MY MAJOR ANA @ 41 TAKE-AWAY
On the sidelines of the recently held ANA at 41 convention that took place in Abuja Nigeria at the beginning of the fall of 2022, legendary writers and pen warlords such as Prof kaluUka, Prof Ernest Emenyonu, Prof Akachi Ezeigbo, Denja Abdullahi and others took turns and time to advise young writers to be patient in their haste to be at the zenith of their writing careers. This very expensive, yet free and hard to get admonition arose from their cumulative years of experience in writing, publishing, and serving as either judges or panelists in literary competitions and other academic endeavors. Just as in writing, everything we do in life requires patience, humility and understanding, learning the ropes, and subjecting ourselves to the guidance of those who know, and we know that they know.
This session which was ably moderated by Prof Ushie Joseph of the University of Uyo, provided a great window for young writers to be advised on relationship management with fellow humans, the use of emotional intelligence, the power of studying the environment, and adjustment to climes if possible. Writers were advised to pen down their thoughts in carefully chosen words, the power of looking ‘again and again’ on drafts and manuscripts, the value of constant reviews, the importance of asking questions and thinking about the relevance of each sentence, paragraphs and even chapters. There are situations where editorial teams admonish would be authors to delete irrelevant pages and chapters from a yet to be published book or manuscript. As painful as this could, it is usually in the overall interest of the author to take such advise for quality assurance purpose.
One of the common trends observed during this very important session is the haste and hurriedness amongst young people to get their works published and, in the process, key ingredients of writings are left out. Though it is understandable for young people to want to get published, the panelists advised that just like someone preparing for WAEC or JAMB examinations, extensive study, gathering and sifting of research materials is key, primary sources of data collection analysis and referencing is also a major ingredient in quality finishing of books.
One major take-away from this session is that every facet of human endeavor has what I will refer to as the ‘yahoo yahoo’ component (which literally means getting rich quick through dubious means), a lot of young people want to get to the top of their career without following the due diligence and due process associated with the pen industry. You cannot be a permanent secretary in a ministry without climbing through the ladder of the civil service or having the requisite experience gathered over the years. You cannot be a professor or PhD holder in a university without the relevant publications and research work, just the way you cannot claim to be a certified medical doctor without going through the very rigorous training of a medical school and all the stress of practical and sleepless nights. There is no easy way to success. Life itself is a process.
One of the major highlights of this very enriching session was the opportunity it provided for young writers to ask pertinent questions, the quality of answers from the panelist was very enriching and encouraging as well. Common challenges such as finance, publishing, editorial work, getting quality mentors and access to research materials characterized the key issues that arose during this window. The no hold barred styled of this particular side event should be encouraged at subsequent convention to give room for young persons in the field of writing to get acquainted and brace up to the challenges of the pen profession and device means to surmount them all.
This is a session I wanted a second phase during the convention, and I cannot wait to take an advantageous position during the forthcoming ANA at 42 that will hopefully be hosted again in the beautiful city of Abuja come October 2023 where intellectuals from Nigeria, some African countries and parts of Europe and America will gather again to discuss key issues that affect us, our environment, the society, governance, and general humanity. Before then, I am taking a second and a third look into my forthcoming book towards ensuring that all identified common gaffes and literary loopholes are corrected, although it is practically impossible for us as humans to attain comprehensive perfection in all that we do. Kudos to ANA, Kudos to President Camillus Ukah whose kinetic and dynamic leadership has made ANA achieved so much within a very short time.
Taiwo Akerele contributed this piece from Abuja, Nigeria.