I owe my success as writer to writers’ groups – Onuzoruike

Chief Eddie Onuzoruike, popularly called Poet-politician, is an Abuja-based multi-talented poet and prose writer. He has published four books and contributed poetry to different anthologies, including ‘500 Nigerian Poets’ collated by Prof. Jerry Agada. In this interview with IBRAHIM RAMALAN, Onuzoruike talks about his writing and influence of writer’s forum on his works.

At what age did you decide to delve into writing?
Honestly, I can’t pinpoint a particular age. I believe writing has been with me since my childhood, since I started reading and writing. I can recall that the first letter I have ever received in my life came from a library where I used to patronize during my early age, and this happened when we were in the primary school. I remember when they opened the Umuahia Library, a very new thing then in the 60s, they came to our school and introduced to us that we are free to come and borrow books of our choice.
Thereafter, our teacher took us to that place, registered us and we started borrowing books. There was a time I borrowed a book and a friend of mine borrowed the book from me and did not return it in time. Suddenly, a letter came from the library. It was about the books I borrowed from and had over-stayed them. The letter stated that I should bring them back and pay some penalty charges. After paying the penalty I then began to take more and more books.

When precisely did you become conscious of writers’ association and joined them?
It was in 2001. However, then the Association of Nigerian Authors was not so operative in Abuja, I had to make efforts to locate them. To my surprise, at the time, the association was virtually being run by a few people. I remember I was first introduced to one Haruna Bello who was running the association in his office drawer. We had to persuade them to be holding a periodic reading and I think our first outing started at the French Embassy. At a time I was reading with ANA Lagos. I was travelling to Lagos to meet with them. However, when Abuja chapter came alive, we all welcomed it and have been part of the movement ever since.

Sir, they call you Poet-politician. How did the name come about?
I got that name at the Abuja Literary Society (ALS) because I used to hire boys to read my poems.  ALS holds its readings then every last Friday of the month and someday during a reading, one Chris Otaigbe read one of my poems about that bomb that detonated in one of the Lagos barracks, I can’t remember the year. When this man read my poems with all the demonstrations as if he was the original owner, I didn’t believe it was my work. That guy’s reading made a lot of sense. I then decided ever since to be hiring voices to read for me. That was how the name Poet-politician came about. Thereafter, I was even given an award as the Town Crier of the ALS.

You are widely known as a poet, why is prose now featuring prominently in your works?
Well, I could say it was by accident. Initially, I was doing a lot of poetry. What happened was that, someday I gathered a good number of my poems and called a publisher. While we were conversing after he had copied the manuscript from my computer, he told me that where the money now is, is in prose. Aside that fact, there was a call for entry for Short Stories by ANA Abuja. That was about 2003 or 4. I prepared and crafted a story that was supposed to be a love story initially. After Denja Abdullahi read it, he said that I had to take care of some technical issues and again that this story could be stretched into a full blown novel. So with that, I fired on writing and writing. Along the line I discovered that I don’t need to make a plot or outline that would guide my musings, once I pick up my pen it will keep going till the end. I have never followed any plot arrangement or sketch of how my stories could develop or flow.

Does that mean prose is now your forte, or you can better express yourself in prose than poetry that you were known for?
No! I only find poetry easier because I can start now and finish it the following day. And most evenings when am sitting down, inspiration usually comes. That is why I see myself as a social poet; because most of my poems are about society: complaint, protest against the ills I notice in the society. And most of my poems have made it to different anthologies like ‘Poets at Work’ published in Lagos, a collection by the Abuja Literary Society, and lastly in the very, very ambitious work done by Prof. Jerry Agada called ‘500 Nigerian Poets’. I have 5 poems in the collection. So I am one of the 500 Nigerian poets.
However, I carry the two (prose and poetry) along because, at the spur of the moment, I can decide to scribble something down and the only medium could be poetry. I may then decide to expand it into prose if I like.

Looking at what is happening in our society, what do you think the writer of today should concentrate on?
You know people still think that, for example, poetry is about grasses, roots and hills and rivers, while you can’t even have enough imaginations about these things because most of these things are barely nonexistent any more. So, I think that a writer of today should concentrate on what is currently happening in the society: the crime rate, kidnapping, prostitution, fake Pastors and Imams and the proliferation of churches and all that.

Writers’ associations are seen as leeway out of solitude to a forum where writers could help one another. Then what could you point to as some of your benefits of joining these associations?
Well, I can tell you that I owe 60% of my success as a writer to writers’ groups. Reason being that though I have been writing for a long time, they succeeded in rejuvenating the idea in me. When I came to Abuja in 1998 I realized that what I needed was a writers’ forum and I began to interact with most of the literary groups and forums: Abuja Literary Society, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and Abuja Writers Forum (AWF). There was also a writers group that used to be called GAP (Group of Artists and Poets), I don’t know where they are now. When I first joined these groups, I got to see their real essence because a lot of ideas came and we cross-fertilized them among us. We critiqued ourselves and encouraged ourselves. Critiquing is very central to any literary work. At times they would strike you into pieces; they would critique the structure, theme and other flaws of your work. So I attribute considerable level of my success as a writer to these kinds of communality with the like-minds.

Sir, is there particular set of people that you can point to as some of the people that influenced your writing?
You know, I think that depends on the people one is so close to. For me, I identify with everybody and I learn from virtually anybody that is good.  However, Victor Analiefor, Ken Ike, Dr. Emman Shehu, Denja Abdullahi, Kaniko and may others have always been there for me.

In your opinion, why most writers’ associations in Nigeria are always mired in politics that sometimes tends to derail them from their main objectives?
You know, wise men say a fish cannot be denied water because he lives therein. So because the Nigerian society is mired in politics, everything is being politicized. But we as writers need to be very careful and to draw a line between literary activism and politics because if we allow politics to take primer place in our activities, it will destroy the activism aspect of our function. In my opinion, two things are responsible for this: money and power. They are the things driving the Nigerian society crazy: What happens now is that what people think they could make money in and are not involved and where people think they should be involved and are not recognized. As a matter of fact, we as writers are the last hope of the society because we criticize the leadership if it’s going wrong as well as the ills going on in the society. We should not derail our activism.

ANA is clocking 35th years in existence as a Nigerian writers’ umbrella. How in your opinion could you score the association in terms of keeping up with the mission of its founders?
As a matter of fact, ANA over the years has been fairing very well. I have been able to attend not less than three conventions and I see that each one comes better and more organized that the previous one. The members keep increasing and then the leadership becomes more stable and year after year we see a fire of literary solidarity lit by Chinua Achebe keeps blazing stronger. Writers and their opinion are being respected. Nigerian writers command considerable respect in the international community and keeps winning awards. I believe so far so good, despite all odds.

What however do you think are some of the challenges an average Nigerian writer faces?
Publishing! I think lack of sponsorship is killing the creativity of most Nigerian writers. A lot of writers die with their works. Also, because ours is not a reading society, people do not even care to put money where they could barely recoup their investment. That is why there is no thriving publishing industry in Nigeria. I know however of private publishing outlets that are trying but they often push writers to strictest conditions in terms of royalties and all that.

What is the way forward?
Government should come into it, establish a fund that writers across the country could access, instead of allowing writers to fend for themselves. Writers’ residency too is important for writers. Government should establish it at least at regional level: one at each geopolitical zone of the country. Dr. Wale Okediran is really trying with his Ebedi International Writers’ Residency. He is doing a good job. I wish that other well-meaning Nigerians could emulate him and establish same in their own locality.