• Home
• Columnist
• Videos
• Artist
  • Musicians
  • Actors
  • Comedians
• Notable Nigerians
• Legend Dies
• Articles
  • Nigeria Articles
• Photos
• Submit Article

Author: Wendy Waide
Posted to the web: 5/9/2008 5:46:11 AM

Professor Tony Afejuku of the Department of English, University of Benin, a poet, critic and an activist, once said in an interview with a Nigerian newspaper (Vanguard), that Nigerian writings today are rudderless.
 
I agree with the Professor, but will add that Nigerian literary critics are lazy, myopic and quick to indulge in cronysm, this is the major cause of the rudderlessnes of Nigerian writings.How many Nigerian critics, for instance, have taken time to research into the works of the thirteen(13) Nigerian contemporary Poets who are members of World Poets' Society(W.P.S) , a very influential literary organization of contemporary poets from all over the World, which at the last count(May, 2008) have registered seven hundred and seventeen Poets from one hundred countries, some non english speaking.Many of the so called Nigerian critics do not have and cannot use Internet facilities, where contemporary writers(including Nigerian writers) now publish most of their works.What one sees most of the time in literary pages of Nigerian newspapers are hackneyed critiques by Nigerian critics on Achebe, Okigbo, Soyinka, Osundare, et al. These writers are no doubt good, but efforts should be made to also research into and publish critiques on the works of good contemporary writers.The absence of deep pains taking reseach and critiques on the array of good contemporary writers in Nigeria by Nigerian critics, helps immensely in rendering Nigerian writings rudderless.