By Henry Akubuiro
Amid growing fear that the internet age would sing the requiem on the book culture in Africa, renowned Nigerian folklorist and prolific author, Dr. Bukar Usman, has dismissed it, saying the reading culture would remain with us for ages to come.
•The western entrance of the Emir of Biu’s Palace constructed in 1904
Speaking with Pilot Literati of the defunct Nigerian Pilot in an interview reproduced in the book, Conversations with Bukar Usman, the sage said, judging by the overwhelming responses he received from his over a dozen books written in Hausa from readers, “in spite of the internet age,… people are nostalgic about folktales, indicating that the golden age of folktales we lost is coming back.”
Using his immediate environment and the external to support his argument, the elder statesman noted: “My children, when they pick copies [of my folktale books], they do not want to drop them until they finish it. Not only that, I had an encouraging response from Cairo University. How they got hold of the books, I do not know, but they analysed them, asked questions and gave insights. They are using my books for first, second and third degrees.
“What do you expect from an old university to use your books and are asking for more to be supplied? They want more in Hausa since they have a Department of Hausa and a professor in that language. I have to confess that, when I read their reviews of my books, I saw a language that was more grounded than mine.
“Also, there was an NGO in Niger Republic which sought permission to use one of my books for girl-child education. In Nigeria, some students have also used my books for their master’s degrees.”
Dr. Usman sees folktales as a treasury waiting to be tapped and recreated: “Every nation has its cultural setting. I chose to write in Hausa because I want the tales to get across to many people and the fact that there are people who want them.
“For a country like Nigeria that can boast of 250 ethnic groups, languages are dying and, in years to come, we are likely to have a shrinkage of languages in Nigeria. For example, in Australia, when the Europeans went there, they had up to 200 languages, but, today, they could hardly boast of 20. They are now on the verge of recreating and teaching those languages that have died.
“UNESCO is conscious of those languages. That is why teaching children in their mother tongue is very important. Looking at Nigeria, I can’t see that solution, but am conscious of even my language which could possibly die if I do not read or write in the language. Any language, if you do not speak it or write it, it would be on the disappearing side. Unfortunately, because of the need for national integration, we are emphasising on English and de-emphasising local languages,” he lamented.