From Kenneth Udeh, Abuja
Tourism expert and writer Ijeoma Anyanechi is calling for a fresh approach to Enugu State’s tourism development, urging government officials and stakeholders to look beyond the usual attractions like Nike Lake, Ngwo Pine Forest, and masquerade celebrations.
In an interview with Kenneth Udeh, the Enugu-born tech enthusiast and author of “Our Last Game”, she highlighted the urgent need to diversify and modernize the state’s tourism offerings to fully harness its rich cultural, historical, and natural heritage.
Anyanechi, a Business Education graduate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), also discussed the importance of reviving the reading culture among Nigerian youth, offered advice to parents, and explored the growing impact of artificial intelligence on literature.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I am Ijeoma Anyanechi born and raised in Enugu State and I graduated from the University of Nigeria, UNN where I studied business Education.
I’m a writer of mostly African Literature and also a Tech enthusiast. I have always had passion for our African History as a people and our culture.
Apart from the fact that I Love Tech, I am also currently into data analysis and crypto currency and I also Love adventure too.
What inspired your love for literature?
One thing that really helped me growing up as a child was that my Mother buys me books whenever she came home from work after she noticed I loved reading. She bought me mostly story books.
Reading those books shaped and inspired me because I can remember this particular book she bought for me titled the “importance of Honesty”, in the book, the main character was punished for lying and stealing.
As a child the book was very instructive in letting me know that those vices are wrong and its consequences. The message really stuck with me and guided me while growing up.
Through that I learnt that storytelling helps to preserve and shape someone’s mind , because many parents were not really physically present to guide us but the books I read helped to guide me.
What aspect of literature do you find most captivating?
I love writing African literature in the form of fiction.
Things I didn’t experience but diving to the past in my imagination and bringing it to life through fiction.
Through some of the stories I read, I became interested and inspired to write to tell our stories for the next generation and for the people that are even present.
Knowing who we are can help us to go a long way in shaping our minds and inspiring others to make a positive change in our environment.
For Technology I see it as a tool for transformation , it makes life easier and bridges gaps and drives innovations from our phones to many other devices, connectivity, advantages of tech cannot be overemphasized.
Right now in Nigeria there is no hope that after graduation there is an office somewhere waiting for you to come and work.
Tech has really helped a lot of young people, even before graduation I’ve always seen Tech as a powerful tool for driving innovation.
What are the impacts of Adventure to the development of an economy?
Adventure represents growth, stepping out of your comfort zone exploring new ideas and pushing new boundaries. You get to learn other people’s culture and how they live their lives.
It broadens your horizon so that you don’t limit yourself to a particular way of life. With Adventure you get to travel and see other people’s way of lives.
Especially how they behave and you get to learn from them and you see the opportunities you can gain from a particular environment.
When you gather these experiences you’ll see that you are at more Advantage than someone that is just limited.
How will you describe the advent of social media on the Traditional reading culture and the business of writing ?
Generally as Africans the rise of social media has shifted the attention from books to digital contents.
Personally, from my own experience, I think there are initiatives that are helping to grow the reading culture especially among the young people is the reading of Audio books.
There’s an app where you get to listen to the book’s audio. What matters most is that this person is trying to maintain the reading culture. There are still a lot of people that I know that Love reading but it’s still at a low level.
I feel we still need to work on it and host events that can help remind the younger people of the importance of reading and getting involved.
Though the Internet has its numerous advantages but has also created a problem because youths no longer want to read a whole lot of people are more interested in trends and gists on social media platforms.
People are no longer paying attention to things that matter. I can remember back then. I wasn’t born in that era but I met that era where writers were being celebrated and we looked up to them as our role models and everyone wanted to be like them.
In this current era you can write and publish a book and when you want to launch it some people might not be willing to pay for it due to other pressing needs that they are facing.
They’ll rather turn to social media to ease their stress rather than reading a book, but there are still people that appreciate reading even if they don’t read there are still people that appreciate writers.
Recently, a small girl approached us at the mall with Copy of her book and a relative of mine bought a copy to appreciate her efforts though he wasn’t interested in reading it.
How will you rate the reading culture in Enugu State?
Here in Enugu we have the Enugu Book Club that holds book festivals, workshops for writers and they invite writers from other places .
The Enugu book club is not limited to writers, we have Poets, Actors , we have people that are into public speaking. We also have the West Africa Broadcast and Media Academy (WABMA) , they are also part of the team. The Academy sponsors most of the book club’s events and also donates money to winners of its competitions.
So our reading culture down here in Enugu is growing to an extent we are getting the support we need.
How can parents or guardians inspire reading culture among their children?
Parents can get books for their kids and allocate days for them to narrate what they have read. They should make it fun and compulsory. They can also motivate their kids with rewards for those who are able to complete their books. This will motivate them to a large extent , even if they don’t want to read they will be willing to due to the rewards.
As the child is growing they get used to it , they can also encourage them to bring their friends to come home and read.
Enugu state appears to have witnessed an improvement in Tourism and Entertainment, do you agree?
I think it’s better now under the current Government. Enugu has always been known for its rich cultural heritage. The tourism sector has grown and the Commissioner is doing a lot but I still feel that there are a lot of untapped tourism potentials.
When you see some of the things they post I feel it’s the popular places that we all know like the “Ngwo” pine forest, Nike Lake.
They should Tour different communities in the state. Historical places where they can find buildings that carry a lot of historical significance and value.
And other places where they can find artifacts, buildings, caves e.t.c that carry a lot of story and also get stories of individuals and their heroic deeds and document them for the current and upcoming generation. It’s our story that’s also part of what tourism entails
We have people who died as heroes and to an extent we don’t even know some of them. We also have ancient buildings in Enugu that , if possible , we could have taken for preservation in the museum.
We need to discover those heroes that existed in our state and know their roots. For example, my grandfather was Christian Onoh, known as CC Onoh, at his House at his home town of Enugu Ngwo. Growing up I used to hear people say that the house was built by spirits.
But over the years till today the house is still standing. We need to visit places like that and tell the stories behind such structures. There’s also a need to visit other communities in Enugu state and get to know people that did heroic things.
It’s not just about Masquerades and installing their sculptures in public spaces like the Ijele Masquerade which was recently installed in Enugu.
I don’t know if it originates from Enugu but there is a need to know which people are known for it.
You can go to the community, ask questions and uncover everything about it, and when you tell the story you are also entertaining them. That’s why I said tourism and Entertainment go hand in hand.
There are still some artefacts that are yet to be discovered, so tourism shouldn’t be limited to certain places. But yet Enugu state under the current Government is trying but there is a need for more investment.
Do you see the introduction of AI in Literature writing as a positive step?
AI is also revolutionising Literature in both positive and negative ways.
On one one hand it makes content creation easier by helping writers to generate creative ideas especially in editing.
AI Audio books and translation tools are also making Literature more accessible to different audiences but then there’s a conden about authenticity and originality. AI can generate stories but it lacks emotions and lead experience.
So why I agree that AI is a great tool for enhancing literature. The best way to use AI is to see it as a complement to writing not a replacement. I don’t think writers should rely heavily on AI when it comes to writing.