In the contemporary world of today, there is a widely held, negative impression that places the development of any nation in the palms of the political class, oblivious of the fact that every other member of the society has a role to play in the development of the society.

One class of people that has made valuable contributions to the society is the literary artists who use their great talents and literary skills to tell the story of their people and promote their culture through literature.

It is true that those in the pinnacle of political power have the powers to make and unmake, but whatever impacts, positive or negative, they make in the society are often shaped by critics, mot of who are made up of literary icons, playwrights, musicians, actors and actresses.

While those in corridor of political power depend more on commonwealth than their intellectual endowment to make whatever impacts they deem necessary, those in the literary world solely employ their intellectual skills to build their society. With a touch of imagination and creativity, literary artists metamorphose the happenings around them into plausible texts which in turn become a relevant reference point to the society.

Literary icons like the legendary Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, John Pepper Clark, Ola Totimi, Zulu Sofola etc have made great impacts not only to Nigeria, but to the world in general through arts and literature. They are an institution every student must pass through in the world of literature.

Due to his literary works, professor Soyinka, the first African Nobel  Laureatte  needs no introduction in any country of the world. His literary acumen and intellectual contributions to the world have earned him and his country, Nigeria an unenviable image among the comity of nations. Today, while Soyinka’s face is an international passport in any nation’s airport, Nigeria is regarded as a nation endowed with skills. This is one golden laurel the combined efforts of all Nigerian politicians have not earned Nigeria since its 50th year of political independence.

In the 43 years of Rivers State creation, there are many people whose literary genre has earned Rivers State good reputation. The legends among them are Emmanuel Elechi Amadi, Claude Ake, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Margaret Kay Williamson and Rex Jim Lawson.

Through their numerous works, these great writers and artiste projected the Rivers State culture and folkcore in such a way that those that belong to other cultures were able to appreciate the Rivers people.

For instance, ELECHI AMADI is a playwright and author with a strong passion for African Literature, and with a thrust of native languages. Unlike many writers who seem to have no cultural affinity on which to hang their writings, and who as a result, rely on foreign words, idioms and imitations, Elechi Amadi is a roots writer with a vision.

A well-known creative writer with African folklores, this 76 year old son of Aluu in Rivers State belongs to the core of artistes who explore the range of his local, native challenges and document them in his works.

Like a griot from the Sahel region, Amadi takes African literature to contemporary level and promotes Rivers culture to an international level.

And like the legendary Wole Soyinka and J.P. Clark whose separate, famous poems on Abiku (the reincarnate) are being driven by African beliefs, myths and mysteries, Amadi’s verse play, Isiburu is rooted in his native Ikwerre language and culture.

Due to the excellent presentation of his works which evolve pre-colonial African societies as ruled by the gods and which is wedded in the core traditional myths, Amadi is popularly acclaimed as the leading authority in the supernatural in African literature. He has in his kilts, among others, the reknown trilogy: The Concubine (AWS 25), The Great Ponds (AWS 44) and The Slave (AWS 210).

CLAUDE AKE is another prolific writer of Rivers State origin whose numerous scholarly articles in learning journals spread across six continents. His seminal work “A political Economy of Africa” was simultaneously published by Longman in London and New York in 1981, and was declared the best text book in the United States of America in 1981. The Soviet Academy of Science translated the book into Russian language in 1985.

Till date, Professor Ake’s literary works remain a reference point in political science all over the world. This achievement, in no means earns Nigeria and Rivers  State in particularly an unenviable image in the world. And until his death through a plane crash in 1993, this Professor of Political Economics and founder of the Nigeria’s first private Think Thank called centre for Advanced Social Science (CASS) was an intellectual kingpin in Nigeria.

As for  KEN SARO WIWA, he was one fearless writer who, in order to draw attention of the world to injustices in his community, turned to pen and paper and gave vent to his creative impulse. Before his death on November 10, 1995, he had written 27 books.

Through his writings, he highlighted the social and economic ills of the Nigerian society, as well as helped to tell the nation’s political leaders what they were not doing right, even when it was obvious that his criticism could cost him his life.

Even though he was from a prominent family in Ogoni, he was consistently concerned about the treatment of the Niger Delta within the Nigerian federation. The non-violent movement for social and ecological justice which he launched in 1990 against oil companies operating in Ogoni though precipitated genocide in Ogoniland, later forced Shell Petroleum Company out from Ogoni in 1993.

It is however unfortunate that the struggle for justice for his kinsmen cost this great writer and former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) his life in 1995.

In a male- dominated world where the voice of women seemed unheard and under- appreciated, it is difficult to see many women stepping forward to distinguish themselves. But Margaret Kay Williamson did.

Even though, she was born in Hereford England in 1935 and had all her education in England, Mrs Williamson was one writer who devoted her writings to the promotion of Nigerians, especially Niger Delta languages. Her  Doctoral thesis was on the Ijaw language.

Titled “A Grammar of the Kolakuma Dialect of Ijaw”, the thesis was later revised and published in book – form in 1965. This thesis, by and large, promoted the Ijaw language all over the world.

It was therefore not surprising that she was given a befitting State burial in 2005 by the Bayelsa State Government at Kaima, her adopted Nigerian home-town.

Last but not the least is the music legend, Rex Jim Lawson (a.k.a. cardinal). With a compelling African rhythm and cultural affinity, Rex Lawson’s highlife music was steeped in the style of the early superstars like E.T. Mensah of Ghana, Bobby Benson and Victor Olaiya of Nigeria.

Through music, which he started playing from his primary school days under late reverend D.S.H Bob-Manuel, Cardinal was able to project the African culture, especially his Kalabari language through the use of native words, parables and anecdotes.

Within his 33 years sojourn on earth, Rex Lawson was able to compose and record a total of 109 songs.

There is no doubt that these arts and literary giants have, through their works, left valuable and indelible legacies that would continue to be a source of pride to the Rivers people.

Therefore, the best way to keep the memories of these legends alive is by improving on the legacies they left behind. This is one area the Rivers State government has a role to play.

And one way in which this can be done is by organizing special annual arts and cultural festival and literary week that would provide opportunity for the younger generation to highlight their literary skills.

Boye Salau