There is no reading culture in Nigeria –  Bako kanamani 

There is no reading culture in Nigeria –  Bako kanamani 

Bako Kanamani is a Major in the Nigerian army. He is the son of the late Archbishop of the Anglican communion Emmanuel Kana Mani of Maiduguri Diocese.  A keen watcher of humanity through poetry and literary arts. In an interview with NEWSng, father Sam as he is referred speaks on low reading culture in Nigeria and many others. Bodunrin Kayode sent excerpt:  

Q: Why do you use father Sam in your writings, which is not your real name?

A: Father actually means source and God is source. And to the work a whole view of originality that yes, from the source you can get a reality, from a source you can enjoy what you know is genuine. So I choose the word father, because father will appeal more to people, because people actually are from a father whether you get into the science of carrying a sperm putting it in the egg and fertilizing it, it is still father. So father actually means source. A lot of people call me father, the name actually started from the University of Maiduguri where I studied Literature in English. 

Q: Do you share the concern that young people in Nigeria do not read especially  from the active pinging age of 16 to about 35. What do you think is responsible for this? 

A: I think there is no reading culture in the country. Because reading is something that is supposed to be a culture and they are supposed to train people right from when they are little. But somehow because of the crave for modern life, people now use it as an excuse not to read. For instance smart phones, gadgets and all those other computer based devices, are not supposed to hinder you from actually reading but people use all this excuse. They lazy around and, you could actually get the whole of the world in ones books. A whole library of the world putting on tablet, and then you can have access to it. But even the painful exercises of bending down with a tablet and reading from that tablet, people don’t want to do it. They want to do things that would just appeal to their emotions, watch videos, look at pictures and then maybe exchange one or two voice messages. There are even voice messages that are actually voice recording of books, but for people to sit down and even plug in their ear and listen, they don’t want to do that. So you see science is supposed to help us simplify life, but somehow, today’s world makes it so complicated.

Q: When you said people, you mean everybody and not just young people that you are worried about?

A: Yes, because there is failure on the part of those who have enjoyed the privilege of readership. They don’t even encourage the young people to read, they just sit down and stay aloof and allow this generation of people. Reading actually opens the mind. I have a very queer kind of philosophy about smart phones, I believe there is nothing like a smart phone, there are no smart gadgets, there are no smart phones. These devices actually become smart, because people made them smart. It is human beings that put in this programs and made them what they are. They are not smart, its a myth of science, there is nothing smart actually. Phones are simply phones because people gave them inputs and made them what they are. So the phones are not actually smart, we loose our smartness when we subscribe to things we ourselves created.

Q: So you are saying that the transition from the landline to the pinging generation is a dangerous disadvantage to those who are mesmerized by it

A: Very well, in fact, that is one of my points in this collection towards a zero mind. I talked about ‘phone fever,’ and in that phone fever I tried to talk about, you see this person always texting, always smiling sometimes shouting at a wireless friend. Because the gadget when you hold the gadget, you are looking at the gadget like this, its a tangible thing from the face to the back. When you look at the back, you will not see anybody. It is a wireless connection to a wireless world and you expect that, that wireless connection is supposed to better you. You see somebody sitting down with somebody and he does not even recognize the fact that a human being is with him, he is pressing the phone, he is texting some one who is wireless who does not exist, he is smiling at somebody who is wireless, he is shouting at somebody who is wireless and he is even oblivious of his environment. There are even phones which will check videos online, you will see people making calls, they fall into ditches, some are knocked by vehicles, the whole of that is going on. So it’s one of the concerns of my poetry, my collection, it is a fever that has grilled both men, and women and people loose their identity by trying to sound off bit modern and, you understand all the stuff.

Q: So how many collections of poems do you have packaged in that book?

A: The poem like I said in the synopsis covers seven (7) chapters. It is a 115 page book.The collection actually starts talking about the dead. But in talking about the dead, it tells you about life, because in African mythology it is believed that people don’t die.

Q: The first chapter is about death?

A: Indeed its about death, in fact the first poem that opens that book is ‘the day I died’. Talking about the fact that he died and he was being buried and then from that world he could see what was happening around him and he could see his family going away pursuing other concerns and left him in a coffin, his spirit, his body was caged in a coffin and was kept in the earth’s oven to bake and he was shouting in the coffin that let somebody tell me I am not dead I want to experience that reality, I want to go back, I want to switch to the other life.

So even if you come back to Christian belief system, you will discover that, there is this concept of church militant, church triumphant that yes we are fighting. The militant church is fighting against sin, against satan and against the systems of the world. And then there is this church triumphant of people who have died. These people who have died and have crossed on to the other side, and if you get to Hebrews, Hebrews will tell you they are the clouds of witnesses. These are people who have gone before us and if you get down to New Testament, talking about the first four (4) book, you will see Jesus coming to appear at the mount of transfiguration and then you will see Moses and you will see Elijah talking to him about his death that was going to happen in Jerusalem. So there is this relationship that tends to happen between our forebears and those of us who are still holding the baton and running, so that book, carries you through the African mythology that there is the world of the living, world of the dead and the living dead and there is the world of the yet unborn that is children who are in the womb. And this three circles of existence are in constant relationship. And then, if you go down to Yoruba culture, you find this ‘Abiku’ phenomenon, going and coming again and again. So that’s how the book starts. Tells you about life but talks to you about death. Death is a reality within our own experience. 

Q: Are you afraid of death?

A: Well death is a necessary thing, death is a sting actually from my own Christian perspective, death is a sting and you see the fear of death is a reality we must live with, it’s a reality you must live with because death comes with it. 

Q: Which our creator uses to show us that He is bigger than us

A: Yes, that we are mortals and that if you check in the Christian belief system, we are told that the last enemy to be defeated will be death. Yes, and then death will no longer have victory over people. So death is a necessity and there is this fear that envelopes all of mankind because of this suddenness and because of the sting. You never can tell, you can be looking at somebody and you will not know at the particular minute, particular second he will transcend to the other GBV side. So it is a fear everybody lives with but the Christian belief system gives you hope that it is a necessary path of transition and that when you cross, when you pass that necessary path you enter into glory. And then all through life, you will read the history of people near death experiences. Even death bed experiences when you see people saying that they are crossing to the other side and this tends to give you hope despite the fear that death seems to carry. 

Q: So which of the poems brought out the agitation of the Zuru’s mind as spelt out in the cover?

A: I think the whole collection. You see, the poems are just old dissections of what happens in society. They are musings from my mind because I am from Zuru land, it doesn’t really matter. A Hausa man who has the courage to bear the truth can allow that truth to pass through his mind. It is not necessarily from a Zuru mind, if the thoughts are from a Zuru mind, it means I will be advocating Zuru culture, philosophy belief system and even the worship of God etc. But if you go through the poems you won’t see all of that in the pages all through pages you won’t see, 

It is just that trying to tell you that this poetry is a universal language that anybody who has a strong shoulder to bear it can bear it and allow it to pass through him. For me poetry actually are believed to be inspired by the goddess of creativity. And so the thing just passes through me. I was only a channel that said yes, this thought passed through a Zuru mind and is not from a Zuru mind. So I am not necessarily advocating Zuru culture as a philosophy or anything, I am only trying to say that it is through my mind that this thoughts passed. So you see one is talking about love. You will even see a poem talking about shoes, the shoe people wear that people should sit down respect their shoes, because this shoe carries them around the world prevents their feet from harm and stop other things from happening. 

Q: Does the Association of Nigerian Authors ANA have any subgroup that is purely for poetry or they are all together as a group?

A: Yes for the Association of Nigeria Authors branch in Maiduguri chapter, I know that they do all of it. You know literature is three legs, poetry, prose and drama. So they do all of that, they even do extensive encouragement of what they call the Yerwa book club, which encourages this readership we are talking about people reading. So find them bringing, I know currently they are doing this Zainab Alkali book, the still born, they are dissecting it again and looking at ways how it impacts society and what are the relevant themes they can bring out to you know, buttress the reality that we are facing. So they do that, then if you go to University of Maiduguri for insistence… that’s at the UNIMAID department of English or Creative Arts department you find where they read poems.

Q: Finally, after the thoughts of the Zuru mind, what next?

A: There are a lot of books that I am doing, I have one coming up “From the border’s of my heart”. Its a collection of poems. I am venturing mainly on poetry, other things are have to do with Christian literature. I have some work that I am focusing on the military, for instance there is a book I am working on “The voice of Uriah a soldier”, that a soldier who is junior to you has a voice, when he speaks God listens to him. I took this inspiration from when David killed Uriah in battle and took over his wife, because of that, God later said of David that your hands are full of blood. So you can’t build my temple. So I just want to remind us all of us who are in the system that yes, the junior man you know the junior to you he has a voice in the court of heaven and the court of heaven listens to his voice wherever. Listen to voice, even blood that is spilled on the ground that is innocent speaks against regions, against cities and across generations. So “The voice of Uriah the soldier” is one book I am trying to venture into from Christian literature side. That is going to be a book, but the next one that is I am working on is “From the border of my heart”, which is a collection of poetries, it is going to be the love related to Christ. 

Q: How do you get your inspiration? 

A: From reading of course. Sometimes you read all kinds of things, you read medical journals, you read things about agriculture, you read so many things and then from there you just. Sometimes from the news as you are listening to the news you just see something that intrigues you then while you are trying to concentrate that gives you a lot of focus and then you just see themes building out from those focus, then you just quickly write. For instance something came up on organ harvesting. Yes, it hit me so strongly I wrote down something. I wrote it somewhere but I am not been able to complete it. This is how it comes from the news, from the society, from reading, from nature you get all kinds of stuffs. 

Q: Any message for the young literary people in this war Theatre who are literary gifted but distracted by war? 

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A: I think the basic thing is that everybody has the gift of solitude no matter what happens around you have the gift of solitude and the silence you need to capture is in the journey into reality. Solitude is a journey into reality and once people sit down, the silence shut out, music shut out everything mostly at night you find out that you are little bit quieter, you find out you could even hear rats running inside your house, insects chirping at that time, you could draw inspiration. There should always try to keep quiet and listen to themselves. Young writers or people aspiring to be writers should always get a pen and a paper by their side. Because of the gift of the human mind which is so strong. You see your mind has the ability to receive transport from the world of Metaphysical there are speakings outside of yourself that you must be able to pen down. If you don’t pen it down, you will get to a point where you loose facts, works you could have taken and could have benefited. Some of these writers are not really majestic in the sense, they are not really big kinds of persons those people who take advantage of solitude we talk about, is it musicians, is it actors, media people, even does who are authors all these people draws inspiration and it is from solitude when you are quiet, you get speaking that are without this physical. So they should get a pen, get a paper, enjoy the gift of solitude and the most important thing is that, there is nothing that you want to do that has not being done before. There is always somebody who has a track record of that field you want to go into. So get people who you know have proven themselves over time and come under their tutelage When you do that, you become master in no time. Look at Chimamanda Adichie, she just followed the pattern of Chinua Achebe and see who she is now.

Q: So who is your, mentor in your life’s literary journey? 

A: Let me just put a little bit of balance from an academic side, my father is my mentor, most of what I do, I draw inspirations from him. All his Bishops charges are well researched you can turn them to books, there is another one they call Nigeria is for all Nigerians, you need to read it. There is one Priest who would just pick his Bishop charges, and read. So I draw inspiration from him. In fact when the bishop of Warri saw me, the first time he said, that is Bishop Chris Ayede March last year or April last year, he said, “ your father was a writer, are you a writer”, I said my lord I don’t understand. He said he can any small thing he would put it down, he would write it, explain it, he would do all.. I said yes my lord we are doing something, then this book was not out. So on that side he is my mentor for everything. Some of the steps I have taken which I have never regretted were just  watching him do certain things. I know all the time he writes his Bishop charges, I see the energy, the focus he gave to it, mostly at night he writes till morning and like that so, most of what I do, I just follow that. Because I have seen it and it is practicable and you will even see results that’s on one side. And so from the family I am also aspired by mom. Then I got inspirations from,  Abubakar Uthman, Dr. Abubakar Othman is in the University of Maiduguri. He is a Professor of literature, he wrote “The Palm of Time”, The Palm of Time, so from there, while we were in the University I used to see that the man reads poems and he made us to love one poem of black Africa, edited by Wole Shoyinka, so we did those ones, reciting. That’s going to give the ingredient to which will work so Uthman inspires me. Lately we have Professor Razinat Muhammad, she said go and publish it.

Q: What kind of music do you like?

A: Simply gospel, strictly gospel. We have tried others, all those circular music, we look at it, maybe because of our background, we try other music but I am more inspired by Gospel music.

Q: What about Afro beats, Fela and co, because in them its just about the message?

A: No just into Blues, But I love his approach. They in fact if you place them side by side within the five offices when Jesus was living, the Bible said when he said he gave five gifts on to men he calls some to apostle, some to become prophets, some evangelists, some to be pastors, some teachers for the perfecting of the same. So when you check all this afro beats kind of music that Fela advocated, and you check all this Reggae kind of music, they fall within the prophetic field in Christian theology. Fela, Bob Marley were all prophetic. On that level I recognize what they do and I value what they do because they, from that their angle show that the father of us all is the source of their inspiration. Because they do lineup with prophetic reality.

There is no reading culture in Nigeria –  Bako kanamani