Afan Kazé (Doug)

In the sixties and seventies we had Heinemann's African Writer's Series and Fontana books. We also had Onitsha Market literature. They produced hundreds of books and many writers were writing various things about their Africa. I would argue that if you read TM Aluko, Flora Nwapa, Cyprian Ekwensi, etc. they were addressing an audience that was primarily home grown. Fast forward to today, those structures have been largely dismantled and trying to get published in the West is like climbing the pyramid from hell. Only a handful get to the pinnacle. We have a problem. Today there is a great body of work on the literature of that era. We cannot say the same today about this generation's literature to the extent that approximately 100 percent of it is on digital media. Traditional literary communities are fixated on the zero percent. Because they are faithful to the old paradigm - be published in books. But I am being generous, they alone do not speak for Black Africa. Social media often reminds me of Onitsha market literature. It's a good thing. Tell your stories with what you have. Onitsha Market literature? I once wrote about it here: xokigbo.com/2012/03/25/oriki… Kansas University has a rich archive of Onitsha Market literature that can be accessed and read electronically for free at: onitsha.diglib.ku.edu/ They have justified the "piracy" by stating in fine print that most if not all the authors and their estate cannot be traced. Well, whatever, go over there and enjoy what was basically the beginning of the democratization of narrative. It may have failed then, but social media has done it.

In Nigeria, Chigozie Obioma's The Road to the Country costs N15,000 (paperback) or N20,000 (hardback) Oyin Olugbile's Sanya costs N15,000 (paperback) Nikki May's This Motherless Land costs N10,000 (paperback) or N17,000 (hardback). To collect all three, you would need at least N40,000. If you order online, be prepared to pay N5,000 extra. I am going to send my niece at the University of Benin 50,000 Naira and ask her to buy all three books as a gift. I suspect she will collect my alert and go buy groceries. I wouldn't blame her. N20,000 for just one book is way out of her price range and her family is not poor. She has other pressing priorities. Literacy has been priced out of reach of most young Nigerians. This is the issue. What are the options for addressing what I see as a national crisis? Our youngsters are reading nonstop online, reading mostly crap, and literature in books has become an elite hobby. How can the state help? How can we help? PS, my niece here with me in the US has unfettered access to my library both online and in my house. I have all three books in hard format and on kindle. Well, Olugbile's Sanya is only available as a paperback, but I have it. 💪🏾