EVEN though it is the policy of the NLNG 'not to do mediocre, or second best or consolation prizes,' it must be stated that it is no mean achievement to have emerged among the first three out of a total of 123 entries. Chinyere Obi-Obasi, Ayodele Olofintuade and Mai Nasara deserve our unreserved congratulations. They have proved that they are talented writers with lots of promises, and we should never forget that, as critics and Judges, we depend upon their creative genius. Indeed, as stated by a philosopher,Who would choose to be a literary critic if he could set verse to sing, or compose but of his natural being a character that will endure'It is against this background that we must judge the achievement of all the entries. They have composed and sung and developed remarkable fictional characters, based upon their observation and engagement with contemporary social, cultural and political events. In short, they have retold the story of contemporary Nigeria in significant fictional forms for the education and entertainment of our children. Their themes confirm this in the fullness of their range and scope. They include kidnapping, slavery, the horror of poverty and homelessness, superstition, early or forced child marriage, domestic violence, cultism, drugs, pollution and the problems of individual and public health, environmental degradation, climate change, oppressive African traditions, among others. Most of the writers got it right, I would say, in their choice of subject matter and theme. The difference was in the handling, in the maturity of the individual writers and in their ability to flesh out their stories in terms of characters and to invent significant plots that engage our attention through action and dialogue. A lot of the writers lacked the linguistic and literary skills to hold the reader's attention and sustain a form worthy of a prestigious competition like this one. Their genius simply fell short.Yet it must be mentioned here that there are others who occupy a significant middle ground, who fell short in terms of the genre but not of the genius. They wrote what I would call great Literature but not great Children's Literature, for Children's Literature is a genre in its own right and, as pointed out in our first meeting, that means that certain things qualify, while others do not. Two entries are worthy of mention in this regard:(1) Sweet Mother, by Chinedu Aroh(2) Against All Odds, by Olaedo IzuagbaThey both told riveting stories, with commendable literary and linguistic competence but came short of some generic expectations. Unfortunately for them NLNG does not do consolation prizes!As enumerated by the NLNG document, there are significant 'hazards' associated with the whole process which if not properly handled, could lead to protests, boycotts and the attendant negative publicity and impact on the company's identity and corporate branding.To avoid this, the work of the Judges must not only be as open as transparent as possible, but must be seen to be so by concerned stakeholders. We therefore had to avoid the usual subjective indulgence and come up with a rational or 'objective' schema for scoring the entries.In my initial scoring, The Great Fall had 68%, while Eno's Story had 65%, with The Missing Clock a close third at 64%.After our second meeting in Lagos, however, I have gone back to the texts, read and reread them with greater critical scruple still using our criteria as a general guide. The result is a slightly different ranking order.All three (3) texts are based on interesting stories. The Missing Clock and The Great Fall however share a common sociology: they are both based on urban middle-class families, their structural contexts are similar.The Missing Clock is interesting, however, from the viewpoint of its symbolism. Banji, a four-year old, plants a rabbit-eared clock in his parents' garden, hoping that it will grow and yield more clocks. He had picked up the idea of gardening from his parents and the thrust of the entire story is in fact about agriculture in its most technical and modern sense, i.e. agribusiness. The symbol of the clock is therefore significant: what Banji plants is actually not a clock, but the technological rationale it represents. Science took root in the household of the Tobes (through Banji's navet) leading them from dependency and economic insecurity to self-sufficiency and financial security.The Missing Clock brings together characters that represent a macrocosm of Nigeria (Mr & Mrs Tobe = Yoruba; the Ekwensis = Ibo; Ugu = Ibo; Mrs Hauwa Uche and Gaskiya Micro Finance = Hausa') but the larger canvas is a fully digitized contemporary world of mobile phones and e-commerce: www.timelyvegetables.com.The Great Fall is very much like The Missing Clock in being naturalistic, with its very middle-class family setting with a house help (Rashida and Alphonso in The Missing Clock) RAV 4 jeep, foreign trips, weetabix, cheeseballs etc, with children who are taught middle-class etiquette as though we had suffered a time warp to the colonial 50's: 'Use the napkin to wipe your mouth. You are a lady you know.' And to cap it all Mr. Mba has 'deep blue eyes.'In the traditional setting, folktales were a way of teaching ancient wisdom, and of transmitting social and cultural mores from one generation to another. Today, in the face of 'rapid transmission and modernisation,' the tales have all but disappeared. Obi Obasi's represents a formal attempt to retrieve ancient wisdom for the education and entertainment of middle-class children.... If The Missing Clock teaches agribusiness, The Great Fall teaches computer: 'Go to Google Search engine...' etc.Obviously, both Mai Nasara and Obi Obasi handle their material with some measure of competence and assurance (especially the latter) but one or two inconsistencies are worth pointing out. Obi Obasi rails against negative tendencies in the oral tale, but as a storyteller she herself exhibits some of those tendencies. Sule with his kola-strained teeth, and Ibrahim 'the greedy boy' ' bringing to the fore those 'negative ethnic colorations' that are not quite permissible in Children's Literature.The Missing Clock falters in its narrative strategy. Banji had promised to tell the story of how he made his parents rich, but he ends up being not the narrator but a mere 'catalytic agent.'Eno's Story takes us to a lower rung of the social ladder, and introduces us to a more elemental setting. The issues at stake are basic: hunger, homelessness, ignorance and superstition. Eno is doomed for being precocious or intelligent in an ignorant or superstitious society. The plot is direct and simple and the story is told in racy prose. Characterisation is one of its strong points: with a few strokes of the brush, Olofintuade is able to bring solid characters into being like an accomplished painter. Uncle Etim represents the Voice of Superstition, as does the cruel Pastor Erasmus. They are both ignorant but unforgettable. Eno's Papa, the cool Voice of Reason 'drowns' in a mysterious accident, but returns as a deus ex machina to give the story the desired melodramatic resolution in the denouement. But the most memorable character of all is Eno, standing arms akimbo and solidly 'defamiliarising' the word 'witch.' She joins the other 'witches' in a colony of homeless children away from the wicked world of adults, and soon begins to teach them that they are not witches. The fault lies not with them, but with those who brand them as witches. They are 'just ignoramuses.' Being a god story teller, (in fact the prototype of a writer), Eno tells the children stories that make them 'scream with laughter' in spite of their deprivation.Illustration is a major criterion of Children's Literature, and Eno's Story is one of the most beautifully illustrated children's stories I have ever read.On the whole, compared to the other two on our final list of three (3) I would say that Eno's Story is the most compelling story, especially in its ability to bring us in touch with the basic human emotions and to focus our imagination on an essentially human dilemma. I have therefore rearranged my earlier ranking and scored it higher than the other two as follows, regardless of the fact that they appeal to or address different levels of the educational ladder:1. Eno's Story80%2. The Great Fall67%3. The Missing Clock62%G. OBSERVATIONS1. By instituting this prize, NLNG is contributing immensely to the education of the Nigerian citizenry. A contribution to education is a contribution to national development because education (the opening up of minds) is a major element in any national development effort.2. One of the goals of the national policy on education is 'the training of the mind in the understanding of the world around.' Literature has a major role to play here, and it is therefore right to have instituted a prestigious prized in Literature.3. The prize itself (now 100,000 USD) represents a huge economic empowerment for the individual winner.4. All the 42 books shortlisted this year are by authors from the Southern part of the country. Indeed, out of a total of one hundred and twenty three 123 entries, only two (2) are by authors from the North of the country.'Concluded
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