Sola Osofisan
12-11-2007, 01:18 AM
By Jumoke Verissimo
Nigeria's literature has contributed immensely to the much needed image cleansing. Yet, book business does not appear to be a very viable business in Nigeria. There are several challenges facing the industry in the country and the society is not at all enabling for the business. But book business is big business, why is it not being explored? Again, aside its economic viability, it is a constructive society moulding tool. But while the book industry has managed the Nigerian image abroad the country seems not to think much of the industry. The idea of a well-written book does not appear to be an image-laundering endeavour, to the Nigerian government. One memory of the last government is the brand, 'Proudly Nigerian." It is not unusual to see the term on websites, television programmes, and even clothing lines in Nigeria. Although the project was initiated to prop patriotism and encourage image laundering, with the hope that it will convince pessimistic global pundits that there is hope in investing in Nigeria. But, pragmatically, there is more to being proudly Nigerian and avoiding illegalities than wearing green and white logo.
Mukhtar Bakare, publisher, and managing director of Kachifo Limited, publishers of the exclusive Magazine, Farafina (print and online) is one that believes in the market of books, and that "books must sell in Nigeria." Bakare states that there is so much work left underdone by the Nigerian government, particularly the education of its citizens. Bakare, studied architecture at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, and he is a former banker who was recruited straight from school by Citibank, he was later headhunted to become an Executive Director at Trust Bank for two years before he left in June 2002 to effectively launch Kachifo Limited.
For him the idea of inadequate talents is rather lame talk. This is bolstered by the fact that many Nigerian writers he explains are prize winners and several are being signed to some of the biggest publishing houses in the world and lately Nigerian writers' are being approached by animation companies like Walt Disney for their novels to be turned into films. The future is definitely rosy, but there is a challenge to it; the book industry is suffering considerably under the weight of infrastructural problems in the country. The several support programmes that ease life for writers, are unavailable in the country. While, it may be understood that the writer's devotion to country loyalty is an inspiration, what makes book business attractive to Kachifo, especially in Nigeria. Why would anyone invest in book-publishing, in a country with a very high illiteracy? Of the approximately140million labour force, the majority are illiterates. UNESCO gives a statistics of a high 68 per cent. All this makes investing in the book market not very lucrative. It is therefore not difficult to wonder why Kachifo Limited, book publishers and publishers of Farafina magazine have since inception in June 2002, shown a steady dedication to the book business, where several of it's predecessors have crumbled.
Bakare, who was born during the Nigerian civil war period, explains that he sees himself as lucky, to have experienced the buoyant economy of the Nigeria society, which he saw dive into a gradual decline. The opportunity to have seen the several possibilities of the Nigerian nation is an impetus. "It is like being on the mountain top and seeing the promise land, and then being dwindled farther away from it.... if you ever see what is possible in the future. It is always seductive you can never forget it, and that is the meaning of hope. You cannot understand, you cannot imagine a better tomorrow and accept what exists."
In 2004, Kachifo published the West African Paper Edition of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus, which was sold at a very affordable price, mindless of its quality printing and is still selling. It was widely received in the country. It remains one of the most read Nigeria books. Amidst the challenges of working with the infrastructural lack in the country, Bakare says he sees, the problems facing the book business as simply, "challenges that are uplifting.", and this he believes are surmountable amidst many inadequacies the society. "These are things that we know we have to do, for us we are not saying they should chase us away from doing what we have to do. And when you look at the upside...the upside is that you have a country of a 140million people, and the illiteracy level of 69%, that means we have a market size of 34 or 35 million people that is a huge! You know we have publishing businesses that are making millions of dollars in countries like Belgium, like Holland, who don't maybe have the population of a 4million people in their countries. And a country Ghana, next door here, there publishing businesses are doing big business and their total population is about 19-24 million, that is the population Lagos state Lagos has." Bakare explains, that this explains the potential value of the Nigerian market. And this is a major reason why it is important to ignore those who say that Nigerians don't read. "So we should not do books." The solution to this "is to do books in a way people want to read. Why can't we stimulate the government to start doing literacy campaigns? In other part of the world you see governments, passing legislation, investing lots of money, stimulating money. One of the first things you would learn in kindergarten is reading." For him, it is amusing that some interviewers ask him, what he is doing to encourage reading culture in Nigeria, "when several countries spend billions, encouraging their citizens to read from infancy." What this implies that the decline in reading is a "matter of life and death. It is a national emergency for the nation...we need to be literate." To be part of the global economy, Bakare explains, Nigeria should educate its citizens. And with the increase in the literacy level, now includes being computer literate and internet serving.
Kachifo is adding glamour to the elitist world of books, by organising book readings and it even runs a free-online magazine, Farafina, where it seeks the interest of emerging writers. Aside having introduced Nigerian writers like Segun Afolabi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chika Unigwe and many others who book lovers would not know except with this intervention of republishing Nigerian editions.
The strongest criticism against Kachifo is that, it publishes only established writers. Bakare gives a hearty laugh. 'We are a small business," he starts, and then explains how rather unfounded the argument is. Farafina published Abraham Oshoko, who has written arguably, the first Nigerian graphic novel, June 12 and would be publishing new writers, like Eghosa Imasuen in 2008, Bakare expresses that Kachifo's is not only a business, it is also a passion and that implies not rendering sentiment to what he sees as his value. 'We will not publish what we don't like..."
The reading culture is really poor, and although many individuals and organisations like Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA), Association of Nigerian Writers (ANA), and Women writers in Nigeria (WRITA), Nigerian Book Foundation (NBF) are trying to foment interest in reading, by organising book fairs and writer's gathering, it seems the journey towards acquiring adequate readership in Nigeria is a long way from home. Bakare restates that he would not be deterred, as publishing, to him is a business of ideas, and while the medium of communication in Kachifo is at the moment paper, the company sees itself into other media; audio, video to showcase ideas. For him, the readership problem is one of the factors of the breakdown of order in the Nigerian society; even with his firm believe in the country, he thinks that the job of correcting social ill is grave. Expressing his concern for the education system in Nigeria, he analyses the issue of unemployment in Nigeria. "Many Nigerian graduates are jobless. When 600,000 graduate, only 60,000 of them get jobs and out of those, only about 30,000 of them, get the jobs that they are qualified to do, the remaining 30, 000 of them are underpaid, just add that together, year on, 600,000 year one, minus, 60,000. The remaining 540,000 what do they do, by the following year, they become, 1000080, the following year, they become 1,780,000 and it is building, up. And it has been building up for about 10 years now. And what are our government talking about, after many years spending trillions of naira, electricity don't work. Degrees have collapsed, meanwhile we have people that run this country, they talk about dedication, and they talk about efficiency. Do they look themselves in the mirror and measure their own performance against what they've done in eight years. How would they rank themselves?" And while would he with this seeming doom, still invest in books. In an economy which has shown little regard for education, and a practical development of the reading culture among its citizen. "I think we need to break the strong hold of personalities that gridlock of personalities and focus more on issues. We would move forward. It is not about people, it is about ideas, what impact those ideas make in the society. The physical manifestation of those ideas, and I am more interested in things like that."
So far the journey has been, "extremely rewarding." What exactly has been rewarding? "What has been rewarding is the work on our hands. It is not what you wear, or what you buy, in so much as what you say, to move people, or what you write down, or what you do, the ideas that you leave behind, that people can inspire and motivate people. Or what you do, that people can look at and be inspired and be motivated. When Fela used to around telling people that he was not going to die, people thought he was mad. All you have to do is go on the internet and type Fela, and see whether he is dead and alive. Almost every country in different radio stations in the world, every month, someone would play Fela's music. When they compiled the list of the most influential people after the world war, globally, his name was featured. That is what it means not to die." He relaxes against the chair and asks, "who was the richest man, when Fela was alive? " He smiles, as his question is followed with a stunned silence. "You don't know. What did they leave behind, and what has what they left behind impacted Nigerians." What this implies that Nigerians should begin to think in generations. And facing the challenges of the business world is simply to keep up with the changes in the society. "When societies change, the changes start in the realm of ideas and we want to be part of that. We are social entrepreneurs. Money is important, because money gets things done, and that is why we are not an NGO, and we are so resolutely not an NGO, and we are not going to be an NGO, and we refuse to be an NGO; we are social entrepreneurs, because we are here, and we are not satisfied with the conditions and responsibilities to be part of the change." Against the usual infrastructural problems, Bakare explains that he is not ready to capitulate. "We are not going to roll-over."
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com
Nigeria's literature has contributed immensely to the much needed image cleansing. Yet, book business does not appear to be a very viable business in Nigeria. There are several challenges facing the industry in the country and the society is not at all enabling for the business. But book business is big business, why is it not being explored? Again, aside its economic viability, it is a constructive society moulding tool. But while the book industry has managed the Nigerian image abroad the country seems not to think much of the industry. The idea of a well-written book does not appear to be an image-laundering endeavour, to the Nigerian government. One memory of the last government is the brand, 'Proudly Nigerian." It is not unusual to see the term on websites, television programmes, and even clothing lines in Nigeria. Although the project was initiated to prop patriotism and encourage image laundering, with the hope that it will convince pessimistic global pundits that there is hope in investing in Nigeria. But, pragmatically, there is more to being proudly Nigerian and avoiding illegalities than wearing green and white logo.
Mukhtar Bakare, publisher, and managing director of Kachifo Limited, publishers of the exclusive Magazine, Farafina (print and online) is one that believes in the market of books, and that "books must sell in Nigeria." Bakare states that there is so much work left underdone by the Nigerian government, particularly the education of its citizens. Bakare, studied architecture at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, and he is a former banker who was recruited straight from school by Citibank, he was later headhunted to become an Executive Director at Trust Bank for two years before he left in June 2002 to effectively launch Kachifo Limited.
For him the idea of inadequate talents is rather lame talk. This is bolstered by the fact that many Nigerian writers he explains are prize winners and several are being signed to some of the biggest publishing houses in the world and lately Nigerian writers' are being approached by animation companies like Walt Disney for their novels to be turned into films. The future is definitely rosy, but there is a challenge to it; the book industry is suffering considerably under the weight of infrastructural problems in the country. The several support programmes that ease life for writers, are unavailable in the country. While, it may be understood that the writer's devotion to country loyalty is an inspiration, what makes book business attractive to Kachifo, especially in Nigeria. Why would anyone invest in book-publishing, in a country with a very high illiteracy? Of the approximately140million labour force, the majority are illiterates. UNESCO gives a statistics of a high 68 per cent. All this makes investing in the book market not very lucrative. It is therefore not difficult to wonder why Kachifo Limited, book publishers and publishers of Farafina magazine have since inception in June 2002, shown a steady dedication to the book business, where several of it's predecessors have crumbled.
Bakare, who was born during the Nigerian civil war period, explains that he sees himself as lucky, to have experienced the buoyant economy of the Nigeria society, which he saw dive into a gradual decline. The opportunity to have seen the several possibilities of the Nigerian nation is an impetus. "It is like being on the mountain top and seeing the promise land, and then being dwindled farther away from it.... if you ever see what is possible in the future. It is always seductive you can never forget it, and that is the meaning of hope. You cannot understand, you cannot imagine a better tomorrow and accept what exists."
In 2004, Kachifo published the West African Paper Edition of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus, which was sold at a very affordable price, mindless of its quality printing and is still selling. It was widely received in the country. It remains one of the most read Nigeria books. Amidst the challenges of working with the infrastructural lack in the country, Bakare says he sees, the problems facing the book business as simply, "challenges that are uplifting.", and this he believes are surmountable amidst many inadequacies the society. "These are things that we know we have to do, for us we are not saying they should chase us away from doing what we have to do. And when you look at the upside...the upside is that you have a country of a 140million people, and the illiteracy level of 69%, that means we have a market size of 34 or 35 million people that is a huge! You know we have publishing businesses that are making millions of dollars in countries like Belgium, like Holland, who don't maybe have the population of a 4million people in their countries. And a country Ghana, next door here, there publishing businesses are doing big business and their total population is about 19-24 million, that is the population Lagos state Lagos has." Bakare explains, that this explains the potential value of the Nigerian market. And this is a major reason why it is important to ignore those who say that Nigerians don't read. "So we should not do books." The solution to this "is to do books in a way people want to read. Why can't we stimulate the government to start doing literacy campaigns? In other part of the world you see governments, passing legislation, investing lots of money, stimulating money. One of the first things you would learn in kindergarten is reading." For him, it is amusing that some interviewers ask him, what he is doing to encourage reading culture in Nigeria, "when several countries spend billions, encouraging their citizens to read from infancy." What this implies that the decline in reading is a "matter of life and death. It is a national emergency for the nation...we need to be literate." To be part of the global economy, Bakare explains, Nigeria should educate its citizens. And with the increase in the literacy level, now includes being computer literate and internet serving.
Kachifo is adding glamour to the elitist world of books, by organising book readings and it even runs a free-online magazine, Farafina, where it seeks the interest of emerging writers. Aside having introduced Nigerian writers like Segun Afolabi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chika Unigwe and many others who book lovers would not know except with this intervention of republishing Nigerian editions.
The strongest criticism against Kachifo is that, it publishes only established writers. Bakare gives a hearty laugh. 'We are a small business," he starts, and then explains how rather unfounded the argument is. Farafina published Abraham Oshoko, who has written arguably, the first Nigerian graphic novel, June 12 and would be publishing new writers, like Eghosa Imasuen in 2008, Bakare expresses that Kachifo's is not only a business, it is also a passion and that implies not rendering sentiment to what he sees as his value. 'We will not publish what we don't like..."
The reading culture is really poor, and although many individuals and organisations like Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA), Association of Nigerian Writers (ANA), and Women writers in Nigeria (WRITA), Nigerian Book Foundation (NBF) are trying to foment interest in reading, by organising book fairs and writer's gathering, it seems the journey towards acquiring adequate readership in Nigeria is a long way from home. Bakare restates that he would not be deterred, as publishing, to him is a business of ideas, and while the medium of communication in Kachifo is at the moment paper, the company sees itself into other media; audio, video to showcase ideas. For him, the readership problem is one of the factors of the breakdown of order in the Nigerian society; even with his firm believe in the country, he thinks that the job of correcting social ill is grave. Expressing his concern for the education system in Nigeria, he analyses the issue of unemployment in Nigeria. "Many Nigerian graduates are jobless. When 600,000 graduate, only 60,000 of them get jobs and out of those, only about 30,000 of them, get the jobs that they are qualified to do, the remaining 30, 000 of them are underpaid, just add that together, year on, 600,000 year one, minus, 60,000. The remaining 540,000 what do they do, by the following year, they become, 1000080, the following year, they become 1,780,000 and it is building, up. And it has been building up for about 10 years now. And what are our government talking about, after many years spending trillions of naira, electricity don't work. Degrees have collapsed, meanwhile we have people that run this country, they talk about dedication, and they talk about efficiency. Do they look themselves in the mirror and measure their own performance against what they've done in eight years. How would they rank themselves?" And while would he with this seeming doom, still invest in books. In an economy which has shown little regard for education, and a practical development of the reading culture among its citizen. "I think we need to break the strong hold of personalities that gridlock of personalities and focus more on issues. We would move forward. It is not about people, it is about ideas, what impact those ideas make in the society. The physical manifestation of those ideas, and I am more interested in things like that."
So far the journey has been, "extremely rewarding." What exactly has been rewarding? "What has been rewarding is the work on our hands. It is not what you wear, or what you buy, in so much as what you say, to move people, or what you write down, or what you do, the ideas that you leave behind, that people can inspire and motivate people. Or what you do, that people can look at and be inspired and be motivated. When Fela used to around telling people that he was not going to die, people thought he was mad. All you have to do is go on the internet and type Fela, and see whether he is dead and alive. Almost every country in different radio stations in the world, every month, someone would play Fela's music. When they compiled the list of the most influential people after the world war, globally, his name was featured. That is what it means not to die." He relaxes against the chair and asks, "who was the richest man, when Fela was alive? " He smiles, as his question is followed with a stunned silence. "You don't know. What did they leave behind, and what has what they left behind impacted Nigerians." What this implies that Nigerians should begin to think in generations. And facing the challenges of the business world is simply to keep up with the changes in the society. "When societies change, the changes start in the realm of ideas and we want to be part of that. We are social entrepreneurs. Money is important, because money gets things done, and that is why we are not an NGO, and we are so resolutely not an NGO, and we are not going to be an NGO, and we refuse to be an NGO; we are social entrepreneurs, because we are here, and we are not satisfied with the conditions and responsibilities to be part of the change." Against the usual infrastructural problems, Bakare explains that he is not ready to capitulate. "We are not going to roll-over."
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com