WHOM SHOULD A WRITER MARRY?
By Richardson C. Ofili
Dateline: Saturday February 9, 2008. Five days before Valentine's Day the inspiration behind the theme of discussion: "Whom should a writer marry?" The stage was set. The Disk Jokee (D.J) was there with modern gadgets to carry out the brief given him by the Chairman of the Association of Nigeria Authors, the Centre of Excellence Chapter, Lagos, Mr. Chike Ofili: to play only love songs from the 1980s to date. Invitations had gone out inviting writers to "Come Coupled" – to "bring or borrow a partner" to the event. Disappointingly, writers began to come in trickles and later aplenty – all male save three females: the association's treasurer, Mrs. Iquo Diane Eke, a female member and a female journalist, Elizabeth Akinfolarin on assignment with her boss Godwin Oritse from the Vanguard Newspaper.
This became worrying for the EXCO that had had to commit very scarce resources to giving writers a good valentine season. The D.J. got tired of being kept waiting by poetry readings and audience responses that he moved from strolling around to sleeping outrightly.
The meeting opened with the Chairman leading the writers to sing the second stanza of the national anthem which is both a prayer and expression of hope, the innovation took many by surprise and quite a few could articulate this unpopular stanza. He thereupon handed over to the General Secretary, Mr.Raph Tathagata who anchored the first segment where writers are allowed to read whatever they have to offer with copies of works to a responding audience of fellow writers. As this continued, the writers' landlord, Mr. Joe Musa, the painter and Director General of the National Gallery of Arts, a wing of the National Theatre where Lagos writers hold there meetings every second Saturdays of the months, came in flanked by ……………………… the programme controller at Channels Television. He felicitated with the writers, assuring of the closeness of the writers and artists as close partners in the art. She regaled the writers with her microphonic voice as she read one of the many love poems on offer before they were seen off. The D.G went further to offer some money for drinks to his tenant of writers to have their gullets soaked.
With the first segment over, the chairman took over from there. He introduced Mr. Aji King of Traversals, a computer consultant and trainer and his partner, Mr. Samuel Utodio of Computer Awareness Foundation (CAF) to the audience – on the coming information technology workshop for writers on the deeper and extended connection between InfoTech and authorship.
Aji King and Samuel Utodio spoke so much about the need to introduce writers to the kind of soft wares relevant to their trade, the place of e-publishing and e-book in today's world, how to make money regularly from the Internet through exposures to its marketplaces; how to get grants; how to run personal website and publish e-books; managing the author's records, desktop publishing; networking writers with other writers all over the world; the publishers operating system etc. The high point of it all was the promise to make personal computers and laptops available at about 3 times less the market price, free websites for all the trained writers that would have to come on the recommendation of the association's leadership who have decided that commitment to meetings, contributions, and punctuality would mark out those to be freely trained.
Another fascinating part of the training in the offing is the chosen method. Teleconferencing: a method that makes it possible for their foreign partners to be part of the training on-line real-time is to take place at a time never to be flouted by late coming. The whole point of this extensive and author-specific training is to teach writers to be able to learn how to take their writings to near publishing and publishable on the net. The ANA Lagos members present responded on what their expectations are, a process the chairman said was the whole purpose of the training: "to find out from you what your expectations are in order to design the curriculum to meet your expectations." He was to later boast that "the time was over when ANA members don't feel a need for the association because they feel it has nothing to offer them". According to Mr. Ofili, "it is the job of this EXCO to ensure our relevance in your activities as writers. We must keep making sure that you can't do away with us." The workshop is now being scheduled for May 1-3. And they have said it will come with certification.
After the hardware and software talk around the computer, the meeting melted into the theme of the occasion: Who should a Writer Marry? Piloting the discussion, Chike Ofili introduced the discussion on how Prof. Chinua Achebe's wife chose to marry him. Speaking of a certain reassuring assurance around the man that makes you feel you will, be safe and well taken care of. The former Christy Okoli met young Chinua Achebe from going to protest with a fellow intern why their allowance was below that of their colleague. Achebe the young controller of Eastern wing of the Nigerian Broadcasting Service disabused their minds making them know that the Yoruba lady had a little experience somewhere which gave her the slight advantage.
This one-on-one commenced what was to later become a love affair after Chinua Achebe began to visit and give her gifts at her sick bed. With these incursions of this deep water, the medical student who was occupying Christy's heart was dislodged. A case that was compounded by his refused to clarify his identity. The question was then posed: Who Should a Writer Marry? Where there certain people or certain conditions that make marriage to a writer work? Inviting Mr. Folu Agoi the past Chairman of the association, and Mr. Babatunde Ayo Vaughan an elderly member to join him on the moderating table, Ofili set the ball rolling to what became a hot discussion.
Babatunde Vaughan nailed a writer's need for a spouse to "mental and emotional compatibility", while Agoi held that a writer was already married to his art before finding a wife. A constant tension therefore arises frequently between these two lovers of the writer. It was therefore thought that the writer "finds somebody who is looking in the same direction with him."
The moderator however reminded the writers about the selfish nature of ambition that focuses wholesale on its pursuit.
Dagga Tolar, a poet and the vice chairman of the chapter thundered "Visionary writing is 100% that cannot leave 1% for love because it can be very selfish and does not even have time for life." Some members, felt writing should not be so consuming as not to be considerate of others. Odili Ujubuonu, a novelist and author of The Pregnant gods reminded the house that marriage and writing were two things that require different approaches. He reminded the house that where he came from, failure in marriage was failure in other accomplishments. He rounded off telling us that his wife kept reminding him that why she fell for him was because of the 60-page love letter he wrote to her. At this point, the whole house went into rapturous laughter.
Mr. Godwin Oritse of a journalist with the Vanguard re-enforced the place of fellow-feeling and deep consideration for the other person and also some room for God to have a place in the whole process.
A certain member of the association could not understand why we should be finding a wife for a writer when we have not taken time to know who a writer is. This view was received with awkward silence. The moderator however called upon the Treasurer the only married lady present. Iquo Eke lambasted us everybody for the gross presumption that a writer amounts to just a male. The men laughed to the rebuke. She however drew attention to something particularly disturbing about the Nigerian male that challenges the blissfulness of marriage.
Maxim Uzoatu, poet and author of The God of Poetry, about the only very regular member from the past that frequents the meeting, though regularly coming late, sitting a little aloof from the over forty people present indicated an interest to speak. The moderator specially requested the mortal voices who had spoken to listen to the voice of The God of Poetry. And he indeed spoke oracularly. "This thing does not work through a mathematical direction. It is just like writing, you can start with a plot but the writing can take its own direction. We have to give allowance that things can change."
This very literary interpretation and model for marriage was well- appreciated by the moderator. That had barely settled when the boisterous and electrifying Raph Tathagata, the secretary, heightened the moment with his dramatic insightfulness. "I start by saying that a married writer is a polygamist." Foregrounding the rivalry of the art of writing and the act of marriage, Raph went on to deconstruct the whole notion that a writer would necessarily marry a woman who is intellectually inclined. He cautioned that the missing link called understanding may make the whole difference between the un-intellectual and the intellectual woman. He then brought home the force of the point with an illustration. Goethe, Germany's Shakespeare married a village girl from the countryside and the literary establishment berated him for his action. But when they saw the understanding they shared, some of them began to borrow a leaf.
At the end of the day, it was the D.J. who came to entertain that got entertained by the intelligence and the dramatic manners of the writers. He was asked to play some music if only to justify the cost, but it had become needless. It was already getting late. Besides, there were just two ladies left out of the three present. Much more, with the generous presence of drinks, music meant so little except as what is heard and not listened
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