Literature
Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, a professor of English at the University of Lagos, has written over 34 books across genres ? novels, short stories, poetry, plays and children?s literature ? and academic books and articles published locally and internationally. Her latest work, a novel titled Roses and Bullets, highlights the Nigerian civil war from a fresh angle that portrays the war as unnecessary but inevitable. In this interview with SUMAILA UMAISHA, she speaks about the book.
Let?s begin with your short biography.
My name is Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, a professor of English at the University of Lagos and a three-time head of the English Department. I was born in the south east but have lived in various parts of Nigeria ? east, west and north. I have a doctorate degree from the University of Ibadan and B.A. and Masters Degrees from the University of Lagos. I was appointed a professor at the University of Lagos in 1999. I have written over 34 books across genres ? novels, short stories, poetry, plays and children?s literature ? and academic books and articles published locally and internationally I have travelled extensively in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia.
Why did you entitle your new novel Roses and Bullets?
The title is symbolic. Roses symbolize youths who perished in the Nigerian Civil War which is also referred to as the Biafran War. The youth fought the war and died in thousands, just like the young children who died of starvation. As Herbert Hoover said, ?Older men declare war, but it is the youth that must fight and die.? So the youth are the flowers of the land that were bighted too soon; they sacrificed their lives. As a matter of fact this also applied to the Federal side. Bullets represent violence and death. There was so much violence and so many deaths in the war. There could be other interpretations, but these will suffice.
There is something unique, something philosophical about the relationship between your major characters, Ginika and Eloka; what statement are you trying to make here in relation to the Nigerian civil war?
The love shared by Ginika and Eloka is the type of love that is strong, genuine, ennobling and beautiful. Under normal circumstances such love should last a lifetime and bring out the best in the individuals concerned. But war is abnormal; the civil war destroyed this love. One of the statements the novel makes is that the Nigerian Civil War destroyed a lot of good, positive and beautiful things, especially human relationships and lives. It also destroyed property and infrastructure. It shattered dreams and hopes.
Coming from the eastern part of the country some might conclude you wrote the novel from your personal experience. How would you respond to this?
Well, I was a witness to the war ? I was a schoolgirl when it was fought. So I write from hindsight and experience. But this is not to say that I was exploring my personal experience; for instance, I am not Ginika, as some people have presumed.
How much of the novel is fiction and how much fact?
A lot of it is fiction, but there are factual events or happenings that have been transmuted into fiction while some are retained as they actually were, for example, the names of some personages and some towns.
Writers like Chukwuemeka Ike, Elechi Amadi and Chimamanda Adichie have written on the civil war with love as a major theme and one might think these authors have exhausted the subject-matter. What fresh angle do you think you have introduced into the novel to make it stand out?
Love is a great theme any writer can explore in fiction; this has always been the case. Consider, for instance Dryden?s All for Love or Shakespeare?s Anthony and Cleopatra (both on the same subject) or even Tolstoy?s Anna Karenina. These are great works that explore the theme of love. I believe my treatment of this great theme is different from those of the Nigerian writers you mentioned. Mine focuses on the experience of the youth, exploring the true meaning of passion, human frailties accentuated by war and the notions of morality and self-sacrifice.
From the tone of the novel, you seem to be saying the war was unnecessary. Can you expatiate on this?
Yes, the war was totally unnecessary ? so many crises in Nigeria were and still are unnecessary ? but it was inevitable.
There is something didactic about the novel; what lesson are you trying to impart?
I wonder if one should be talking about lessons, as I assume each reader should form his or her opinion in this regard. However, one thing I can say is that war is evil. It has always been so and will always be so: it hardly solves anything. Roses and Bullets exposes the horrors of war. Nigeria fought a civil war between 1967 and 1970, but did it solve anything? The issues are still there and people are acting as if a war was never fought! In her powerful novel, Song of Solomon, the distinguished African American writer, Toni Morrison, shows us that human beings do not learn from past mistakes ? a phenomenon that Wole Soyinka refers to as the stupidities of human action and history. What else can one say after reflecting on the works of these famous masters? Literature is life; good literature makes profound statements about life. I believe Roses and Bullets has done this.
From the feelers so far, in terms of sales and criticism, how is the novel being received?
The novel came out in March, 2011. The sales are okay but not fantastic yet ? only few Nigerians invest in books or bother to read anyway. But I can tell you that the novel is well received: strange enough, even people who haven?t read it are excited about it perhaps because of the subject matter. I receive a lot of calls, emails and commendations for writing the book.
You are into all the genres of literature; which of the genres would you say you find it easier to write in?
I can?t say really. However, I am comfortable with all of them. It is amazing that one genre captures my imagination at a given time and I immediately obey. For example, when I was ready to start writing Roses and Bullets, poetry hijacked me and I bowed, wrote poems until fiction reestablished dominance and stole me away. Again I obeyed and wrote Roses and Bullets. So it depends on my mood or state of mind. For example, in June 2011, an idea for a short story came and I immediately wrote one and sent it abroad. I don?t know if it will be accepted for publication. I wait for news.
Don?t you think it would have been more effective in terms of communicating your ideas, if you had written a play on the civil war rather than a novel?
No. I don?t think so. Roses and Bullets could only be realized as a novel ? an extended fictitious narrative ? by virtue of the complexity of its plot and its rigorous delineation of character and exploration of motives.
The novel is 518 pages; as a lecturer and a housewife, how did you find time to put this together?
If you are passionate about what you do, you will find time. I am passionate about writing and I try to find time to write in spite of all that I do as a wife, mother, grandmother and university teacher and researcher.
Are we expecting any work of this nature from you again or you have exhausted the subject?
Well, only time will tell!
(c) Interviewed by Sumaila Umaisha and published in the 7th August, 2011, of New Nigerian newspaper.
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Literature
Biafran war was unnecessary but inevitable
Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, a professor of English at the University of Lagos, has written over 34 books across genres ? novels, short stories, poetry, plays and children?s literature ? and academic books and articles published locally and internationally. Her latest work, a novel titled Roses and Bullets, highlights the Nigerian civil war from a fresh angle that portrays the war as unnecessary but inevitable. In this interview with SUMAILA UMAISHA, she speaks about the book.
Let?s begin with your short biography.
My name is Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, a professor of English at the University of Lagos and a three-time head of the English Department. I was born in the south east but have lived in various parts of Nigeria ? east, west and north. I have a doctorate degree from the University of Ibadan and B.A. and Masters Degrees from the University of Lagos. I was appointed a professor at the University of Lagos in 1999. I have written over 34 books across genres ? novels, short stories, poetry, plays and children?s literature ? and academic books and articles published locally and internationally I have travelled extensively in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia.
Why did you entitle your new novel Roses and Bullets?
The title is symbolic. Roses symbolize youths who perished in the Nigerian Civil War which is also referred to as the Biafran War. The youth fought the war and died in thousands, just like the young children who died of starvation. As Herbert Hoover said, ?Older men declare war, but it is the youth that must fight and die.? So the youth are the flowers of the land that were bighted too soon; they sacrificed their lives. As a matter of fact this also applied to the Federal side. Bullets represent violence and death. There was so much violence and so many deaths in the war. There could be other interpretations, but these will suffice.
There is something unique, something philosophical about the relationship between your major characters, Ginika and Eloka; what statement are you trying to make here in relation to the Nigerian civil war?
The love shared by Ginika and Eloka is the type of love that is strong, genuine, ennobling and beautiful. Under normal circumstances such love should last a lifetime and bring out the best in the individuals concerned. But war is abnormal; the civil war destroyed this love. One of the statements the novel makes is that the Nigerian Civil War destroyed a lot of good, positive and beautiful things, especially human relationships and lives. It also destroyed property and infrastructure. It shattered dreams and hopes.
Coming from the eastern part of the country some might conclude you wrote the novel from your personal experience. How would you respond to this?
Well, I was a witness to the war ? I was a schoolgirl when it was fought. So I write from hindsight and experience. But this is not to say that I was exploring my personal experience; for instance, I am not Ginika, as some people have presumed.
How much of the novel is fiction and how much fact?
A lot of it is fiction, but there are factual events or happenings that have been transmuted into fiction while some are retained as they actually were, for example, the names of some personages and some towns.
Writers like Chukwuemeka Ike, Elechi Amadi and Chimamanda Adichie have written on the civil war with love as a major theme and one might think these authors have exhausted the subject-matter. What fresh angle do you think you have introduced into the novel to make it stand out?
Love is a great theme any writer can explore in fiction; this has always been the case. Consider, for instance Dryden?s All for Love or Shakespeare?s Anthony and Cleopatra (both on the same subject) or even Tolstoy?s Anna Karenina. These are great works that explore the theme of love. I believe my treatment of this great theme is different from those of the Nigerian writers you mentioned. Mine focuses on the experience of the youth, exploring the true meaning of passion, human frailties accentuated by war and the notions of morality and self-sacrifice.
From the tone of the novel, you seem to be saying the war was unnecessary. Can you expatiate on this?
Yes, the war was totally unnecessary ? so many crises in Nigeria were and still are unnecessary ? but it was inevitable.
There is something didactic about the novel; what lesson are you trying to impart?
I wonder if one should be talking about lessons, as I assume each reader should form his or her opinion in this regard. However, one thing I can say is that war is evil. It has always been so and will always be so: it hardly solves anything. Roses and Bullets exposes the horrors of war. Nigeria fought a civil war between 1967 and 1970, but did it solve anything? The issues are still there and people are acting as if a war was never fought! In her powerful novel, Song of Solomon, the distinguished African American writer, Toni Morrison, shows us that human beings do not learn from past mistakes ? a phenomenon that Wole Soyinka refers to as the stupidities of human action and history. What else can one say after reflecting on the works of these famous masters? Literature is life; good literature makes profound statements about life. I believe Roses and Bullets has done this.
From the feelers so far, in terms of sales and criticism, how is the novel being received?
The novel came out in March, 2011. The sales are okay but not fantastic yet ? only few Nigerians invest in books or bother to read anyway. But I can tell you that the novel is well received: strange enough, even people who haven?t read it are excited about it perhaps because of the subject matter. I receive a lot of calls, emails and commendations for writing the book.
You are into all the genres of literature; which of the genres would you say you find it easier to write in?
I can?t say really. However, I am comfortable with all of them. It is amazing that one genre captures my imagination at a given time and I immediately obey. For example, when I was ready to start writing Roses and Bullets, poetry hijacked me and I bowed, wrote poems until fiction reestablished dominance and stole me away. Again I obeyed and wrote Roses and Bullets. So it depends on my mood or state of mind. For example, in June 2011, an idea for a short story came and I immediately wrote one and sent it abroad. I don?t know if it will be accepted for publication. I wait for news.
Don?t you think it would have been more effective in terms of communicating your ideas, if you had written a play on the civil war rather than a novel?
No. I don?t think so. Roses and Bullets could only be realized as a novel ? an extended fictitious narrative ? by virtue of the complexity of its plot and its rigorous delineation of character and exploration of motives.
The novel is 518 pages; as a lecturer and a housewife, how did you find time to put this together?
If you are passionate about what you do, you will find time. I am passionate about writing and I try to find time to write in spite of all that I do as a wife, mother, grandmother and university teacher and researcher.
Are we expecting any work of this nature from you again or you have exhausted the subject?
Well, only time will tell!
(c) Interviewed by Sumaila Umaisha and published in the 7th August, 2011, of New Nigerian newspaper.
- Achebe Has Made The Biggest Blunder Of His Life ? Maiwada
Chinua Achebe, the acclaimed father of modern African literature, recently released a memoir based on the Nigerian civil war. Titled There was a Country, the book touches on several sensitive issues including the roles of individuals, institutions...
- The Umaisha Dialogues Goes To Press!
At last the first of the four volumes of my interviews with Nigerian authors, The Umaisha Dialogues, has gone to press! The volume, which features new Nigerian writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Remi Raji, Toni Kan, Jude Dibia, BM Dzukogi, Razinat...
- I?m Launching My Books To Mark A Milestone In My Life ? Denja
Malam Denja Abdullahi, Deputy Director, Performing Arts, National Council for Arts and Culture, Abuja, and former General Secretary of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, speaks to Sumaila Umaisha on the launching of his two poetry works. Tell...
- Literature Is More Than Just Entertainment
SAKA ALIYU, an Assistant Lecturer with Bayero University Kano, BUK, holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto, (1998) and a Master of Arts in History from the University of Ilorin (2006). After working variously as...
- Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike - 'things Fall Apart Inspired Me' (interview)
VINCENT CHUKWUEMEKA IKE, one of the foremost Nigerian writers, has produced more novels than many of his contemporaries. He set out on his literary journey in 1965 with the publication of his novel, Toads for Supper and today he has over a dozen publications...