short-story-writers-from-nigeria

"This is an insightful drama about people groping in the dark in their search for the truth until they come into contact with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ ( The Way, The Truth and The Life, The Only Way back to God), give their lives to Jesus, accept Him as their personal Saviour and Lord and have eternal life."

"A system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing"

"It describes vividly the role played by Nigerian educational institutions in shaping African Literature.The presentation makes it abundantly clear that Nigerian educational institutions (both formal and informal) play a significant role in shaping creative African Literature through encouraging creative writing programmes and workshops, establishing literary clubs and organisations, hosting literary festivals and events, providing resources and mentorship, among others.A few recommendations are proffered. Parents at home and school authorities in schools should encourage the young ones to develop their creative writing abilities and have a great passion for African Literature."

"A language is shared by an ethnic group or a particular country or region."

"The issue of which language is most appropriate for expressing an authentic African experience in creative African writing is a polemic one. Opinions are divided on what can best express African Literature and what African Literature is. This essay makes a synopsis of the views of the various schools of thought on both subjects before taking a position. It maintains that the medium of African literary expression, in the particular circumstance, French, faces the challenges of globalization and liberalization so much so that it has passed from its derogatory status of colonial master's language/Foreign or European Language in colonial African Literature to sarcastic but more acceptable inherited or imported language in postcolonial Francophone African Literature. The present trend, in postmodern African creative writing of French Expression, shows a marked evolution and transformation ..."

"The study shows that the evidence is overwhelming: prevention is a crucial and effective way to address substance use and disorders associated with it. By investing in prevention programmes and strategies, we can actually reduce the risk factors which lead to substance use disorder, improve the overall health and well-being and save lives. It is high time we shifted our focus from treating solely substance use disorder to also investing in prevention."

"This definition introduces the element of ethnicity or regionalism."

"An award is a landmark for any writer, because it shows that it is a measure of a standard that you have improved in your writing."

"Parents dream of us leaving Makoko and doing better than they did for them- selves, and eventually we dream it too, all the while knowing it to be an elusive fantasy."

"Makoko is what the outsiders had originally called our settlement hundreds of years ago, due to its abundance of akoko leaves, and the name stuck for the community on the Lagos coast just across from the Third Mainland Bridge. To strangers, it’s a slum, a metallic and wooden eyesore built over a stinking bed of ever-mounting sewage, spreading out across the smoke-filled horizon. For the government, it’s the impediment between even larger coffers for them and prime waterfront real estate. But to us, who are from here, Makoko is simply home."

"A person must have many other lives on Makoko in order to eat and sleep."

"The Nigerian government likes to pretend that we don’t exist, but we’ve been here for hundreds of years, our wooden houses resting proudly on their stilts above Lagos’s charcoal-coloured lagoon. We’ll remain here for some time, no matter how many attempts they make to push us out."

"...Not many of us have done it, yet that hope pulses within us like a beacon."

"When a man is looking... happy..., the woman in his life deserve commendation."

"there are only two things that 'qualify' an individual to even nurse a political ambition in our country... They are money and the strong backing of a godfather."

"It was home of the legendary CMS Grammar School, the oldest secondary school in the country, as well as Methodist Boys’ High School. It was also home to some movie stars and music icons like Obesere, Olamide, 9ice and Lil Kesh. Prominent tertiary institutions such as the University of Lagos and the Federal College of Education, Technical were just down the road."

"Our father and our God, are ask that you cure Anjola of her Yoruba stubbornness! Our merciful father, we know that Yoruba Stubbornness is a serious disease; it is a disease that is difficult to cure but we trust in your supreme power, oh God, because you are the God of Possibilities."

"Is it true that Igbo people in Imo are better than those in Anambra? That they are more hospitable, better organised and generally more elevated?"

"The unfortunate class of homeless Lagosians"

"You are a fresh graduate with little knowledge of the dynamics of your country. The northerners are good people but you've got to be ready to identify with them, demonstrate that you are a part of them, before you can benefit from their kindness[...] You have to claim to be a northerner to get a job in the north."

"I took a firm decision also not to share my misery with any of my mates because I knew what advice most of then would proffer. They would tell me I had no option but to succumb. They would give me a thousand and one names of students, past and present, who had succumbed; that I should be 'realistic'. And so I kept the matter to myself. I was suffering internally; I was going through agony trying to think of a way out. Nonetheless, I managed to maintain a calm exterior as I went about my other academic activities."

"“hellish” to travel to work in the morning and a “nightmare of intractable traffic and bad roads” in the evening"

"Once you set foot in Underground City, you felt its touch and its breath on you."

"I can take care of myself."

"A conglomeration of roguishly built shanty homes, it flanked the Sambo creek, a torrid expanse of water twisting like loins to the sea."

"Don't look at your travails as a north-west problem. It's a national problem. The country needs help."

"Inter-ethnic marriage [I]s a weapon of peace and harmonious co-existence among the numerous ethnic groups in Nigeria."

"What's the difference between a Yanmirin and an animal? Can the offspring of a hen be a duck?"

"She stared at her reflection in the huge mirror… she hated the sight that greeted her – the large landscape of a forehead, the flared nostrils that were begging for a surgeon’s knife, the puffy lips, the spaced out eyes and the gap between the two incisors, which could clearly accommodate another tooth. She was a monstrosity to look at without make-up."

"That yellow house wey get green-white-green for doormat and opposite am you go see Mama Sikirat beer parlour or when you reach the end of the street, you go see one plank like bridge wey dey near Holy Ghost Church, cross am and in front you go see the house wey get tap for de front.”"

"“‘Oga mi, wole kanle, eleyi gbomo,’” – “My boss, you need to park properly; this passenger has a child with them"

"Outside, a bird chirruped short piercing cries, like mocking laughter."

"When I arrived home... [I] met my mother sitting on the cement slab outside the kitchen door, looking agitated. She said my father had gone out with Ify because Dayo, my immediate elder brother, wanted to make trouble. She said Dayo was categorical in his rejection of Ify because he was Igbo and had threatened to ensure that the marriage never happened... My mother said there was something disturbing about the way he spoke; she said she detected a level of vehemence that was troublesome... Finally, everybody was home and all hell was let loose. Dayo's vituperations astounded me."

"The Anambra Igbos are not just good, they are far better than the Imo Igbos.The Anambra people are the genuine and authentic Igbos. Besides, look around you, nearly every great Igbo person in this country is from Anambra - Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chinua Achebe, Odumegwu Ojukwu, Emeka Anyoku; the list is long. You have spent close to one year in Anambra and you have tasted their hospitality. What further proof do you need?"

"The ocean refused to be still; it took more, claimed more, and retreated less but paradoxically the hungry sea left behind more of its unwanted children, its vomit littering Scorpion’s little patch of beach-front: a seagull’s skull, uncapped beer bottles, horse scat, empty packets of cigarettes, the left foot of a size twelve shoe, a dead army of used condoms, and an old deflated football."

"I WOULD CHANGE HOW THE WORLD PERCEIVES WOMEN”"

"IN SOCIAL JUSTICE, ACTIVISTS WHO RAGE IN THEIR SMALL TWITTER AND FACEBOOK CORNERS, WHO HOLD UP PLACARDS IN THE FACE OF INJUSTICE OR A NEED ARE REBELS."

"I believe this was their way of ensuring we understood our heritage, where we came from, who we were and what we stood for. I think that is really key for any child to know who they are and be proud and confident in that.""

"My mum always taught us not to expect favours but to work hard to make our way in life and to aim to get things through merit."

"In a society, a woman should be able to tolerate others, work with others and maintain a very humble attitude towards others but at the same time be herself."

"Men and women complement each other in a home and in the society at large. God has given each a place, a role and responsibilities. It does not make one any better than the other or give any the right to lord it over or ill-treat the other."

"Our writers must continue to educate our people and promote the cause of nation-building by producing powerful, inspiring and enduring works of art."

"Bombing the Terrorists with planes from the skies is not enough, we have to go to the source of their sinning souls and bomb them, condemn them and shame them, with all the power of our pens, our computers, our smartphones and our creative works!"

"....The prestige African literature enjoys globally today is a result of the ground-breaking work done by Achebe (especially with his Things Fall Apart) and a few other writers like him."

"Responsibility is active. Vigilant. Actions become character and character becomes destiny. . .the moment you see something is wrong, you have a responsibility."

"Be like the tortoise- grow a hard shell to protect your strong heart. Be like the eagle- soar above your pain and carry the banner and the wonder of our lives to the farthest corners of the world. Build your strength. Destiny is difficult."

"What hope is there for individual reality or authenticity when the forces of violence and orthodoxy, the earthly powers of guns and bombs and manipulated public opinion make it impossible for us to be authentic and fulfilled human beings? The only hope is in the creation of alternative values, alternative realities. The only hope is in daring to redream one's place in the world - a beautiful act of imagination, and a sustained act of self becoming. Which is to say that in some way or another we breach and confound the accepted frontiers of things."

"Craft is important. The greater the idea, the greater the craft you need."

"Quiet people are the most dangerous."

"Our society is a battlefield. Poverty, corruption and hunger are the bullets. Bad governments are the bombs."