Legacies Of Nigeria’s Literary Tradition

In the beginning was oral literature, the root of African literature. Nigerian literature in particular, began with the oral traditions pioneered by the unsung heroes of the literary past, like royal bards, warriors, story tellers, priests and many others.
      According to Bade Ajuwon in his article, Oral and Written Literature in Nigeria, “In Nigerian history and culture, pre literary Nigeria once enjoyed verbal art civilisation which at its highpoint was warmly patronised by traditional rulers and the general public”.
     At a point when writing was unknown the oral medium served the people as a bank for the preservation of their ancient experience and belief; much of the evidence that related to the past of Nigeria could therefore be found in oral tradition.
     He cited the instance of Yoruba community, where, as a means of relaxation, farmers gather their children and sit under the moon for tale telling that instruct the young and teach them to respect the dictates of their custom. This was the practice across the cultural groupings that form Nigeria today.
      A literary work must therefore derive from these basic traditional elements to be adjudged as African literature. Nigeria therefore owes her present giant strides in the international literacy scene to  her rich oral tradition.
     The written tradition was introduced by Northern Nigeria in the 15th century by Arab scholars and traders. The intellectual and religious interactions between them and the indigenous community led to the adaptation of Hausa into Arabic script, a genre known as Ajami.
      The subsequent arrival of missionaries in the 1930s with the Roman script further enhanced the written tradition and gave rise to the emergence of many indigenous poets and prose writers.
   Southern Nigeria owes its literary legacy to missionary activities in the area around 1840s which went hand in hand with inculcation of literacy. The need to translate the Bible for the new converts necessitated a number of publications by the missionaries. Prominent among such publications was A Grammar of the Igbo Language (1840) by the pioneer missionary Rev. J. F Schon.
     The second one was A vocabulary of the Yoruba Language (1843) by Samuel Ajayi Crowder, an ex slave and the first Bishop of the Niger Diocese of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Such publications eventually served not only the primary religious purpose, but also as a sound foundation for the written indigenous literature in which folklore and other genres of oral tradition were recorded and woven into poetry, short stories and novels especially in the Igbo and Yoruba languages. With the growth in literary awareness resulting from western education, the literary tradition shifted from folktales to realism, galvanised by scholars at the university college Ibadan in 1948. However, this did not mean that the folklore elements were completely eliminated, rather it was a kind of mixed grill.
      The real indigenous literature in English was pioneered by the legendary Amos Tutuola in the 1950s. His debut, the palm Wine Drinkard published by Faber in London (1952), kind of, served as a monumental link in the transition of western literary tradition.
     The emergence of Chinua Achebe and his contemporaries in the  1940s/60s marked a milestone in the Nigerian literary history. The most outstanding writers of this era were Wole Soyinka, Gabriel Okara, T.M . Aluko, Christopher Okigbo, John Pepper Clark and Cyprian Ekwensi, generally referred to as first generation writers. These crop of writers gave African literature focus and direction.
       The Emergence of the African writers series by Heinemann in 1962 really helped to boost the Nigerian and indeed African writings of the Achebe era. Between the late 1970s and early 80s Nigeria’s young writers were given opportunity to have their works published, a courtesy of Mac Million publishing company through the company’s young writers series known as Pacesetters and hundreds of youths across Africa were published with Nigerians forming the largest percentage. The series dealt mostly with contemporary issues that were of interest to young adults.
    The issue that became a major concern to the Nigerian writers in the 60s and 70s apart from the multiplying social iIl, was the Nigerian civil war which took place between 1967 and 1970. The war which is said to have claimed the lives of over 100,000 soldiers affected the Nigerian literary scene in many ways. It claimed the life of one of the country’s most celebrated poets, Christopher Okigbo and caused untold hardship to other writers like Wole Soyinka, who were detained for crying out against the atrocities perpetrated in the war.
    The bright side of the ugly incident however, is that the war provided inspiration for many writers, particularly those directly involved. These writers poured out their frustration, anger and memories in considerable quantities and qualities. For instance, Elechi Amadi wrote a powerful novel Sunset In Biafra (1973), depicting his war time experience.
     Other testimonies to the madness of the era were Soyinka’s ‘The Man Died’ (1972), Chukwumeka Ike’s ‘Sunset At Dawn’ (1976), Ken Sarowiwa’s ‘Sozaboy’ (1985), Flora Nwapa’s ‘Never Again’ (1976) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ (2007).
     Inspite of all the numerous problems bedevilling the Nigerian literary landscape, it could be said that Nigerian literature has come a long way, considering the teeming number of writers that have emerged and the giant steps; with achievements of the writers, Nigeria now rules the global literary stage.
      Nigeria today occupies an enviable position in the literary world. Achebe’s legendary Things Fall Apart has been translated into 50 languages globally, Soyinka on the other hand, has done Africa proud by winning the Nobel prize in literature (1986), while the Nigerian writers of the new generation have equally pushed Nigerian literature to the pinnacle by winning some of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world. Ben Okri won the Booker prize for his work, ‘The Famished Road’ in 1991, Helon Habila, Segun Afolabi and E.C. Osondu won the Caine prize for their ‘Prison Story’, Monday Morning and Waiting Respectively. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie like Habila won the common Wealth prize for literature as well as the Orange prize with her novel Half of a Yellow Sun.
    Beyond setting international literary standards, Nigerian writers have also succeeded more than any group in the country in exporting our culture and tradition to other parts of the world. According to renowned literary critic, Prof. Charles E. Nnolim, “Nigeria today stands tall before the international community because of the collective endeavours of her writers. While our politics and the Shenanigans of our business deals often sell the country’s private shames in the international scandal market, it is through the collective endeavours of Nigerian writers that Nigeria stands redeemed and enhanced in the eyes of the world”.
    Nigerian literature is indeed at its golden age.

By: Jacob Obinna