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Gloria Ikegbule
It was an afternoon of literary interactions for some privileged students of Arts with Soji Cole, winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature, 2018. The students from public and private secondary schools in Lagos had an opportunity to interact with the celebrated playwright during the debut book reading of his award winning drama, Embers.
The occasion held at British Council, Victoria Island, Lagos and was sponsored by NLNG Limited. In Embers, the playwright and Theatre Sociology instructor at the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan, told the story of people living in internally displaced camps (IDPs), due to insurgencies. The drama mirrors the suffering, deprivation and propaganda in the camp.
The characters in the 103-page story use English, Pidgin English and Hausa as means of communication. Relating why he wrote the story, Soji said he believed that writers should factor their works to address topical issues affecting humanity. The drama conveys his anger at the country’s political situation and development which he noted was synonymous to an IDP camp.
He lamented that Nigerians were not having a fair deal in the area of leadership and governance.
Satisfying the curiosity of the students whether he travelled to the IDP camps to gather his materials for the story, he said no, adding that it was not necessary to go to the location of your story prior writing.
In his case, he relied on sources around the area and researched extensively on the subject matter. More so, having been a voracious reader had greatly impacted on his writing prowess. Hence, he admonished the young intending writers to be voracious readers.
He said, “As a writer, the first thing you must be good at is reading. You must read everything that comes your way even when you don’t understand them. Writers are readers. It helps a lot. I did lots of reading and critical evaluation of the play.
“Don’t limit yourself. If you have started writing, keep it up. Giving up has never appealed to me. If you envisage yourself to be a Nobel Prize winner, you can never give up. But, if you have the mindset that writing is only a hobby, then giving up becomes an option. Whatever you are doing, have that imagined prospect and never give up.”
Sola Alamutu, a writer and the compere of the event, regretted that students read only to pass exam and during the holiday preferred having fun. “If you aim to be the best in anything in life, you have to read. It transforms the mind.
One book any student should always have handy is a dictionary. Learn new words every day,” she added.
Emmanuel Ike, Head, Brand, Event and Public Relations, NLNG, said the event was an opportunity to socialise the winner with the members of the public. It was also for them to hear directly from the author. He noted that the idea behind the students’ participation was to spark up their creative juice and to air their writing concerns with the celebrated writer.
He informed that the focus of this years. Nigeria Prize for Literature was children’s literature, adding that the call for entries would end on April 6, 2018, while that of the science, focusing on climate change, would end on May 3, 2019.
Professor Ben Elugbe, member, Advisory Board for the prize, who clocked 73 on the day of the event, pointed that the prizes were given on merit. Judith Edwin, a student of Aguda Grammar school, Aguda, Lagos, gave kudos to the organisers, admitting that the event was interesting and enhancing.
Likewise, Lynda Amadi, Coordinator CORA Youth Creative Club, urged the multinational company to take their book reading exercise to the grassroots.
