Hope Rises For Nigeria’s Book Publishing Industry

As we step into the next decade, a reflection back shows that Nigeria has made tremendous progress in the literary field and can now be described as a new giant in the book publishing industry in global terms.
Nigerian literature which even before the film and music industry was not given the necessary cognisance but today avid readers can proudly thump their chests with reading glasses perched on their noses and sigh with relief that at last, our literature is now on the platform of the country’s contributions to the world of entertainment.
On daily basis, new authors are emerging, churning out novels that deal with romance, crime,espionage, horror, science fiction to adventure. Indeed, this genre of literature which people never thought possible is now in vogue.
This new phenomenon thankfully owes its origin to the new crop of writers who are not only young but also have cosmopolitan outlook with a better approach to broaching issues or ideas.  These novelists such as Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Chibundu Onuzo, Ayobami Adebayo, Tom Adeyemi and Kehinde Ademoye may not be household names for now but their works are becoming quite popular in bookshops
These writers who horned their skills within a short span have made it known that they are here to shake and shape the narratives of good story telling from the modernist point of view with no restriants.
As it stands now, Nigeria is gradually becoming the next destination in the book publishing industry as it publishes more works than the whole of Africa combined.
Although 2020 was a promising year,the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down much of the activities associated with the book industry as it did to the larger economy. However, despite that from available information, much more works are expected as some novelists are putting the experiences people went through in their new books in 2021.
Despitethe problems, biographies made some mark in the reading space as a veteran journalist, Bonaventure Melah contributed his own quota of controversy by penning a biography of former President Goodluck Jonathan”, titled’Dear President Goodluck Jonathan which received accoladesand criticisms which in some intellectual circles, was described as healthy as it enriches the political climate in the country especially on the use of democratic power and the effects it has on the polity.
As the battle to put Nigeria on the global map of literature continues, the major challenge apart from the poor reading culture, is the belief in some parts of the country that writers are a threat to the status quo. Nothern Nigeria, specifically Kano State which has the highest number of female authors  in the country, over 300 of them over the years have been having a running battle with the state censors board on what to publish.
What is really amazing is that this class of writers are not even given the necessary support by theFederal Government but are rather being subjected to pressure on what to write. Some of them have even been threatened and verbally abused. What the censors board is forgetting is that we live in an information age where the internet has made things less stressful. So, the archaic notion that a censor board some where will determine the fate of a writer is justpure hallucinations that should be put to rest
The body of Nigerian literature is vast and the authors are from different social backgrounds ranging from the military, academia, housewives to theunemployed whosetotal experiences have helped shape the last decade. And for the books I find emotionally attached to are the Civil War series and my top five are The Nigeria Revolution and The BiafranWar-Alexander Madiebo
MyCommand- Olusegun Obasanjo
Sunset At Dawn- Chukwuemeka Ike
Never Again- Flora Nwapa and Sunset In Biafra- Elechi Amadi.
For the year 2021, writers to watch out are Chibundu Onuzo,Oyinkan Braithwaite, Nnedi Okoroaforand Yewande Omotosho.

By: Tonye Ikiroma-Owiye