Challenges of Writers
in Africa: A Growing Art in a Challenged Continent
T
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he biggest threat to Africa’s
progress perhaps has been retaining its intellectual capital. A paradoxical
phenomenon overlooked by most of its political authorities’ overtime. As Scott
Firsing puts it in his (January 21, 2016) online article “Staying Home: How
Severe is Africa’s Brain Drain?”, “The Push and pull factors of this brain
drain are wide-ranging and complex, and depend upon the African Country” in
question. According to a 2013 United Nations survey on the social status of
African migrants, one among nine Africans who leave the continent has acquired
tertiary education. Political instability, wars and economic crises across the
continent are the major causal factors to mass emigration, especially of
recent, which stories have been featured in most of its bulky writings,
creative writing submissions in particular. Like its mineral resources, the
West has for decades been the final destination of Africa’s intellectual
capital for centuries since.
However, we should note that
instability and wars are not unique to Africa, yet, economic stagnation and
identity crises are eminent epidemic the continent has been struggling to
divorce with.
First thing first, the fact that
politics has evidently become the most lucrative job space for local elites
since Africa’s independence (many activists blame poor economic diversification
in the continent for this), the young and upcoming generation of elites are all
swayed to pursuing courses in political science, law, etc. (especially pupils
in the Arts streams), and see a career in writing as a child’s play, and, worst
of all, columnists as failures. Universities hardly offer courses in literature
and creative writing (there is no need to, since students could not enlist for
an old-man career). This in turns makes the art a less lucrative. In effect,
the greater proportion of books in the libraries in the Sub-Sahara Africa,
especially West Africa, is Occidental. The few that could write are virtually
discouraged by the poor appetite for reading exhibited by its growing elitist
mass. The spillover effect of this is, therefore, making the business of
publishing books unmarketable in Africa, more so creative writing and fictions.
African writers measure their
success in terms of what publishing house in the West published their works—a
mentality I consider as identity crises. The result is too much time and
resources are spent on lobbying western publishing houses to publish their
works, which production they are required to purchase at the end or make
special order for at high cost to gain access to them. What an intellectual
abuse! In many instances they risk losing their intellectual capital right and
go uncelebrated in their home country because they could not afford to pay for
their work. Worst of all is that this provokes perversion of its knowledge and
intellectual capital to developed countries, where they create little or no
impact.
Bad social policy, if so to say,
has been blamed for the derailment of the career. An overwhelming number of
critics blame their governments for what they called irrational prioritization
of its social development plan. The library has not been an integral part of
the school system in most parts in Africa. In many instances governments in the
region reduced their budget allocation to national libraries furnishing and
charge the institutions with the responsibility of buying books written or
published locally—a deliberate move to exempt local writers from their shelves
and give way to Western publications, since the library is not a business
entity. There are countless learning institutions, both secondary schools and
tertiary institution, without a library or theater centers for students and
facilitators use.
Indeed most troubling of all are
the dwindling culture of reading and a show of inattention to conducting
research among the continent’s students and scholars alike. It is not rare to
find lecturers and academics copying notes verbatim from textbooks without
acknowledgement of its authors and circulate them out to students as lecture notes,
nor is it rare to find students pay lecturers and outsiders to prepare their
final college thesis and present it to the institutions unchecked for project
showcase in its dusty shelves to impress visitors and sponsors. In this case,
this does not only permit for students plagiarism and discouragement of
creative thinking and writing among its students, but then this is leading to
falling standards in the education system of the continent and rendering
learning institutions irrelevant to nation development. Lest we forget, a
greater proportion of the continent’s scholars cannot operate a computer, and
the very worst is, they find it almost baffling to deal with sophisticated
cellphones of the time. And so, they are less exposed to online textbooks and outlets,
which form major components of contemporary research in the West. The few that
could use these devices, are challenged with poor internet facilities (thanks
to Africa’s progressive infrastructure), lack of electricity supply to operate
the devices, sourcing authentic materials, and most often than not, they cannot
afford buying full textbooks from eBook sites either because of the lack of
bank account or unavailability and complexity of the channel of payment in most
parts of Africa. All these factors combined are making the art of writing
sluggishly lagging behind in the continent.
Faithfully enough, to every
problem there is solution; and the way forward is addressing the issue from
local to national and perhaps, only then could it impact regional level.
The library is not an isomorphic
body to learning institutions. It should be treated as an integral body of
academia. Government should invest in construction and furnishing of libraries
to promote research, and place value on locally published works by creating
special fund for the purchase of locally published works, so inspiring a new
generation of writers and increasing the chance for financial reward of local
publishers.
And this in turn could attract
publishing houses to the continent and whet the appetite of the young
generation of elites to write and make a career in the art.
Also, learning institutions and
partners should bestow confidence on locally published books, and organize
book-fares awards for good writers so to celebrate their career and inspire
students. Lecturers’ lesson notes should be verified by Dean of academics in
the colleges to discourage plagiarism and promote the standard of education.
Students’ thesis should be properly supervised by lecturers with the aim of
keeping them on track and supporting their creative thinking ability. Lest we
forget, tertiary institutions should have equipped theater centers and library
system that promote both performance art and research. It is only when we
change the mindset of the upcoming generation and assure them of a lucrative
career in writing and research that we can succeed in making a functional
society and a diversified economy.
Still at national level,
government should invest in infrastructural development. As many of its finest
critics put it, government has the mandate to facilitating progress (in other
words, bring about progress, not necessarily bring it). Priorities most be
directed at providing computer literacy to pupils before they enter tertiary
institutions, this will formidably prepare them for the job market and make
them more productive; and to some extent reduce the constrains they may face in
writing. But then, also, this could only hold when there is full supply of
electricity and improved internet services at affordable rates for everyone.
There is also the need for local publishing houses to be innovative and
adaptive for sustainability of service. They should create electronic book
marketing spaces that encourage payment in local currencies or means, which
would allow for easy and guarantee service to readers.
Amadu Wurie
Jalloh, Students Analysts and Writers Network, Sierra Leone
