2008 Nigeria Prize for Literature

Jude Dibia and Kaine Agary, authors of the novels 'Unbridled' and 'Yellow-Yellow' respectively, have emerged on the shortlist of the 2008 Nigeria Prize for Literature. The contest is organised by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG).

The announcement was made this Thursday at a "world" press conference in Lagos.

Chairman of the Literature Committee, Professor Theo Vincent, said the two writers emerged after a rigorous and meticulous scrutiny by the panel of judges.

149 books vied for the prize, out of which 30 were disqualified and finally 11 were shortlisted, said Prof. Vincent. Dibia and Agary shot out of the 11.

The grand finale will take place on October 11, 2008 when the overall winner will be announced.

The 11 runners-up were:

* 'Dream Deferred' by Ozioma Izuora
* 'Forever Chimes' by Mark Nwagwu
* 'Outrage' by Promise Ogochukwu
* 'The Conquest' by Chinedu Eze
* 'Treasure in the Wind' by Odili Ujubuonu
* 'Unbridled' by Jude Dibia
* 'Under the Brown Rusted Roofs' by Abimbola Aunni Adelakun
* 'Waiting for Maria' by Ifeoma Chinwuba
* 'When the Wind Blows' by Camilus Chima Ukah
* 'Wuraola Forever' by Femi Osofisan as Okinba Launko
* 'Yellow-Yellow' by Kaine Agary.

Here's doffing my hat to Dibia and Agary. We go wash-am with one of them next month!

The photo above, taken by LEADERSHIP's Benedict Uwalaka during the press conference, shows (from left) the Dean of Faculty of Social Science and Management, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Prof Dan Izevbaye, cracking a joke with Prof. Charles Nnolim of the Faculty of English Studies, University of Port Harcourt, and Prof. Tanimu Abubakar of Department of English, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, during the press conference to announce the finalists for the 2008 Nigeria Prize for Literature, in Lagos.

Bayan Shekara 27: Me Ya Sa Aka Manta Da Abubakar Imam?

A bana, littafin Magana Jari Ce, wanda Alhaji Abubakar Imam ya rubuta, ya cika shekara 80 cif da wallafawa. Sannan a jiya Alhamis, 19 ga Yuni, 2008 Imam, wanda shi ne kakan marubutan Hausa, ya cika shekara 27 da rasuwa. Wannan sharhin ya na yi mana hannun-ka-mai-sanda kan yadda mutane su ka yi watsi da juyayin Imam da ayyukan sa, ciki kuwa har da wad'anda nauyin yin ayyukan tunawa da Imam da karrama shi ya fi rataya a wuyan su.

Daga Ibrahim Sheme

A wata ranar Asabar a cikin shekara ta 2004, na yi wani sharhi kan marigayi Alhaji Abubakar Imam, ya fito a filn adabi na jaridar Weekly Trust, wanda na ke gabatarwa a lokacin. Sharhin, kwaskwarima ne na wani sharhin da na tab'a yi a Majalisar Marubuta ta Intanet, inda na nuna cewa ba a yi wa Alhaji Imam adalci ba wajen ayyukan tunawa da shi, musamman a hanyoyin sadarwa na zamani. Na yi nuni da cewa idan mutum ya yi amfani da na’urar Google ta intanet, zai gano cewa babu wurare da dama da aka ambaci wannan hazik'i, fasihi, kakan marubutan Hausa a intanet. Har na ce idan a misali ka kwatanta Imam da ni d'in nan Ibrahim Sheme, za ka taras da cewa an ambace ni a intanet sau ninkin baninkin fiye da Imam - ga shi kuwa ni ba kowan kowa ba ne a fagen adabin Hausa, idan ana maganar gagarau irin su Imam!
Na d'ora laifin a kan mutanen da ya kamata a ce sun karrama Imam, sun tabbatar da cewa ya na da cikakken wakilci a yanar gizo da duk wani dandali da ya kamata a ji amon sunan sa. Wad'annan mutane sun had'a da marubutan Hausa, da malaman makarantu tun daga firamare har zuwa jami’a, da su kan su iyalan marigayin.

Shi dai Imam, haifaffen Kagara ne a Jihar Neja. An haife shi a 1911. Asalin asalin sa Babarbare ne, amma kakan kakan sa ya yi hijira zuwa k'asar Kwantagora, daga nan ya tafi Sakkwato a zamanin Shehu Usmanu D'anfodiyo, ya zauna a k'ark'ashin Shehu. A can aka haifi mahaifin Imam, wato Malam Shehu Usman, wanda daga baya ya dawo Kagara bayan ya yi yawon malanta a k'asar Katsina da ta Kano.

Imam ya yi makaranta a Katsina, inda daga bisani ya zama malamin makaranta. A nan ne ya had'u da Dakta R.M. East, Baturen nan jami’in ilmi wanda ya jagorance shi wajen rubuta wasu daga cikin littattafan sa, ciki har da Magana Jari Ce da kuma K'aramin Sani K'uk'umi. Har ila yau Imam shi ne editan Hausa na farko na jaridar Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo. Ya rasu a ranar Juma’a, 19 ga Yuni, 1981 a Zariya, ya na da shekara 70 a duniya. Ya bar matar sa d'aya, da ’ya’ya 14, da kuma jikoki 42.

Imam ya kasance jagaba a harkar rubuce-rubucen hikaya na Hausa, ta yadda a yau da wuya a ce ga wanda ya fi shi. To amma ban da rubutu, ya na daga cikin ’yan kishin k'asa na farko da su ka nemi mulkin kan Nijeriya daga hannun Turawa ’yan mulkin mallaka. Haka kuma ya taka rawa k'warai a harkokin addinin Musulunci.

Rasuwar Imam ta gigita jama’a, musamman saboda gagarumar gudunmawar da ya bayar a fagage da dama na rayuwar jama’ar Arewa. Tun daga lokacin da ya mutu ake ta tunanin hanyoyin da za a bi a karrama shi, a rik'a tunawa da shi a kai a kai. Abin mamaki, har yanzu ba a gama tunanin ba, don haka ba a yi wani abin kirki a kan haka d'in ba - shekaru 27 bayan rasuwar sa!

Sakamakon rubutun da na yi a Weekly Trust, wanda babban k'alubale ne a gare mu duka mu masu hank'oron son Imam, an samu yunk'uri mai alfanu daga wasu sassa. A Jami’ar Bayero ta Kano, Farfesa Abdalla Uba Adamu ya yi wuf ya k'irk'iri dandalin tattaunawa (chat group) kan Imam a intanet, wanda ya sa wa suna www.abubakarimam@yahoogroups.com. An samu membobi a wannan dandali, to amma yawan su bai taka kara ya karya ba.

Yunk'uri mafi girma da aka samu na karrama Imam ya fito ne daga iyalan sa. Sun kira mutanen da abin ya shafa, ciki har da Farfesa Abdalla da Dakta Ibrahim Malumfashi na Jami’ar Usmanu D'anfodiyo da kuma ni. Shi Malumfashi, ya yi digirin sa na dakta ne a kan rubuce-rubucen Imam kuma tun tuni ya nad'a kan sa Sarkin Yak'in Imam a fagage da dama. To amma a yayin da mu ka amsa gayyatar iyalan Imam mu ka je Zariya wurin taro na farko don tattauna hanyoyin da za a bi a karrama Imam, a ranar 29 ga Agusta, 2004, Malumfashi k'in zuwa ya yi. Bai kuma aika da sak'on uzuri ba. Zargin da mu ke da shi shi ne, adawar da ya ke yi da wasu daga cikin mu ce ta hana shi zuwa. A gani na, ya na ganin cewa tun da ba shawarar sa ba ce tun farko, ba zai shiga ciki ba. Ka ji halin Bahaushe – mai ban haushi, na Tanko mai kan bashi!

Duk da haka, taron ya yi albarka. Akwai dattawa da dama a taron, kuma yawancin ’ya’yan Imam maza, da wasu jikokin sa, duk sun halarta. An tattauna kan hanyoyin da za a bi a karrama marubucin, musamman ma yadda za a sa a rik'a jin amon sunan sa a k'asar nan kwatankwacin yadda ake jin na gwaraza irin su Janar Murtala da Janar Yar’Adua.

Bayan wannan taron, an sake yin wasu tarurrukan a wasu ranakun. A k'arshe, an yi abubuwa biyu. Na d'aya, an gina gidan yana a intanet mai suna www.abubakarimam.com, wanda Dakta Haroun Adamu, mamallakin makarantar nan Zaria Academy, ya d'auki nauyin gina shi. Wani masanin intanet da bai dad'e da dawowa daga Amerika ba inda ya yi tsawon shekaru, wato Malam Salisu U. D'anyaro, shi ya yi gidan yanar kuma ya ke gudanar da ita. Na biyu, an kafa cibiyar tunawa da Imam, wadda a Turance za a iya kiran ta Abubakar Imam Documentation Centre. Ta na cikin wani gidan sama da ke kallon randabawul na Babban Dodo a Zariya.

A yayin da gidan yanar ya ke d'auke da tarihin Imam da rubuce-rubucen sa, a ita cibiyar kuma an adana wasu kayan tarihi da su ka jib'inci marubucin, ciki har da samfurin rubutun sa na hannu, da takardun sa, da littattafan sa, da lambon girma da ya samu, da hotunan sa, kai har ma da rigunan sa!

Wad'annan abubuwa uku, babu shakka, manyan hanyoyi ne na karrama Imam. To amma a yau, idan na waiwaya baya, sai in ga ai ba su isa ba. Kuma ma tuni an yi watsi da su. Na farko, dandalin tattaunawar da Malam Abdalla ya bud'e a intanet, bai hab'aka ba. Mutane k'alilan ne a ciki. Kuma babu sak'wanni a kai a kai a ciki. Don haka dandalin bai cimma nasarar bud'e shi. Mai yiwuwa dalilin shi ne saboda Malam Abdalla ya gina wani dandalin tun da fari mai suna www.marubuta@yahoogroups.com wanda ya shafe na Imam d'in. Yawancin marubuta ma ba su san da dandalin Imam d'in ba.
Ta b'angaren gidan yanar da Malam Salisu D'anyaro ke gudanarwa kuwa, ya yi kyau k'warai, domin hatta littattafan Imam za ka iya sauko da su kyauta. Sai ai ya kamata a ce ana saka sababbin abubuwa a cikin sa, kamar labaran marubuta da mak'aloli kan harkar rubutun Hausa. Kafin a yi hakan tilas sai an samu ’yan rahoto ko marubuta da za su rik'a aikawa da sak'wannin da za a rubuta.

Haka kuma ya dace a ga hotuna da bayanai daban-daban a ciki wad'anda su ka danganci Imam da iyalan sa har da mu ’yan amshi.

Ban da haka, shin har an k'ure tunani kan Imam daga yin ’yan wad'annan abubuwan kenan? To ai ba a ma fara yak'in ba! Dalili shi ne har yanzu ba a yi wa Imam karramawar da ta dace da mutum irin sa ba, wanda ya bauta wa k'asa ta hanyoyin da Allah ya hore masa - kama daga kaifin alk'amin sa har zuwa fagen siyasa inda ya taimaka wajen k'wato wa Nijeriya ’yanci daga hannun ’yan mallaka. Domin fa Imam ba marubuci kad'ai ba ne, a’a d'an siyasa ne na sahun gaba, kuma malamin addini ne wanda ya taimaka gaya wajen fito da al’umma daga duhun jahilci. Kuma d'an jarida ne wanda ya gina dandamalin da mu jikokin sa mu ke cin abinci a kai a yau.

Akwai hanyoyi da dama da za a bi don inganta tunanin mu kan wannan bawan Allah. Na d'aya, a fitar da rana d'aya a kowace shekara don yin laccoci kan rayuwar Imam da ayyukan sa. Wato dai kamar yadda ake yi kan su Murtala da Yar’adua da ire-iren su. A taron, za a dubi ayyukan da ya yi, a d'ora su bisa jigo ko sikelin da aka zab'a a shekarar da ake laccar; misali: rubutun hikaya, aikin hajji, siyasa, karatun boko da na addini, aikin jarida, wallafa, ds. Wannan hak'k'i ne na iyalan sa da sauran masoyan sa; idan sun yi jagora, sai abin ya yiwu.

Na biyu, ya kamata a rik'a shirya laccoci kan rubuce-rubucen Imam, wanda su kan su marubutan Hausa ya dace su yi. Misali, a yau d'in nan a K'ungiyar Marubuta ta Nijeriya (ANA) ta Turanci, babu b'ab'atun da ake yi sai na karrama marubucin nan d'an k'abilar Ibo, Farfesa Chinua Achebe, wanda a bana gwarzon littafin sa Things Fall Apart ya cika shekara 50 cur da bugawa. To, mu mu na ina Magana Jari Ce littafi na 1 ya cika shekara 69 da bugawa a cikin 2007? Ko ‘ihn’ ban ce su Malumfashi sun furta ba, ballantana Allah-maimaita-mana! To, ba a makara ba, domin littafi na 2 da na 3 na Magana Jari Ce an buga su ne a cikin 1938 - wato shekara 70 cur a yau. A cewar Dakta R.M. East, wanda ya jagoranci wallafa littafin, an buga littafin ne a wajajen watan Satumba 1938. Kun ga kenan akwai damar a yi wani abu, ko da na rana d'aya ne, don tunawa da wallafar littafin da aka yi.

Na uku, ya kamata a gina gida na musamman wanda zai d'auki Cibiyar Tunawa da Abubakar Imam kamar yadda ake da Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre a Abuja ko Murtala Muhammed Foundation a Legas da Abuja. Idan iyalan Imam sun ga cewa ba su da halin yin hakan, to su rungumi gwamnati, ko da ta Kaduna ce, domin a taru a san yadda za a fitar da jaki daga duma. A tunani na, wannan ba abu ba ne da zai gagare su.
Na hud'u, a fito da babbar gasa ta rubutun littattafan hikaya masu ma’ana na Hausa ta shekara-shekara da sunan Imam. A rik'a kafa kwamiti da zai duba littattafan da su ka shiga gasar don fidda zakarun da su ka cika k'a’idojin da gasar ta tanada. Yin haka zai k'ara saka juyayin Imam a zukatan marubuta da manazarta. Idan an tuna, babbar gasar rubutun littattafan Hausa a yau ita ce ta tunawa da Injiniya Bashir K'araye wadda maid'akin sa Hajiya Bilkisu ta sa. Gasar ta samu nasara. An yi ta farko a bara, kuma har an fara ta bana a yanzu. Wannan gasa ta Imam za a iya bai wa k'ungiyar ANA ta k'asa ita domin ta rik'a gudanarwa.

Na biyar, a inganta gidan yanar www.abubakarimam.com, ta yadda zai k'unshi abubuwan da bai da su a yanzu.

Na shida, ina labarin littafin tarihin rayuwar Imam na Hausa da Malumfashi ya ce ya na yi ya kwana? Shekaru kamar biyar da su ka wuce, Malumfashi ya fad'a mani cewa har ya k'are aikin, wai “zai fito kwanan nan.” To, amma shiru ka ke ji, wai malam ya cinye shirwa! Ya zuwa yanzu, tarihin Imam a littafi guda d'aya ne, wato Abubakar Imam Memoirs wanda surukin sa marigayi Dakta Abdurrahman Mora ya fito da shi a cikin 1989. Wannan littafi shi kad'ai ne madgora wajen samun ingantaccen tarihin Imam, amma da Turanci aka yi shi! Kuma ba “kammalalle” ba ne, domin babu bayanai kan iyalan Imam a ciki, da ya ke shi Imam d'in ne ya rubuta shi, kuma ya fi maida hankali kan ayyukan sa na harkokin addini da na siyasa fiye da na adabi. In dai ba Malumfashi ya lak'ume shirwa ba ne, to don Allah ya fito mana da wancan littafin da ya ke magana. Mun gaji da gafara sa, ba mu ga k'aho ba. Idan kuma shi ba zai iya ba, to ya ba yara wuri, su su yi!

Na bakwai, malamai masu sha’awar Imam tare da nazarin ayyukan sa su cire gasa/kishi//hassada/gaba da ke cikin ran su, su had'a kai, su taru su fito da hanyoyin karrama Imam da su ka dace. Al’ummomi daban-daban a duk duniya su kan yi wasu ayyuka na musamman don tunawa da gwarazan su, to amma mu “ninanci” (kamar yadda Malam Abdalla ke cewa) ya yi mana tarnak'i. “In ba ni na yi abu ba, babu wanda ya isa ya yi shi,” ko kuma “Wane ai ba fagen nazarin sa ba ne wannan, da har zai zo ya na yi mana shiga-sharo-ba-shanu.”

Mu sani cewa idan fa ba mu karrama gwarzayen mu da kan mu ba, babu wanda zai karrama ma mana su. Su dai sun taka rawar su sun tafi, sun bar mu a fagen. Don haka, hak'k'in tunawa da su ya rataya a wuyan mu, ba a wuyan kowa ba. Kamar yadda marigayi Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardaunan Sakkwato ya tab'a fad'a, idan har ba mu buga tambarin kirakin kan mu ba, babu wani bare da zai zo ya buga mana shi. Kukan kurciya jawabi ne, mai hankali ke ganewa!

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An buga wannan sharhin a jaridar LEADERSHIP HAUSA ta ranar Juma'a, 20 ga Yuni 2008 makon jiya

Review of Nana Aishatu Ahmad's "The Twist"

Twisting Tradition’s Tale

A new novel explores the dilemma of working African women struggling to maintain a happy family while building a career

By Ibrahim Sheme

Breaking the stereotype of the northern Nigerian woman as a passive, non-assertive creature is a difficult task indeed. A long period of silence on the writing scene has created the impression that even the educated women in the north, especially among the Hausa-Fulani Muslims, are submissive and unquestioning. Little surprise, therefore, that when Zaynab Alkali’s novella, "The Stillborn," was published by Longman in the 80s, attention was focused on the northern women. Ironically, even though Alkali is a Muslim she is not of the Hausa-Fulani stock.

Ever since Alkali’s pioneering work was published, however, many more women have been published in the north. One of them, Nana Aishatu Ahmad published two collections of poems, "Vision of the Jewel" and "Voice from the Kitchen" containing variegated themes that demonstrate her capacity as an emerging strong voice on the literary scene in the north. She might not have attracted much publicity probably due to the “unpopularity” of poetry books in Nigeria. But now she is back with a novel titled "The Twist," which has just been published.

Mrs Ahmad was appointed a Commissioner in her native Gombe State only yesterday. Until then, she was the Dean of Faculty of Languages at the FCT College of Education, Zuba, Abuja. Born in Gombe, she graduated from University of Maiduguri with a degree in English Literature and obtained M.Ed. (English) from University of Jos. She has taught at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, and Federal College of Education, Gombe. "The Twist" is her first published novel.

The novel tells the story of Amina Bashir, a beautiful woman caught between devotion to the sacred vows of love and marriage and the violent rejection of some insidious sins that wreck marital knots. Amina was madly in love with Siraj, a hardworking civil servant, when she was in secondary school. She rebelled against her father’s wish, who wanted her to marry a tycoon, insisting that Siraj was the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She even attempted suicide when the marriage was just about to be consummated with Alhaji Ganima, the local champion. Eventually, her wish was granted and she married her heart-throb.

The marriage seemed to have been made in heaven and everything looked set on remaining happy ever after. Amina and Siraj began to raise their own children. They had moved to Abuja where Siraj had secured a job with a federal ministry, and Amina had become a senior staff in an international NGO. Things became awry, however, when Amina discovered to her horror that Siraj was becoming unfaithful to her. Feeling betrayed, she moved out of the house, taking her children along. For years she buried herself in her work, which provided opportunities for globe-trotting, believing that she had bid goodbye to the marriage that had suddenly become a nightmare. But then the elders of her home town, at the behest of the emir, waded into the crisis. A reconciliation ensued at the emir’s palace. A deeply penitent Siraj, who had experimented with marrying some other women but found they could not measure up to his first wife’s qualities, reunited with Amina. The duo promised to hold onto each other for better or for worse.

The story may appear simplistic on the surface, but it is really a tale that runs deep through the African psyche. It reflects the tension afflicting many modern marriages, especially those where the wife works in an office just like her husband. Working African women have been helping to change the traditional perception of the fair sex as weak and unexpressive. Amina’s rejection of the comfort of her household emanates from her sense of independence, which only a good education could confer. A successful worker who travels abroad on behalf of her NGO and rubs shoulders with men in various endeavours is too important to trample. She saw the denigration of her marital chastity not only as a slap on her treasured womanhood but also a slight on her sense of humanity.

Amina strikes one as a rebellious character - first against her own father who tried to yoke her with traditional practices and impose a husband on her, then against her husband whose romantic antics were camouflaged as an attempt to earn for himself a second wife. She also rebuffed the elders’s effort to reconcile her with her husband until she was ready to dictate the terms. A comparison with her mother Shumo is inevitable here. Shumo is of the old school, seeing women in their traditional role of men’s followers in all cases and never questioning things. Even though she was against the proposed marriage between her young daughter and old Alhaji Ganima, she could not bring herself to oppose her husband stoutly on the matter. And even when the marriage almost hit the rocks, she tried to placate Amina and make her accept Siraj once again warts and all. Amina, a thoroughly modern woman, used rebelliousness as a counterbalance to the men’s retrogressive attitude towards women.

There are other sub-themes in the book, such as respect for elders (for example, Amina giving up her defences when the emir intervened in the crisis of her marriage), forced marriages in the north, girl-child education, the role of international non-governmental organisations in development projects in Africa, maternal health (Maryam’s giving births to so many children because she did not further her education or acquired office work), the extended family structure, etc.

The book is well-written, with the story flowing effortlessly. The author has proved that she can write prose as well as she could write poems. Her diction is simple but punchy, gripping the reader and imposing a sense of urgency in knowing what’s next in the various sharp turns and “twists” in the tale. An aura of poetry pervades her choice of words and use of phrases, a proof that the poetess in her isn’t very far away when she writes. Save for about two typographical errors, it would have been said that the work is flawless.

One notable weakness in the story is that the author did not go deep in exploring some of the themes in the book and developing some of her characters. It would have been good to develop the character of both Amina and Siraj instead of using them hurriedly to convey a rather all-important message that modern working women in Africa will no longer be pushed around by their men.

The book was published by Informart Publishers Limited, Kaduna. Its finishing and packaging were handled professionally in terms of the overall design, choice of colours, cover illustrations, etc.

No doubt, this is an important contribution to Nigerian literature in English. It should be read by anyone interested in the development of society through the betterment of the women’s lot. Educational institutions, government ministeries and parastatals, NGOs, the general reader, etc., would do well to read The Twist.

The implication of a story such as this is that it would provoke the much needed debate over the social structure in Hausa and or Fulani society where traditional practices are intricately embedded and rampant, not only in village life but in the big cities as well. It should also encourage other women to come out of their closets and tell their stories, the stories of African women. No one will tell their stories if not them. And there are too many of those stories waiting to be told.

Hajiya Nana Aishatu Ahmad should not rest on her oars in the difficult art of writing. God has given her the talent to write, shine and excell. She should, therefore, utilise it in the service of casting light on the various practices that hold African women back. By holding women back, no society would develop because women are the bedrock of national survival. Creative writers like Mrs Ahmad are the pregenitors and torchbearers who should show the way.