YOUTHVILLE ISSUE #200
Friday, September 28, 2018 08078068532
youthville@dailytrust.com
I realised I was cut out for writing at 18 years — Thomas
By Francis Arinze Iloani
H
ow did you develop the flair to write? Writing enabled me to escape into another realm while in plain sight of the real environment. For me, writing was a kind of drug that costs less but gives more in terms of satisfaction. When I got to secondary school, I got better, wrote more poems and short stories. But it was when I got to the university, at 18 years of age that I realized I was cut out for writing. My writing became more visuallyoriented. I learned about narrative structure, sociology and psychology of writing and this when my writing
deepened and became more thoughtful. Apart from ‘Secrets,’ what other pieces have you worked on? Before secrets, I was doing work on two series, both nonfictions. One was ‘Ekology: Lagos through the eyes of an outsider’. ‘Ekology’ was a chronicle of my everyday experiences of Lagos from job hunting to living in completely different world as I know it. The other was ‘Maiduguri: the untold stories.’ This was more of testimonies of men and women from civilians, social workers to uniformed personnel who were witnesses to the Boko haram crisis in Maiduguri.
Some find peace in my poems, others don’t – Sabeeha Bamas Victoria @BamasVictoria Sabeeha Hussain has said some people find peace through her poetic works as they see her share a part in their pains; but there are others who are not comfortable with the poems. The young poet from Kano state who spoke to Daily Trust YOUTHVILLE recently had a book reading and signing of her book ‘SoulUnraveled: Rising from the ashes’. The event which held in Abuja at Tarbiyah Books Plus had her reading from her book, signing copies of the book and interacting with readers. She said ‘SoulUnraveled: Rising from the ashes’ is a poetry book themed after the mythical bird, the Phoenix that is said to be reborn from the ashes ashe after being burnt to the ground. It has six chapters tagged differently: spark, ignite, burn, ashes, embers and rising. Sabeeha said, “My work makes a “ lot of people uncomfortable, and un I get backlash for fo it. But it means absolutely nothing nothin because I have many more that find peace in it, in knowing they are not alone in their pain. “In realizing that tthere is strength left to be found le ssomewhere in the ashes. If I can give a hope, to just one h ssoul out there, it is enough for me,” e said Sabeeha as she reflected on her expectations.
...young at heart
“Fame is like caviar, you know — it’s good to have caviar but not when you have it at every meal” – Marilyn y Monroe
Isaac Thomas is a 27-year old novelist, velist, poet, and cinematographer. The e graduate of Mass Communication on from the University of Maiduguri recently ently published his first novel ‘Secrets..’ In this exclusive interview with YouthVille, he explains how he developed the flair for writing.
What inspired you to write your novel ‘Secrets’? ‘Secrets’ was inspired by a number of things. The first few materials I ever got to read were the works of James Hadley Chase and Ian Fleming. Secondly, it’s always been my conviction that there’s one or two, even several, stories, about powerful government agencies, faceless individuals and secret programs that is worth telling in Nigeria. In 2017, I decided it was time to come up with something. I didn’t know what the story was going to be about; all I knew was it got to be a book about the intelligence community.
What was your experience writing ng the novel? In the course se of writing secrets, I learned a lot of things especially in sourcing out materials during the research period. Classified is classified. There was a lot of information out there on the DSS, the central agency in my story. I did approached a few guys both retired and in active service for information but I got none. I had to make do with what I had. Another thing, Nigerians are unwilling to try out new things.. People kept asking me why write a thriller? Why not romance or comedy?
How would you assess the publishing industry in Nigeria? Honestly, I do feel that the publishing sphere in Nigeria is the toughest place anyone can be. It’s almost cruel. First, getting a traditional publishing deal is almost an alien dream for a first time author. One has to be connected, well connected with someone influential or be able to afford the ridiculous charges of an agent to stand a chance. In most cases, young writer have none. It’s actually frustrating.
Mandela Fellows’ leadership assembly to promote SDGs — President By Philip Shimnom Clement President of Mandela Washington Fellows Alumni Association of Nigeria (MWFAAN), Segun Fatudimu said the Young Leaders Assembly which hosted over 1000 active was designed to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and drive national development through the youth. Fatudimu said the vision of the programme is to over time become like a local replica of the United Nations’ youth assembly where young leaders, including young civic leaders, entrepreneurs, public
managers, activists and student leaders working to promote national development and the sustainable development goals are recognized and celebrated. “The project is envisioned strategically to position Nigerian youths on the pivotal roles in the realization of Sustainable Development Goals in all critical sectors of the economy by 2030 through a coordinated infusion of entrepreneurial and leadership skills through Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) network” he said. The President explained that the Beyond School Community Challenge will host the top 10
finalists selected schools and students to compete for the grand prizes in the Beyond School Challenge final pitching competition. The summit with the theme “Paradigm shift; Creating a youth-led development agenda for Nigeria” featured the YALI Leadership Awards which aims to recognize, celebrate and encourage youths and individuals who are contributing immensely towards the pursuit of the sustainable development goals as well as youth and economic development in Nigeria well as Beyond School Community (BSC) Challenge.
Why Farafina is targeted at youth creativity — Chimamanda Adichie From Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos Award-winning author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has explained that the need to provide a platform for youthful and emerging writers to discover and explore their potentials formed the basis for the launch of her pet project: Farafina Workshop. Chimamanda who gave the explanation at a briefing with journalists in Lagos also disclosed that the annual ‘Creative Writing Workshop’ which is now being sponsored by Trace Nigeria will hold between November 20 and 30, 2018. According to the author, the Farafina workshop which she conceived as an idea 12 years ago but now in its 11th year, has made tremendous impact on
the lives of its past cohorts who have since gone on to achieve greater things. She added that the sort of story tellers being churned out of the annual workshop are the type the country needs “because every society needs story tellers”. “I remember in the past that people used to host receptions in my honour for one thing or the other. While I was not against that, I said to myself at a time that ‘instead of people spending these lots to host receptions for me, why shouldn’t they put the money in a workshop?” The Managing Director of Venator Partners/Trace Nigeria, Sam Onyemelukwe said, “We are very pleased to partner with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She is an inspiration to youth in Africa and around the world.”
The workshop, formerly known as the Farafina Trust Creative Writing workshop is now to be called the Purple Hibiscus Trust Writing Workshop.