THE 2ND ANAMBRA BOOK & CREATIVITY FESTIVAL: A CANDID LOOK

The Tourism industry could be said to be one of the trusted revenue generators of a state or country if handled properly. The role of tourism in the development of a state cannot be overemphasized as it could be a strategy used to maintain the flow of cash into a state, for instance the Dubai example. But on the other hand, tourism development could be threatened when Tourists are not ensured of their safety. A state that have had several cases of kidnapping, armed robbery, etc could be said not to be the perfect tourist destination but Anambra could still be transformed despite all those sad tales coming out of the state and that is what literary events and their likes tend to achieve – bringing like minds in the creative industry together not just to discuss creativity but also issues pertaining to nation building.

The 2^nd Anambra Book and Creativity Festival (ANBUKRAFT) held between the 26^th of February and the 1^st of march 2014 at King David hotel, Awka. The event which was ran with the theme “Reinvigorating the Literary, Creative and Cultural Enterprise in the Realities of the Millennium Turn” featured various activities and presentations from seasoned and young artists, educationists, writers, publishers, literary and art critics, art lovers, film makers, craft makers, actors, poets and musicians from different parts of Nigeria and beyond in addition to several roundtable discussions and a five-day exhibition of books and crafts. On display were several paintings on the Nigeria-Biafra war, Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and a host of other paintings and crafts, some of them with Uli markings. The theme of the event which was further dissected into various presentations, saw speakers cum artists like Prof. Ben Obumselum, Rev. Fr. Ositadinma Amakaeze, Prof. Damian U. Opata, Prof. Ayo Oloidi, Mr Lasse Lau and a host of others speak to and engaged the participants in series of discussions while the programme lasted. The event which had renowned poet and literary critique Prof. Chimalum Nwankwo, The Chief Judge of Anambra state Justice Peter Umeadi and the Vice Chancellor of Madonna University Prof. C.E Ezedum in attendance climaxed with an award ceremony which saw a number of artists and other participators in the industry rewarded for their contribution to the creative industry.

This interesting and highly educating programme was almost marred by a low participation as chairs were looking for people to sit on them but resilience and dedication was at play as the organizers of the event led by one of Nigeria’s foremost visual artist Prof. Chuu Kryd Ikwuemesi held on till the last day. It is rather appalling to have resource persons come from other parts of the country and the world to share information and disseminate ideas only to be greeted by empty seats for an event that was greatly publicized. If people from other states and countries, knowing how impactful the program would be could travel long distances just to attend the event, I wonder why Anambrarians in whose domain the event is being held would snub it. It is about time that we put a stop to the generalization that Anambra people and the Ibos in particular only understand the language of money or business and this stereotype is part of the reason why literary events like this don’t seem to be common in Anambra. We shouldn’t forget in a hurry that the state also produced the likes of world acclaimed novelists Professor Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, Chimamanda Adichie, one of the foremost Nigerian fine artist Prof. Uche Okeke, Prof. Kenneth Dike, the first Nigerian sculptor Prof. Ben Enwuonwu and a host of others currently making wave in the creative industry. 

Literary events like ANBUKRAFT would not just boost Tourism in Anambra state but would export the people’s culture to other parts of the country and the world. It would also serve as an avenue for young artists, art lovers, writers, academics, and craftsmen etc to meet themselves and with some of the people they look up. With that in mind, the government, institutions, agencies, corporate bodies and individuals have both participatory and sponsorship role to play in other to ensure the continuity of ANBUKRAFT and other events of the same nature. Away from the success recorded in terms of commerce in the state, there is need to place the state in the world map of creativity just like some other states in Nigeria have done with their various literary events and festivals and this is part of what ANBUKRAFT aims to achieve.

There is a need for more events and workshops of this nature in the state so as to awaken the creative spirit in the younger generation, mould budding talents as well as provide them with skills that would help them earn income, contribute to nation building and hence, make Anambra the true light of the nation as is being carried by its slogan.

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Twitter: @Victorikeji

DOWNLOAD: UNN CAMPUS HIT (THE E-EDITION)

The Unn Campus hit is a campus magazine that discusses Education, Lifestyle, Fashion and Entertainment. Embedded within are a plethora of wonderful write-ups, interviews with notable student celebrities and an array of colorful pictures. The magazine went online this time around and yours truly decided to share it on here. Enjoy…

Download HERE

3 HINDRANCES TO EFFECTIVE SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE IN AFRICA

“ …Science cannot thrive in third world countries because we’d first have to take care of hunger, diseases and superstition…” Dr Nwanguma, B.C

I first heard this statement in a classroom wrote it down and gave it serious thought. I made a lot of deductions from the statement and decided to share some of them on here. You must not be science oriented to connect with what I am about to say because science cuts across and affects every single aspect of human life in one way or the other.

Africa as a continent tends to be a little backwards when it comes to scientific breakthroughs compared to the west, apart from putting blames on its government policies, corruption and neo-colonization as some people would argue, I believe that just  like my lecturer stated above that hunger, disease and the belief system also have a role in this backwardness.

HUNGER:  Third world countries especially in Africa like we all know have this problem of hunger that is still lingering owing to failed government policies, misuse of public funds, corruption, amongst others. Looking at Nigeria for example where several poverty alleviation programmes have come and gone, some still pretty much around and still the average citizen lives on about $2 a day. A friend once humorously remarked that “The whole country is hungry”, although that statement seem funny but a critical look at it shows that it is true in every sense. School teachers, University lecturers and even Professors are underpaid. Some of these Academics who are supposed to be on the frontline of research cannot even feed or live normal lives and this is one of the reasons why there are cases of scientific grants being converted to personal money and not used for its initial intent. The nation is frail and hungry and until this hunger is taken care of, I doubt if we could practice Science effectively.

DISEASE:  This is unconnected to hunger in a way because it is common for people who are undernourished to contract various forms of diseases which would now have to be taken care of with the monies which could have been used to harness science and technology all in the name of fighting diseases.  Africa for instance is still battling with several diseases that have become extinct in most developed countries. Discovering the means of eradicating some of these diseases contributes to science but you and I know that most of these research works are carried out in developed countries where the necessary tools for conducting experiments are abundant while the human test are carried out down here where ‘Laboratory animals’ abound.

SUPERSTITION & BELIEF SYSTEM:  Although this could be waved off as being irrelevant, it remains one of the many hindrances to effective scientific practice in Africa. It seems to have reduced due to the fact that some of those people involved in these practices are embracing civilization but it is still pretty much around and even some who claim to be civilized are still superstitious. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to downplay or rubbish the belief in a deity or greater power but rather, I am trying to show how superstition shields effective scientific practice. In the past, a lot of new ailments have been attributed to the gods and deemed incurable even when they could have been researched upon and proper experiments carried out.  That was in the past right? But sadly, it is still happening even in this age. Some religious factions for example abhor transfusions of blood and blood related materials in which case means that Stem Cell Therapy which has proved to be effective against certain disease conditions cannot be conducted.

The government could try to tackle hunger by putting up programmes that should be monitored to ensure that they are not just another way in which a few officials enrich themselves and even review the payments of academics and other research scientist to curb this problem of converting grants and other monies meant to harness research into personal money. Schools cum institutes of learning should be hugely funded so that they would produce graduates that could compete with their counterparts in other countries of the world because if for example, we have Doctors that are competent enough, there would be no need to travel out to carry out certain medical procedures. There is need to setup more world-class research institutes in Africa so that more research work could be carried out here instead of the norm which involves starting a research work here and completing it abroad. The issue of Superstition and the belief system is one which I believe would still linger for a while because people cherish and are of the opinion that their belief system is the best.  

Effective scientific practices are very possible in Africa if only we act on those problems that are so obvious but which we tend to ignore and go about our business like everything is fine.

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