Binta S. Mohammed: The Last Interview

In September, last year, the late Binta S. Mohammed, wife of LEADERSHIP editor Ibrahim Sheme, was interviewed by the newspaper's Arts correspondent Muhammad Kabir Yusuf. The interview was published on the 16th of that month. In the introduction to the interview, Binta, a mother of three, was described as a notable poet and novelist based in Kano.

"Her two works, Contours of Life, a collection of poems, and A Clean Break, a novel, were received with acclaim upon their publication. But for some years now, Malama Binta, who is a lecturer in the Department of English at Bayero University, Kano, seems to have slowed down. No new lieterary work has come from her. Why?" The interview was conducted in Kano a few days earlier. Excerpts:

Readers may want to know your literary background and your earliest experience with the world of writing.

I started writing when I was in secondary school. That was in the mid 80s; and I got inspired through reading. I read so many books written by both European and African writers. I started with poetry. The first poem I wrote was titled Tree. That time I was just sitting down under a tree and raised up my head and looked at the tree, then I got the inspiration to write the poem.

What were the things that made you believe that you could really write and you had a message to send through writing?

Once you are a writer and you have the talent, you have a responsibility to tell people what you think about life as well as saying for them what they would rather say but they cannot. This is the reason why if people read a literary work, they feel relieved, as if they are the ones saying them. So, literature is a two-way traffic between both the reader and the writer. The writer eases up his emotion by writing, so also the reader when he reads.

Going through your anthology of poem tells the reader that you really look at things differently from the way ordinary minded people look at them. Why is that?

As a writer, you can just walk out there and see grasses. So as a writer, you need to give it a second look. But as an ordinary person, you just look at it and that is all. That is the difference between a writer and someone who is not. They see things differently and look at things differently.

It is amazing that you have dual personality: academic writer and creative writer at the same time. How do you marry the two?

I don't think they are a lot different. I see them as complementary to one another. As an academic, I deal with books and I analyse the text. And as a writer, I produce the text. So I don't think there is a lot of difference. I read, I teach and I even teach creative writing. So, they are more or less the same thing.

Ever since you produced your novel and your anthology, you ceased to produce any literary work. Did anything happen to your muse?

Well, I can't say. But then I have books that are yet to be published. I have a collection of poems, which is ready and in the press. And I also have a book which is more academic. It is a textbook on creative writing, which will come out soon. The two books will hopefully come out before the year runs out.

You came from the part of Nigeria which is considered culturally conservative. To what extent do you think the culture and religion of the North influence your writing?

As Ngugi said, "Writers never exist in a vacuum". You write out of experiences. You must belong to a society. The society in turn shapes your thinking, experiences and so on. So, as a writer, as a woman and a person from the North, all these forces shape my thinking and my writing. I have to, first of all, see myself as a woman, then as a northerner, a Muslim, a Hausa and so on. All those things will come to play when I am writing. There is no way, for example, I will write the way a white woman will do; we are simply not the same.


Why are Hausa women writers running away from the tag feminism, even though they treat feminist issues in their works?

I think the simple reason is the negative connotation attached to feminism. That is why Hausa women try to run away from it, because they are afraid people will see them as radicals. That is why many of us reject the term or try to deny any association with it. But I am not saying that I am not a feminist, because there is nothing wrong with being a feminist. It is the interpretation that is sometimes bad. Once you say you are a feminist, they would say that you hate men, you are fighting men, you are only in support of women, but that is not true. Feminism is a relative term. It can be interpreted with varying levels of emphasis. As far as I am concerned, feminism is concerned with the issues of women. It doesn't mean that you hate men or you are against them. But you are just discussing women's problems in search of befitting solutions. Even though the central character of my novel, for example, is female, I didn't portray all the male characters as bad. So feminism is not a movement to paint all men black. So I don't think there is anything wrong with being a feminist as far as I am concerned.

In a book review you did recently, published in LEADERSHIP, you stated that "men are naturally polygamous". Readers would expect you to expatiate.

When I say man is naturally polygamous, I want us to look at the history of humanity. Throughout history, and weather through formal marriage or not, man would naturally want to have more than one woman. Either he would have one wife and many girlfriends out there or he would have many wives through formal marriage. What I was actually saying is that it is more honest to make it formal.

As a man, once you have one wife and claim that you are monogamous, yet you have several girlfriends out there, then you are not monogamous, you are polygamous. What I am saying is that there is no need for you to pretend. You'd better come out and do it the right way.

Throughout your writing career, what are the things that you consider the main challenges?

The challenges of the writer, especially in this part of the world, when I say this part of the world, I am referring to the northern part of Nigeria, people don't care about what you do. When you say you are a writer, who cares? Nobody cares. And nobody is interested to read what you write, especially those of us writing in English. People like Balarabe Ramat who happen to write in local language are even luckier, because people read them. But for us that write in English, they don't really care what we write. It is only the educated few that really take our books and read. It is even more so when you talk about poetry. People don't simply buy our collection of poems. They would rather buy the novel. Because people don't enjoy poetry; to them it doesn't make much difference whether you write or not. There is simply no encouragement. Besides, there is this issue of funding. When you write you will just be keeping them. Like me now, I have volumes of poems, but I have not published them. Sometimes you don't have the fund to publish them. And no publisher will just come and collect your works to go and publish them. You have to fund them yourself. So these are the main problems we are facing as writers.

Against the background of these challenges, what advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Well, I will just advise them to write. They shouldn't put into consideration the fact that people would not recognise them or read them. They should not even be bothered that they don't have the money to publish. So long as they have the talent, they should just go ahead and write. Even if you never get the opportunity to publish, your children may one day pick your write-up and publish it. So, the only thing is for them to continue writing.

Nigerian writers in the Diaspora are well published and celebrated. Is it possible that they work much harder than the writers at home?

I think they just got better opportunities. Writers are recognised there much more than they are recognised here. Once the talent is there, no talent goes unnoticed there. And once you are recognised, you will get published. And you will be advertised and get promoted. And your work will get promoted, too. But here nobody cares. People don't care about the talent you have, whether you are a writer or not. And this is because people don't read. So, the talented Nigerians abroad find it much easier to get rewarded for their works. But all the same, there is a bit of improvement in the North. Writers are getting recognised. And literary awards are being created. This will inspire aspiring writers.

These days, there is a tension between writers and the Kano State Censorship Board. How possibly can the Censorship Board succeed in such a huge project of censoring all the literary output from Kano?

There is nothing wrong with censorship as long as it is done to protect public morality and advance the cause of creativity. Even in the so-called advanced countries, certain texts and images are abhorred because of their explicit nature, talk less of in a conservative society like ours. In recent years, there has been concern with the slide towards over-explicitness by some of the movie-makers and writers in Kano. Hence the intervention by the government and a resistance by the writers, which created the tension you talked about.

The problem with the censorship regime in Kano has to do with the process and style of the censors. They are combative. And they lack the expertise or personnel to do it. I don't think they can do it. Honestly, I don't think the government can censor all the books that are published or printed, because some of the books are not even published, they are just printed.

They need to engage the writers, exchange ideas, and do things to help the writers in book production. It would be a disaster to kill the writing industry in the name of censorship. While bad texts and images should be censored, efforts should be made by the government to create a conducive environment for the production and marketing of literary works.

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Re-published in LEADERSHIP today

NB: In the photo above, Binta is delivering a lecture on "Hausa Muslim Women and Further and Higher Education," at the British Council, Kano, some years ago

Binta Salma Mohammed (1969 - 2009)

INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAIHI RAJI'UN!

For many days I have not been able to mount the Internet and formally announce the untimely death of my dear wife, Binta Salma Mohammed. Reason: I did not know how to do it or have the courage to do it. The outpouring of grief from family, friends and well-wishers finally goaded me on to write these painful words here, to let the world know about my great loss.

Still, I cannot say much except to pray to the almighty Allah (SWT) to forgive my dear wife, give her eternal rest in Aljannat Firdaus, and give us the life, health, strenght and wherewithal to raise our three children (Mubarak, Nabil and Fadila) in the years to come, amen.

I thank everyone that prayed (prays) for the repose of the soul of Binta. May God reward you all.

NB: My Binta was born in Gwarzo, Kano State, Nigeria, in August 1969. She obtained B.A. and M.A. in English Language from Bayero University, Kano (my alma mater). She worked all her life in the Department of English, Bayero University, Kano, as a lecturer. By the time of her death, she had completed her PhD studies at the University of Abuja, Abuja.

A member of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Binta authored several literary works, including Contours of Life (a collection of poems) and A Clean Break (a novel), as well as many unpublished others.

Last year she developed an illness in her right arm, for which she underwent surgery in a Cairo hospital. The surgery wasn't successful. She died on the day she returned to Nigeria from Egypt, i.e. on Sunday night, 3rd May, 2009.

Her death has continued to be reported in many Nigerian news outlets. We have received condolences from thousands of people from home and abroad.

ALLAH YA JIKAN TA, YA SA TA HUTA, AMIN SUMMA AMIN.

Mission Impossible, Possible!

The Hajj is over. Over the past week 8,308 pilgrims have been flown back to Nigeria. But 76,692 of us are still in the holy land, waiting to be transported. (Hundreds more should have returned to Nigeria by the time you are reading this). In my case, two journeys are ahead of me: one to Medina and the other to Nigeria. I do not know when either will take place. Out of the 85,000 pilgrims that came to Saudi Arabia for Hajj through the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), only 44,600 have been to Medina to pay homage to the Prophet's mosque and other interesting religious sites, prior to the start of Hajj proper. The rest are in Mecca, waiting. In the house where I stay, and in many other houses dotted across Mecca, there is a great deal of uncertainty about just when we will be moved to Medina, after which we will wait to be taken to Jeddah and then Nigeria. Though the Medina visit is not a pillar of Hajj, it is nonetheless a significant aspect of the pilgrimage. Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) has stressed, as reported in so many Ahadith, the importance of visiting his mosque where his grave and those of his companions are located. One Hadith of Muslim says Abu Hurairah (RA) reported the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying: "A prayer in my mosque is a thousand times more excellent than a prayer in any other mosque, except Masjid-al-Haram (Makkah)". So we wait.

The wait can be excruciatingly annoying, though. It tugs at one's patience. We "kill" time by going to the nearby mosque for congregational prayers or to the Haram for circumambulation of the holy Ka'aba (Tawaf), window-shopping, visiting other pilgrims' houses, or simply taking a siesta. Some even watch movies on potable DVD players. Rumours have it that our batch of pilgrims that has not been to Medina may be moved there tomorrow or the following day. Or the next day. Or, maybe, next week! Those lucky pilgrims that have been to the Prophet's city are the ones being flown back to Nigeria. The way things stand, with pilgrims being jetted to Nigeria in trickles, we fear that we are going to be marooned in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for the next three or four weeks. The stay would have otherwise been of great spiritual value because it affords one the rare opportunity to pray in Islam's holiest site. But because every pilgrim wants to return home after the satisfyingly grueling rites of Hajj, most would rather just leave.

Lack of information from officials compounds the situation. It reflects the uncertainty and disorganization that dogged the preparation for Hajj months back. In normal societies it is possible for a pilgrim to plan his trip - from the date of his embarkation to the holy land to the date of his departure there-from - but in our country it seems that keeping the pilgrim in the dark about almost everything is one of the major pastimes of the Hajj officials.

A mid-level Nigerian official was here last night. When someone complained about the painful anxiety of waiting in the dark, he explained off the situation by saying that it was caused by the airlines. If the companies given the contract of transporting the pilgrims had done their job properly - by providing enough aircraft the way, say, the Pakistanis, the Indonesians, the Malays and other "more civilized" countries have done - there wouldn't have been this problem. From his explanation, and the incriminating evidence one sees everywhere, one got the distinctive impression that Nigerian Hajj administration is the worst on Planet Earth.

Due to the straight-jacketed culture of corruption and partiality that has been entrenched in the system across the years, one of your greatest nightmares begins as soon as you've decided to perform the Hajj from Nigeria. You would soon discover that it is a mission impossible that is made possible only by Him whose exhortation you have ventured out to fulfill - the Almighty Himself. There are many stumbling blocks on your way. While some of them are natural and are, therefore, bound to happen, most are man-made. For instance, natural problems can (and do) occur from the overcrowding, which creates other cataclysms. You cannot have over three million people in a small field like Mina or Arafat or squeezed into small embankments like the Jamrah and not expect to encounter mountains of problems, more so when those millions hail from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The man-made problems are the ones that pilgrims grapple with. Nigerian governments at all levels do spend incredible sums of money every year in order to overcome or at best minimize those problems, all to no avail. Right from the registration of intending pilgrims to transporting them back at the end, the hurdles seem to defy solution. Why? Answer: no realistic solutions are applied.

The buck stops at the table of Hajj officials. From what I see here in the holy land, the whole exercise is run by semi-literate undertakers, supposedly superintended by the senior, more educated officials. Many of the so-called senior officials do not even know why they are here, or pretend not to know. Many of them appear to think that they are in KSA for their personal pursuits – some picnic away from Nigeria. Tales of their alleged unholy exploits abound. The obvious one is the cat-and-mouse game they play with confused pilgrims, disappearing just when they are most needed. Once in a while you catch sight of them cruising around town in big American cars (their favourite is GMC) with their women: their parents, wives and or sisters, I suppose, though a friend of mine derisively said "girlfriends". They wear an air of "hard at work" when they catch your eye and promptly zoom off, lest you would ask for 'lift.' An exception here are members of the medical team, who stay at their desks attending to the needs of pilgrims. I doff my hat to them.

Our Hajj officials should stop behaving like privileged brats, thinking they are doing a favour to the pilgrims. They are in this country enjoying all those unnamable perks courtesy of the poor pilgrims. They should, therefore, dedicate all their time to the service of the pilgrims even if they must miss their own Hajj. (Note that they are not here to perform Hajj themselves). They should know that if they perform creditably well, their reward isn't just in the hefty estacode they receive, the choice accommodation and transport they enjoy, etc., but it is also in heaven because they would be contributing positively to a religious duty.It is very important for them to constantly provide relevant information to the pilgrims: when Hajj airlifts will begin, where to go in the holy land, how and when to get there, what to do there, the exact date and time for returning home, etc. Some of these tasks can be accomplished in liaison with other agencies, such as the airlines and local authorities.

Can they do these? From what is presently on the ground, my verdict is a grim one: the present officials are incapable of a change because they are the beneficiaries of the corrupt, decadent system they had helped create. The huge sums of money they milk from the system, as well as the privileges they enjoy, would vanish if the system is reformed. Expectedly, they would stand in the way of any change, insisting on maintaining the status quo. To kick them out would require a visionary, fearless leader who is unattached to the system, someone who would divorce the Hajj administration from politics. I suggest that the President of Nigeria should get involved actively, possibly by assuming the title of Amirul Hajj for at least four years. This way he would see things first-hand instead of relying on the annual report of an appointed so-called Amirul Hajj, who is (as happened this year) an absentee politico in the holy land. State governors and local government chairmen in Muslim-populous states should do likewise. The time to start the new system is now, not later, when the 2008 Hajj exercise is being wrapped up amidst ceaseless uncertainty and disappointment.

My VOA Interview

During my stay in Wasghington, DC, I was interviewed two days ago by Voice of Amrica's Howard Lesser for "Daybreak in Africa" programme. The interview was posted on the VOA's web site at

http://voanews.com/english/Africa/2008-10-13-voa3.cfm

It goes as follows:

Crisis Underscores Potential World Lending Institution Role as Africa's Safety Guarantor

By Howard Lesser
Washington, DC
13 October 2008

Nigerian Journalist Ibrahim Sheme - Download (MP3)
Nigerian Journalist Ibrahim Sheme - Listen (MP3)
Nigerian Journalist Ibrahim Sheme - Download (Real)
Nigerian Journalist Ibrahim Sheme - Listen (Real)



The heads of the World Bank and IMF have reassured finance officials from developing countries that they would not let the spiraling global financial crisis curtail efforts to foster economic gains for the world's most needy peoples. Addressing a Sunday Washington news conference after a meeting of the two institutions' Development Committee, World Bank head Robert Zoellick said that recently won pledges of aid for desperately needy populations would not be laid aside due to the sudden tightening of credit or a sustained global slowdown.

Zoellick's IMF counterpart, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, pointed out that crisis-plagued impoverished countries, through no fault of their own, were in danger of being penalized doubly by the crisis as they find it harder to get foreign funding, while their exports lose value as highly strapped world demand for their goods continues to plummet due to the global decline.

In light of the international uncertainty, how are African nations facing prospects of diminishing returns on foreign pledges of aid to reverse rising food and fuel costs and fulfill wide-ranging commitments reached at Gleneagles, Scotland three years ago to lift developing economies? Ibrahim Sheme is editor of the daily paper Leadership, published in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. In Washington to cover this month's preliminary and official World Bank and IMF meetings of top financial leaders, he says that African finance experts here take the institutional heads at their word and look optimistically toward continued progress, despite diminished expectations from the crisis.

"From the discussions that have taken place so far, there are clear indications that the World Bank and the IMF are not going to abandon poor nations. Already, there is a $1.2 billion facility which the Bank is putting together in order to assist developing countries as far as this economic problem is concerned," he said.

This year's annual October IMF-World Bank meeting in the US capital has been overshadowed by last Friday's G7 ministerial summit in Washington, which was attended by US President George W. Bush and by a major summit of European leaders on Sunday in Paris. Both meetings vowed to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to shore up their faltering banks and financial systems.

The 185-member IMF and the World Bank have been tasked with putting their stamp of approval on the country group and regional initiatives, while continuing to advocate the safety net to rescue impoverished countries threatened by rising food costs and escalating energy prices. Journalist Sheme says that despite their awareness that tumbling stock values, limited credit, and curtailed investment are likely to impair the recovery efforts of developing countries, African ministers at the Washington meeting remain optimistic that moves toward revitalization of their ailing economies will continue to have an impact.

"Even though the facilities may not be adequate, they will still continue to trickle in. So that's why I pointed out that African countries need to network among themselves. They must look inward and find ways to help themselves. They cannot afford to depend solely on donor nations," he said.

In addition, the Nigerian journalist says that Africa's more prosperous nations, like his own oil-producing giant, and mineral-rich, resource-endowed countries like South Africa and Ghana, have an additional obligation to extend their own foreign assistance across borders to less fortunate African neighbors. This, he says, is a matter of self interest, as well as an acceptance of regional responsibility.


"Major African countries like Nigeria and South Africa have the responsibility of looking at the problems of weaker countries in their respective regions, so that the problems will not spill into their own countries. They will not abandon countries like Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and the rest. I think they need to wake up to their responsibilities," he said.

Ibrahim Sheme says he has no reason to doubt the commitment of the World Bank and IMF to stand behind the mounting needs of the world's poorest countries. But he says the near future's prospects for a shattering of confidence in financial institutions leaves little doubt that "the facilities that are being proposed may not be adequate to care for our people in Africa."