
The essay went on to establish how this anti-gay law of 2014 has continued to put many of our citizens in the gas chamber; how it has sucked out happiness, forever, in the lives of many Nigerians and the need to repeal it. The essay maintains that the law is an abuse and violation of human rights, is counterproductive and is generally useless. I also lamented, I think, on how when we talk of human rights activism, we do not consider gay rights as part of human rights, you know, the selective activism of a thing. That's why you have somebody like Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, a former president of Nigeria, who's acknowledged globally for his respect for human rights, being the one that signed the Anti-gay bill into law, and we still see him as a human rights icon, because gay rights isn't human rights.

WA: WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THE SUBMISSION PROCESS FOR THE COMPETITION THAT MIGHT HELP OTHERS TO SUBMIT?

UA: The submission process is an easy one. You have a limited word count you should work with, and then two email addresses you should forward the essay to. You have a font, font size and format you should work with and it is that easy.

WA: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS ESSAY?

UA: I think I have answered that under what motivated me to take part in the contest. But what made me choose this particular topic, as against writing about witchcraft persecution or the continued detention of the president of Humanist's Nigeria, Mubarak Bala, or any other human rights issue in the country, is the feeling that many do not consider gay rights abuse as part of human rights abuse. That's to say, we have lesser and lesser people speaking about this, even those people who're convinced that homophobia is wrong. And the reason is not far-fetched, in a country like Nigeria, supporting Children's Rights makes you a child in the same way that fighting against homophobia makes you gay. And no one would like to be identified as gay in a space as homophobic as Nigeria; not even a gay person would want that for himself.

So, already, you know people are going to write about gender inequality and how society has continued to abuse women; about Children's Rights; about Police Brutality and many of them, and these are all valid cases of abuse and violations. But the gay boy and the lesbian girl needs a voice. The transman and the transwoman needs a voice. The gender non-conforming person, they/them, and all queer people needs a voice. I simply decided to be that voice. Gay people are not allowed to exist in Nigeria; I wrote to change that.

WA: HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE FIRST-PRIZE WINNER?

UA: It feels very good. In fact, it was an euphoric experience for me, especially seeing those moments my classmates kept on saying that they're proud of me. And while I'm not a person who seeks audience's validation, getting it doesn't actually hurt me. What this prize actually does for me is that it tells me to continue writing. It tells me that my works are worth reading. It simply tells me that yes, you're a writer.

And another thing it does for me is to show me that they are actually people who are open-minded. At a point after submitting the essay, I considered withdrawing it and writing another. Reason? I felt that since this is an 'African' thing, that the essay might be disqualified, not on the basis of not being good, but on the basis of being against the 'African culture', an argument which some self made custodians of African culture always use to support their homophobia, but I decided against it, and now this. (Smiles)

WA: HOW DID WRITING THE WINNING PIECE GO?

UA: Like I said, I wrote it in a night. I was awoke the whole night. I had to leave my place to go to Darlington's place to use his laptop to write. The essay flows easily; I never forced it. The only difficult part was editing it, when I had to cut out some parts of the essay because I exceeded the maximum word count required. It was like a mother being forced to mark out, by herself, one of her four children for sacrifice to the gods. Removing some sentences and changing the structure was like committing murder to me, but I did it (maybe I'm now a murderer, who knows). (Laughs) But apart from that, it was an enjoyable process.

WA: TO WIN AN ESSAY CONTEST, WHAT DO YOU THINK WRITERS SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO?

UA: Number one is theme if it's a themed contest. You cannot be asked to write on human rights violation and expect to win the contest with a piece on the dangers of alcohol. No matter how wonderful your piece on the dangers of alcohol is, it cannot win the contest.

Secondly, guidelines. You know those little things like font and font size and spacing. They really matter, and then keeping to the deadline.

Thirdly, write what you know; what you're passionate about. If you're taking part in a contest, let it be a theme you're in love with. What that means is that you do not end up copying others. You simply write from within and with that, originality is retained. That doesn't mean you're not to consult other writings on the same issue. No. Definitely not. Like I said earlier, if you do not read, you cannot write. What I'm trying to say here is that you do not copy in a non-creative way. Know what works for you, improve on it and work with it

WA: APART FROM ESSAY WRITING, WHAT OTHER THINGS DO YOU WRITE?

UA: I also write poems and short stories. I run a Facebook page by name Ugochukwu Anadị: The Pen's Blood where I write on issues I consider worthy of my time and energy. Leaving the Literary World, I'm an engineering student and I do write Arduino Codes for Embedded Systems and Control Systems. I'm also a drone enthusiast and I hope to build my own drone one day. MQ-9 Reaper remains my favourite drone.

WA: WHAT, FOR YOU, MAKES AN ESSAY CONTEST ENTRY OR SUBMISSION STAND OUT?

UA: I think it's originality. Someone who's judging any writing competition is always one who has swam through a very vast ocean of Literature. Such a person can identify a copied work even without knowing where the work was copied from. That's how serious and easy it can be.

Then, stylistics. How do you present your points? Your grammar and punctuation? Those things really matter.

WA: WHAT SPARKED YOUR INTEREST IN HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN, AND WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO WRITE THIS ESSAY BASED ON THIS INTEREST?

UA: I think I have answered this question when you asked why I entered for the contest and what motivated the essay writing. It's the realization that things are not the way they're supposed to be, and that they can actually be better. The realization that the most effective way to erode hate is to implant love; to change the mindset of people. And Literature has been the best way to enlighten people.

WA: HOW MANY UNPUBLISHED AND HALF-FINISHED BOOKS DO YOU HAVE?

UA: None. I have only considered writing a book but have not started writing any. I just write short stories, poems and essays, submit to literary magazines and read my rejection letters while taking soaked garrị.

WA: WHAT DOES LITERARY SUCCESS LOOK LIKE TO YOU?

UA: It's a fulfilling experience. You know, the feeling that you're capable of wining something at a continental level. It comes with euphoria. It paints a picture of a general returning from a very dreadful war victorious, without losing anyone in his army.

WA: DO YOU GOOGLE YOURSELF?

UA: Are there people who don't? Hmm, I've always thought it's a general thing. Yes. I do Google myself and see my published story, NNEKA pop up. Now that you asked, I think I'll Google myself right after this interview so that I'll know whether my recently published essay will pop up too. (smiles)

WA: WHAT ONE THING WOULD YOU GIVE UP TO BECOME A BETTER WRITER?

UA: Procrastination. I procrastinate a lot. Then social media, but the problem now is that I get to know of most writing opportunities through the same social media, so giving it up is not that easy, you see (smiles).

WA: WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE LITERARY JOURNALS?

UA: I do not read stories based on journals. I belong to so many writing groups and when people post links to their works, I read them and if they're okay to me, I'll check out the whole journal for it means that they publish things I love reading.

But recently, I'm drawn to Nantygreens Magazine definitely because they were the first to give my writing a home, then Kalahari Review, Literary Yard, Nnọkọ, Brittle Paper and Commonwealth shortlisted and prize winning stories. I also discovered The Shallow Tales Review recently.

WA: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK?
UA: I read a lot as a child, but I sincerely cannot remember which was my favourite then. I can remember reading Eze Goes to School, Chike and the River and A Dance with the Princess though.

WA: WHAT AUTHORS DID YOU DISLIKE AT FIRST BUT GREW INTO?

UA: Wole Soyinka. Mehn, I disliked his writings when I started consciously reading then. I read one of his poems, slept over it, and didn't understand anything. Then I heard people say that he doesn't write in a way he could be easily understood. That he's a grammarian and all that. So I boycotted his books.

All that changed after most of my writer friends on Facebook started talking about how Prof is their best writer. Consistent amongst these people is Ayegba Samuel who runs the Facebook page, Alcove of Letters. Dude dedicated many of his poems, essays and random musings to Soyinka, and being someone I adore his writings greatly, I felt I was missing something.

So, one day, I entered a bookshop and bought many of his books. After reading The Lion and The Jewel, and his prison notes, The Man Died, my impression about Prof changed. I went on to read his poems anthologized in the West African Verse and in the Poems of Black Africa. Even his play The Madmen and the Specialist and his novel The Interpreters. I do not understand anything that happened in The Interpreters though (smiles).

Today, he is one of my favourite authors with the likes of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chinelo Okparanta.

WA: What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
I do not have author friends, in the real sense of the world 'friend'. But I have many writers who Facebook has allowed me to follow their writings: Ọla W. Halim, Samuel Ayegba, Chibueze Darlington, Prof. Mark Nwagwu, Vincent Anioke, Stanley Umezulike, Femi Philip Morgan, Jude Dibịa and many others. I consider any writer whose works I love as a friend, even if it's only virtually.

So I become friends with writers through their works, and one specific way these people have influenced my writing is the fact that theirs makes me to always want to improve mine. I also consider them courageous writers. They write what they want to write, not minding who might want to rant.