You can belong to any profession and still be a writer – Abdullahi

You can belong to any profession and still be a writer – Abdullahi

Denja Abdullahi is a consummate writer, and Deputy Director, Performing Arts,National Council for Arts and Culture(NCAC). He was also a General Secretary and incumbent Vice-president of the Association of Nigerian Authors(ANA). He is currently researching for a PhD at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, on Multicultural Aesthetics in Dramatic Literature. Here, Denja recounts the story of his journey into the world of books. By BENJAMIN NJOKU Background I’m Denja Abdullahi, born to the family of Alhaji Hamid Abdullahi and Hajiya Amina Abdullahi of Agbaja in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State. I am a little above 40 years . I had my primary education at St Barnabas Primary School Ilorin and my secondary education at Govt. Secondary School Ilorin. I got my first degree in English at the University of Jos in I990 where I emerged the best graduating student with a second class upper degree. I did my National Service in Katsina State where I taught at the GGSSS Malumfashi. After that, I proceeded to acquire a Masters degree in Literature from the University of Ilorin in 1992. I started my working experience as a lecturer in The Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi now known as Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic where I taught English and literature as well as managed a theatre troupe(Tashimana Theatre) as an artistic director. Abdullahi I was in Kebbi for 5 years from 1993-1998 when I transferred my service to the National Council for Arts and Culture, Abuja, where I work presently as a Deputy Director, Festivals and Performing Arts. I have been, in between all these studying and working life, a practising journalist, playwright, director, poet, literary consultant, culture consultant, UNESCO expert on intangible cultural heritage, researcher and administrator. I have held several executive positions in the Association of Nigerian Authors(ANA), the last being the National General Secretary of the Association from 2005 through 2009. I’m also the incumbent Vice President of the association. I am presently researching for a PhD in Nasarawa State University, Keffi. My research interest is on Multicultural Aesthetics in Dramatic Literature with the plays of Ahmed Yerima being my focus areas. Childhood My childhood was one of endless acquaintances with the love showered on me by my parents. My father was a policeman and a state security personnel in that order while my mother was a hard working and business-minded housewife. Due to the nature of my father’s work, we traversed Nigeria as he was moved from one location to the other and we moved with him. That equipped me with a lot of knowledge about Nigeria and the various people making up the country. That may also have broaden my horizon, getting me prepared for future encounters with the multiplicity of this country. I never lacked anything during my childhood days as my parents provided all I needed and even more. My parents were also not the overbearing type who set too much boundaries for their children. My father was a complete gentleman though my mum may be referred to as a disciplinarian in a loving kind of way. I was allowed, with all my siblings, all the freedom a child should have to discover himself or herself. In short, it was a very happy childhood where neither me, my parents and my siblings had cause to be disappointed in ourselves or on anything. Life as a writer, civil servant and author You can be anything else professionally and still be a writer. We have had all sorts of combination of other kinds of vocations with writing. In this our environment, writing is yet to become a full time obligation except may be journalism which I know is not the kind of writing you are alluding to. So you have teacher-writer, medical doctor-writer, pharmacist-writer, lawyer-writer etc. In my own case, I work in an arm of the public service where creativity is encouraged and in a department where we mainly relate with artistes and other people in the creative and cultural industries. So, I can say I am in a familiar and inspiring environment to do my writing. Meanwhile I have not left literature since I studied it at my undergraduate and postgraduate levels. So you can call those of us who studied the subject at the higher levels of education as first born sons and daughters of the field and some of us who developed aspiration for writing coming from that field became natural writers. I have four published poetry books to my credit; Mairogo:A Buffoon’s Poetic Journey Around Northern Nigeria(2001),Abuja Nunyi- This is Abuja (2008),The Talking Drum(2008) and A Thousand Years of Thirst(2011). A writer can be the most patriotic person in any nation. They are the conscience of the people, they look beyond the ordinary. They see with an inner eye and such kind of people always want the best for the citizenry. With a writer worth his name, you can be assured of justice, unfettered freedom within the ambits of the law and the dictates of humanity. I Why I write I write imply to express myself, to tell my own stories in the way I can with the hope that someone out there will read and enjoy my efforts. No one writes to change the world if that is what you expect me to say. All the same, if someone reads what I write and decide to change himself or something for good, then that is welcome. State of Nigerian literature Nigerian literature is as vibrant as Nigeria, rich in resources, talents and awaiting usage by the nation for its own human capital development. We have the good, the bad and the ugly in Nigerian literature but there is more good than bad. Our literature awaits greater exploitation by other sectors of the society; for example the film industry is yet to tap into it and neither has government for the purpose of general education and re-orientation. How literature and books should be projected in Africa African people must see literature and books as fountains of knowledge and indispensible in the quest to build a knowledge-based society. We should move away from our perennial quest for the self and start thinking of others and our society at large . It is only a broadly and adequately informed mind that has been nurtured on books that can think in this selfless manner. Future of Literature in Nigeria The future is bright. The nation should court its writers with lots of support and invest in intellectualism and the infinite possibilities of the world of imagination.

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