NLNG Shortlist is a Reward For Years of Writing

Abideen Ojomu’s work, The Ojuelegba Crossroads, has earned him a spot as one of the three shortlisted writers expected to win the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Prize for Literature which will be announced on 13 October at the Eko Hotels.

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Ojomu, who is based in Canada says The NNLG Prize for Literature is empowering the development of literature in Nigeria.

In a chat, Ojomu speaks on why he wrote the play The Ojuelegba Crossroads, his creative process of writing a play, and what arts mean to him.

Excerpts:

Congratulations for making the shortlist for this year’s edition of The Nigerian Prize for Literature. How does that make you feel as a dramatist?

Making the shortlist of the NLNG prize for literature is a very important milestone in my writing. It is surely a reward for the twenty-three years of research and study to create an art that will have socio-political implications. I see the Nigerian Prize for literature as an award that has regional and global relevance in its pursuit of the dissemination of African literature and art to the world in a manner that re-educates the world about our historical antecedents and future potential, and I worked hard to create an art that pays credence to that. I feel greatly rewarded for this pursuit of excellence in African Art.

Is this your first entry to the NLNG ?

Yes, this is my first time submitting to the NLNG prize for literature. Though I have been following the award since its inception and I knew I wanted to submit to the award. However I was not in a rush to submit a play just to make the numbers, I worked hard for years to sharpen my skills and refine my story with the relevant materials and research and then I submitted. I could have submitted anytime within the twenty three years it took to write “The Ojuelegba Crossroads” but I thought I would wait and work through it until the play come comes full circle before submitting to the award. I think this is indicative of the relevance I attached to the award.

What was the motivation for writing ‘The Ojuelegba Crossroads’?

I have always had the joke with my friend that had I been recruited by NLNG or any top oil and gas company after graduation, I probably would not have written this book because I would have had different lived experiences. I graduated from the Lagos State University in 2000 as a chemical engineer and couldn’t find a job in that field. I realized that jobs of most chemical engineers are mostly overseas because of the low level of industrialization in Nigeria. This experience led me to start engaging with the socio-political situation in Nigeria. I then decided to further my undergraduate intentions to write a book that projects the socio-economic vicissitude of ordinary people in a country with immense resources and opportunities. I was also interested in engaging with the problem of black people in general and the inability to live to the height of our potential. The play discusses the unity of our people, and the need to rediscover the opportunities and strength in our diversity and to cultivate a national pride consistent with the greatness of ancestors.

Would you say the title resonates with the idea behind it?

Yes, it does. By definition, a crossroads is a point at which a crucial decision must be made that will have far-reaching consequences. The Ojuelegba crossroads is a very important place not only in Lagos but on the African continent due to its peculiar and cultural antecedent. It has been a point of cultural convergence as our ancestors venerate the “elegba or Legba” diety at this location. Over the centuries, development stretches it steel and concrete limbs across the remote forest, and Ojubo- Elegba now shortened to Ojuelegba finds itself at a very important crossroads connecting important settlements at its four cardinals. These bordering settlements advanced as a result of social imperatives but the crossroad remains a bottleneck thereby preventing the consolidation of the disparate developments into a single formidable whole. The crossroads can no longer hold up on its primary responsibility of providing the required link for the stronger whole. Based on the existential and development crises posed by the crossroad at which every African Nation finds itself it is required to find new ways to resolve this impasse. The shrine of the deities, the masquerades, and the ancestors are right around the corners, can we knell before our ancestors and ask them how they built the Benin Kingdom, Borgu Kingdom, Fulani Empire, Hausa Kingdoms, Kanem Bornu Empire, Kwararafa Kingdom, Ibibio Kingdom, Nri Kingdom, Nupe Kingdom, Oyo Empire, Songhai Empire, Warri Kingdom, Ile Ife Kingdom, and Yagba East Kingdom. Our ancestors’ greatness enthralled them before buying their lies engulfed us and led us away from our greatness. The book is a metaphor us to rediscover the greatness of our ancestors and walk in the shadow of their greatness. The metaphor of the book and the headings is perhaps a clarion summon for us to remove all bottlenecks on the path of our development as a country.

This book is calling us to make that far reaching decision that changes the destiny of our country and our people. It is calling us to rise up and take the rein of leadership in regional and global affairs.

How would you describe your creative process for writing a play?

The creative process followed an exploratory approach, where I spent years reading about a lot of African civilization and kingdom. I extensively studied the Aksumite civilizatio , the Nubian civilization, the Songhai Civilization and Ashanti, Bornu, the Oyo. I was particularly fascinated by the Benin empire and wondered why the knowledge of the great African civilizations are not incorporated into our education at every level right from kindergarten. The engagement of these civilizations was very important in deconstructing my long-held fetishism for foreignness indoctrinated by the current educational prescriptions. This was very important for my overall ideological development because it empowered me to identify falsehood in the representation of Africans by foreign authors. I also leveraged works of great historian like Cheikh Anta Diop of Senegal. His great research into the uniqueness of the black race was very important in the creative process of the book, his research assisted me in piercing the veil of invincibility created by race and racism.

How do you develop characters and plotlines that are engaging and believable?

Symbolism is my most important tools for creating character and plotline. Because Art is evocative, it is very important to enlist the audience during the rendering of the art so that they became creator taking their cue from the art as it unfolds before them. This keeps the audience fully engaged with the symbols, redefining the representation before them and finding new meaning for characters based on their changing pre-occupation. I believe this is the most productive way of empowering audience to own the art.

I also rely on the effective use of our language to create great dialogue. Our language reads like poetry. If you listened carefully to most African language, you will notice perfect arrangement rhymes, rhythm meter, scheme and perfectly injected figurative tools. You will notice a lot of poetry in the book. I rely on poetry a lot for capture the essence of stage interactions.

In writing this play, were there personal experiences that you had to include in it?

Yes. There were some personal events molded to fit the structure of the play. Some of the characters are people that I have met with or had interaction with at some point. It is my believe that every interaction that we with others are piece of artifacts that could be used to create something great. Also, as much as possible I tried to create an art that is disinterested but sometimes my own emotion showed up in some parts of the book. For example, the creative delivery of Senator Gbewiri Pratt-Dickson reflected empathy. I tried to render the play in a manner that imposed less judgement on the corrupt politician. Through the use of symbolism and description, I tried to deflect judgment from him and empower the readers and audience to rise above pedestrian sentiment characterized by hatred and angst. I could have rendered that part of the book without any form of emotion but I guess we are all human and ultimately our biases belonged somewhere..

You’re a playwright, poet, actor, and dancer. Which of these comes first and why?

Dancing comes naturally to me. It was the first art form that I use for my creative expression. Dancing gives me a chance to escape from every manner of stress and despair. It is the art form that connects me to everything and allows me to pursue other interest.

How long did it take you to research, put your thoughts together and write this play?

Twenty three years to be precise.

You have written several plays such as Oils wheels, Woes of Warriors. For you, what really stands The Ojulegba Crossroads out among your other plays?

The depth of research and the time devoted to learning about our historical antecedents sets the book apart.

How does your background as a graduate of Chemical Engineer affect your play writing?

I think chemical engineer just equipped me with structure with which I engaged everything in my life. Chemical engineer required a lot of comfort with mathematics. I believe my good mathematical skills is responsible for a lot structure approached to doing things. Art is a very structured discipline and I believe my practice in art benefitted from my engineering skills. In all I believe anybody can achieve anything so long as they set their mind to it and if they understand that failure is perhaps the most important travel mate on the road to success.

What does art mean to you?

Art for me, is the most important tool available in any society. It functions as a means of reawakening social consciousness, document cultural practices, an arsenal for defending against cultural invasion, building block to constructing a great society. Art for me is a tool for resisting destructive agenda and a tool for entrenching cultural norms.

Having gone this far, what are your expectations?

I see a great future for the book. I see relevance for the book for the unification Of Africa and the pursuance of a stronger and more prosperous continent. This is my most important expectations. I perhaps hope this expectation will lead the book to the winner of the NLNG prize for Literature.