Daily Independent (Lagos)
Yemi Adebisi
17 November 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
The NPA has a lot to do if their group must receive kudos from upcoming writers. Some of their activities as gathered from their websites include: Developing and maintaining cordial relationship with other stakeholders and actors in the book/education industry e.g Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA), Nigerian Booksellers Association (NBA), Christian Booksellers Association of Nigeria (CBAN), Association of Nigerian Printers (ANP), Nigerian Library Association (NLA), Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN), Nigerian Book Foundation (NBF), Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
It provides a link to international associations concerned with the book and publishing, e.g. International Publishers Association (IPA), African Publishers Network (APNET), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO), BELAGIO, Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), Africa Books Collective (ABC) and Caribbean Publishers Network (CAPENT).
It is also their duty to develop better relationship between publishers; government agencies and parastatals concerned with book development like Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), UBEC, NERDC and Education Trust Fund (ETF). How much of these activities are alive except Book Fairs where protocols have also discouraged the 'first timers.'
Cost of book publishing through established publishers in Nigeria has also been said to have led to vanity publishing. A publisher revealed that government should intervene to bring down the cost of publishing materials in Nigeria.
In order to break the jinx of Nigerian publishers, improve reading culture and make good books available and affordable, some groups and government establishment have stepped in.
Zamfara State governor, Aliyu Shinkafi, has declared recently that his government has established a publishing outfit to encourage young writers. This appears to be a welcome development. If other states can emulate this gesture, there is hope for Nigerian young writers. The recent move by Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) also to serve as a channel for distribution of books in their 3,000 stations of the Federation appears to be very commendable if there would not be discrimination. They have signed an agreement with Kaine Agary, award winner of the $50,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature, to distribute her book, Yellow Yellow throughout the Federation.
Soyinka, Achebe and their peers belong to a generation. All hands must be on deck to ensure that supports are made readily available as platforms for new generation of writers in Nigeria.
Stakeholders in book industry and affiliated government agents should address this matter pungently and stop blaming Nigerians for poor reading culture.
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Very insightful article! It only goes to confirm that the poor reading culture in Nigeria today is not the desease in itself but a symptom of our deseased book chain! The writer writes and jumps to the market - no editor, no agent, no publisher, no reviewer, no bookseller, no reader! If we must move forward, we need a chain to link these isolated people!