Arts/Literary
Legacies Of Nigeria’s Literary Tradition
In the beginning was oral literature, the root of African literature. Nigerian literature in particular, began with the oral traditions pioneered by the unsung heroes of the literary past, like royal bards, warriors, story tellers, priests and many others.
According to Bade Ajuwon in his article, Oral and Written Literature in Nigeria, “In Nigerian history and culture, pre literary Nigeria once enjoyed verbal art civilisation which at its highpoint was warmly patronised by traditional rulers and the general public”.
At a point when writing was unknown the oral medium served the people as a bank for the preservation of their ancient experience and belief; much of the evidence that related to the past of Nigeria could therefore be found in oral tradition.
He cited the instance of Yoruba community, where, as a means of relaxation, farmers gather their children and sit under the moon for tale telling that instruct the young and teach them to respect the dictates of their custom. This was the practice across the cultural groupings that form Nigeria today.
A literary work must therefore derive from these basic traditional elements to be adjudged as African literature. Nigeria therefore owes her present giant strides in the international literacy scene to her rich oral tradition.
The written tradition was introduced by Northern Nigeria in the 15th century by Arab scholars and traders. The intellectual and religious interactions between them and the indigenous community led to the adaptation of Hausa into Arabic script, a genre known as Ajami.
The subsequent arrival of missionaries in the 1930s with the Roman script further enhanced the written tradition and gave rise to the emergence of many indigenous poets and prose writers.
Southern Nigeria owes its literary legacy to missionary activities in the area around 1840s which went hand in hand with inculcation of literacy. The need to translate the Bible for the new converts necessitated a number of publications by the missionaries. Prominent among such publications was A Grammar of the Igbo Language (1840) by the pioneer missionary Rev. J. F Schon.
The second one was A vocabulary of the Yoruba Language (1843) by Samuel Ajayi Crowder, an ex slave and the first Bishop of the Niger Diocese of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Such publications eventually served not only the primary religious purpose, but also as a sound foundation for the written indigenous literature in which folklore and other genres of oral tradition were recorded and woven into poetry, short stories and novels especially in the Igbo and Yoruba languages. With the growth in literary awareness resulting from western education, the literary tradition shifted from folktales to realism, galvanised by scholars at the university college Ibadan in 1948. However, this did not mean that the folklore elements were completely eliminated, rather it was a kind of mixed grill.
The real indigenous literature in English was pioneered by the legendary Amos Tutuola in the 1950s. His debut, the palm Wine Drinkard published by Faber in London (1952), kind of, served as a monumental link in the transition of western literary tradition.
The emergence of Chinua Achebe and his contemporaries in the 1940s/60s marked a milestone in the Nigerian literary history. The most outstanding writers of this era were Wole Soyinka, Gabriel Okara, T.M . Aluko, Christopher Okigbo, John Pepper Clark and Cyprian Ekwensi, generally referred to as first generation writers. These crop of writers gave African literature focus and direction.
The Emergence of the African writers series by Heinemann in 1962 really helped to boost the Nigerian and indeed African writings of the Achebe era. Between the late 1970s and early 80s Nigeria’s young writers were given opportunity to have their works published, a courtesy of Mac Million publishing company through the company’s young writers series known as Pacesetters and hundreds of youths across Africa were published with Nigerians forming the largest percentage. The series dealt mostly with contemporary issues that were of interest to young adults.
The issue that became a major concern to the Nigerian writers in the 60s and 70s apart from the multiplying social iIl, was the Nigerian civil war which took place between 1967 and 1970. The war which is said to have claimed the lives of over 100,000 soldiers affected the Nigerian literary scene in many ways. It claimed the life of one of the country’s most celebrated poets, Christopher Okigbo and caused untold hardship to other writers like Wole Soyinka, who were detained for crying out against the atrocities perpetrated in the war.
The bright side of the ugly incident however, is that the war provided inspiration for many writers, particularly those directly involved. These writers poured out their frustration, anger and memories in considerable quantities and qualities. For instance, Elechi Amadi wrote a powerful novel Sunset In Biafra (1973), depicting his war time experience.
Other testimonies to the madness of the era were Soyinka’s ‘The Man Died’ (1972), Chukwumeka Ike’s ‘Sunset At Dawn’ (1976), Ken Sarowiwa’s ‘Sozaboy’ (1985), Flora Nwapa’s ‘Never Again’ (1976) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ (2007).
Inspite of all the numerous problems bedevilling the Nigerian literary landscape, it could be said that Nigerian literature has come a long way, considering the teeming number of writers that have emerged and the giant steps; with achievements of the writers, Nigeria now rules the global literary stage.
Nigeria today occupies an enviable position in the literary world. Achebe’s legendary Things Fall Apart has been translated into 50 languages globally, Soyinka on the other hand, has done Africa proud by winning the Nobel prize in literature (1986), while the Nigerian writers of the new generation have equally pushed Nigerian literature to the pinnacle by winning some of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world. Ben Okri won the Booker prize for his work, ‘The Famished Road’ in 1991, Helon Habila, Segun Afolabi and E.C. Osondu won the Caine prize for their ‘Prison Story’, Monday Morning and Waiting Respectively. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie like Habila won the common Wealth prize for literature as well as the Orange prize with her novel Half of a Yellow Sun.
Beyond setting international literary standards, Nigerian writers have also succeeded more than any group in the country in exporting our culture and tradition to other parts of the world. According to renowned literary critic, Prof. Charles E. Nnolim, “Nigeria today stands tall before the international community because of the collective endeavours of her writers. While our politics and the Shenanigans of our business deals often sell the country’s private shames in the international scandal market, it is through the collective endeavours of Nigerian writers that Nigeria stands redeemed and enhanced in the eyes of the world”.
Nigerian literature is indeed at its golden age.
By: Jacob Obinna
It is the idea of God that family should exit. Children form part of the family. God loves family so much that Jesus was born into the family of Joseph.
Everyone’s family is good and important. Children should not look down on their family whether they are rich or poor.
Children should respect and honour their family and foster love among their siblings. They should work together and make peace in the family. They should always stand in the gap. It is good for family members to carry all along since everyone may not be doing well.
The Christianity that children learn is practised in family. Faith-based organisations do a great job in moulding children’s character. Those are the behaviours that children exhibit towards siblings in family.
Every child born in a family is there for a purpose. A baby born into a family is supplying something. It may be joy, wealth and so on. Everyone is important in a family.
Adolescents who have graduated from school but may not be contributing financially can do one or two things at home. You can engage in preparing meals at home while parents are away for a job or business. Contributing in house chores will go a long way to relieve parents of stress after a day’s job.
What do you contribute to your family, especially during holidays both in nuclear and extended family?
The family you were born is constant but friends are temporary. You can decide not to continue in friendship but you cannot cut off your family. No matter how bad you think your family is and you decide to leave home, you must surely return. Your friends can harbour you for a while.
The child’s first identity comes from the family. What the child learns first comes from the family.
Family is the centre of love and care. People have started playing down on marriage because of neglect on basics of family. Marriage starts today and and the next few months, it is threatened. Respect for family plays a crucial role in marriage.
No child grows without parental control and influence. If a child refuses to grow without taking instructions from parents, he may grow up being wild. There are consequences when children do not obey their parents. There are those who want to be rebellious against their parents. They should know that their length of days are tied to their parents.
Your bioligical parents know you more than every other person. There is the wisdom and knowledge your parents have that you do not so it is proper to listen to them before choosing carriers both in academics and job. A young man or woman can choose who to get married to, but a greater role in the choice of who to marry and the marriage proper comes from the parents.
They know what is best for you. No matter how modern trends will influence you and prove it wrong, parent is the key. No one can love you more than your parents because they are your blood.
A lot of parents have been traumatised due to the fact that children they nurtured and trained turned their back on them at older age. Children should not abandon their parents for any reason.
As you grow up, situations may arise in marriage when you decide it is over with your spouse, but no matter the level of provocation with your parents, they will not despise you. Parents will also play a role in that regard. Problem arises in every family but how it is handled matters a lot.
Some children honour their mentors more than their parents. Although there are parents who shy away from their responsibilities. It is important that parents take full responsibility of their children. You cannot bring a child to the planet earth and refuse to perform roles as a parent. But parents may not quantify what they spent from childhood to adolescence. That is a blessing children cannot get from another person.
There are people who have attributed their failure in life to the fact that their parents, especially mothers are witchcraft. It is wrong to feel that your mother is instrumental to your failure in life. The only way to success is hardwork.
Let money not determine the level of love for your parents. Wherever a child goes, family is constant.
Eunice Choko-Kayode
Naturally, when a child is born, it is the role of the father and mother to decide a suitable name for the child. The husband and wife normally discuss and suggest the English or vernacular name of the baby.
But sometimes, when a baby comes into a family, grandparents hearts are usually filled with joy to the extent that they want to answer present, by giving their own names not minding the fact that the biological parents have given theirs.
This happens mostly when the marriage is an inter-tribal one. It also happens even in intra-tribal marriage. Grandparents want equal representation as far as naming a child is concerned. They also have special names as a result of circumstances surrounding the birth of the child.
This is still happening till date.
A lot of people have viewed this in different ways but there is nothing wrong about it. The most important thing is that the child bears as many names as he or she can. But one thing is certain, the child must bear one name in school.
Should circumstance determine a child’s name?
Women who are more emotional are always eager to name their children considering the circumstances surrounding the child’s conception and arrival.
The issue of grandparents naming a child comes up mostly when it is the first of the family.
In naming children by some parents in the olden days, they named their children according to the days in the week in which they were born, like Sunday, Monday, Friday and so on.
You may be shocked to hear that whether a child is given 10 names by parents or grandparents, when he or she grows up, will decide to change. There are several cases where some persons decided to change especially when they feel that the names given by their parents and grandparents do not give them joy. If they are not doing well in life, they may claim that their misfortune is caused by the name their parents.
Competition among children in schools be it primary, (kindergarten) and secondary come in different forms. It can be Mathematics , debate, quiz, spelling bee,competition, from organisations like Cowbell, multi-national companies, faith-based organisations among others.
They are organised mostly for selected intelligent ones, the best among their peers to represent a class, school or group. Prizes are normally set aside for the best as well as consolation prizes for runners-up at the end of each session.
The question is, are children willing to accept defeat when they fail? As parents, guardians, can you encourage your children or wards to accept defeat instead of shouting and comparing them with others who may be performing better either in schools or outside.
Some parents may be blaming their children for not doing well in competitions. They will like to tell their children if others who may perform better have ten heads. Those group of parents blame their children for every failure.
For your children to do better in competition, the parents too must have emotional intelligence. When you continue to blame your children for failure, how intelligent are you?
Some parents always want their children to be in the 1st position and unhappy whenever they secure 2nd position. There were instances where children smashed their trophies because they never got the position they wanted to get and their parents supported them.
Children should be able to accept it whether they win or not. They should be encouraged for every performance. Discourage the issue of “shame, shame, shame, shame”.
A parent says she always tells her children to win even if they will fail. Always give them the mentality that they can win. Children should be given the impression that they can win prizes and laurels in every competition.
Parents should not isolate their children from others in the neighbourhood. Allow them to play with others. Don’t threaten your children that you may not pay their schools fees if they fail. Comparing them with others may encourage or discourage them.
Coming first or getting award as a first class student from the university sometimes does not mean that the person is the best. And if the child does not merit any award in the lower classes, does not mean that he can not merit first class also.
It should be noted that coming first in academic competition may not really mean that the competitor will be the best at work place or business.
Accepting defeat is a way to move higher. Even if a child who competed with others did not come first, there are consolation prizes for runners-up. When you advise the child to accept defeat, you are encouraging her to win in next competition.
Remember all children cannot be on the same knowledge level Their learning abilities defer.
Eunice Choko-Kayode
