Ifeoma: Why we should never tire of telling the African story

Nigerian ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire Ifeoma Akabogu  Chinwuba has authored several books, among them Fearless, Merchants of Flesh, Waiting for Maria and My African Romance. She visited Nairobi over the Easter holiday for two literary events.

Gloria Mwaniga spoke to her during the Amka workshop at the Goethe Institut, Nairobi.

It is believed that a writer’s childhood usually influences their writing. Is this true in your case?

Yes. Growing up, hospitals were far in between, and so our first option was to visit the medicine man. I remember numerous malaria cases being treated by the medicine man plucking leaves, putting them in a pot, covering the patient’s head then ordering

them to inhale hard. It always worked.

Some of your novels are set outside Nigeria. ‘Fearless’ is partly set in London and ‘Merchants of Flesh’ in Italy. Was it difficult setting them?

With Merchants of Flesh, I was lucky because I was working in Rome at the time I wrote it. Because I was on the consular desk, I dealt with issues of human trafficking daily.

For Fearless, I used a bit of memory and a lot of research. Thanks to Google, things are easier because writers can check out information on the internet.

In your books, the protagonists’ doctor advises that the boy should be moved to a warm place because England was too cold. This tradition of writing back to the west began decades ago with Achebe. Do you still feel the need for modern writers to write back to the West or is the continent finally well understood by the rest of the world?

We cannot move on just yet. We have to keep on telling our stories. Stopping to tell these stories is being like a woman who only makes herself beautiful to get a husband and once inside her marital home, she stops wearing her make-up.

My people have a proverb which says that if you forsake the thing that makes you beautiful then you lose your beauty.

Has the woman writer in Africa secured her rightful place in the literary world or should more be done?

Women writers have come of age. Right from the early ones like Mariama Ba and Flora Nwapa to the new entrants like Chimamanda Ngozi. It is up to the woman writer now to propel herself.

She shouldn’t wait for a niche to be carved out for her because the women who came before did a good job and now we just need to take the baton and continue.

Who are your favourite writers?

There is James Baldwin, the gay black American who wrote on race and sexuality. I also like John Steinbeck’s books. In Africa, Chinua Achebe is a favourite. I like the way he treats words and manufactures expression.

What do you think governments can do to encourage the growth of art and literature in Africa?

Governments should make education free at primary level as this will serve even those who cannot afford school fees. They should also think of establishing libraries in all schools and having a daily hour set aside for all the students to read.

This way, children will fall in love with books. Third, the hours children spend watching television should be reduced. Too much TV will hurt a child’s reading.

Africa has massive problems ranging from poverty to corruption. What role can stories play in shaping contemporary Africa?

Stories are out there to create awareness; to document and chronicle what is going on for future generations. As the present generation, we didn’t fight for independence but through writers like Ngugi wa Thiongo, we now know about the struggle for

independence. If Ngugi hadn’t chronicled it, we wouldn’t appreciate it.

You chose English as your medium for expression. What is your view on the use of indigenous languages? Would you write in your mother tongue?

I couldn’t have written my books in Igbo because some parts are set outside Nigeria. However, I read little pamphlets written in Igbo. We need to write in our mother tongues so as to preserve them because they are fast disappearing.

Being a diplomat, I spend most of my time away from my language zone and thus speak mostly English and French.

There is a saying that a woman at the top must work twice as hard as a man in the same position. Having worked as a diplomat since 1983, do you feel that this is true?

My view is that it is hard before you get to the top but once at the top things become easier. So, the question one should ask is, how does one get to the top?

First, one needs to go to school and get a good education. Stay in school as long as you can.

Second, work very hard and be ready to volunteer. It will help you to get noticed. Third, a woman needs a sponsor on the board. Someone who will be on the lookout for her growth.

Sadly there are many brilliant women who will never progress career-wise because nobody sees them.

I recently came across an interview you gave about the terror attack in Cote D’Ivoire in which you lost a close friend. What is your take on the current upsurge of terrorism across the globe and the rise of terrorist groups like Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and Isis.

Terrorism arises out of intolerance. Religious extremism is definitely a misunderstanding of the nature of God. In my view, God is omnipotent and omniscient so because of His power, He can fight his own wars.

Us humans should just live and let live. I also believe that there are many issues terrorising Africa beginning with corruption to child marriages and poverty. Writers can help fight these social ills by bringing them to the limelight.

Apart from the refugees of war, masses of Africans have been risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean into Europe. Is this immigration crisis partly informed by the narrative of  the West as the promised land.

The West has social nets, for instance France has social security, unemployment benefits, family allocations for women with more than one child, food stamps for the poor, free medical care and assisted housing.

Unfortunately, these things aren’t in Africa yet and thus those people who are struggling here improve their lives greatly when documented in the West. Human and civil rights are also upheld and social justice systems are fully functional.

Is Africa rising?

Yes, Africa certainly is albeit at different speeds. The most important thing is for us to rise together. Let us leave nobody behind. Let us not marginalise a section of population that is within our countries and the continent.

I remember what Kwame Nkurumah said when we were all struggling for independence.

He said that as long as one part of Africa is not free then Africa is not free. Finally, let us make Africa rising an all inclusive rising where everyone is experiencing development.

The Gloria Mwaniga is a high school teacher in Baringo and a freelance writer. She also coordinates AMKA, a writer’s workshop that happens every last Saturday of the month at the Goethe Institut, Nairobi