Recently the world of literature was
completely appalled by the demise of the celebrated African writer of all times
and seasons, Mr Chinua Achebe.
Astonishingly while his death is still very
much fresh in the memory of many in the world of literature O Bolaji has produced
another fine literary essay (book) dedicated to his friend Kunle
Apantaku. Although he may not be famous in the literary world (like
Achebe) Bolaji has successfully managed to write a book about him.
This is another brilliant, breathtaking
work of literature produced by Bolaji. Those who are familiar with
his books might tentatively think the book is one of the phenomenal fiction books
of the author. Bolaji is largely known for his excellent fiction which attains
popularity in many circles. However, in this new book dedicated to Kunle you find
a rather different style of writing that is fundamentally imperative to
quintessential literature.
Unequivocally, the author is not afraid to
ventilate his opinion concerning the current trends that attempt to change the tenor
of idyllic literature. “These days, books publishing, even among
blacks in SA, has become something of a techni-colour ‘fashion show’. The
simple truth is that few people actually read the intermittent books churned
out; the concern seems to be about how ‘beautiful’ the book looks
physically.
“In the good old days a large spectrum of
people read books regularly, and they really enjoyed devouring the printed
word. There were in-depth discussions of books by the young and the
old, and people took delight in replenishing their libraries even at home...”
Interestingly enough, the book is largely
detailed in particular about what O. Bolaji summarised on Kunle Apantaku in his
earlier book My Life and Literature. (2007). What is
central about this new book is that it provides outstanding general lessons
about literature. Conspicuously, it explains how the protagonist (Kunle)
experienced melancholic situation in congruence with his early frustrations.
Patently, we learn from this work that Kunle
Apantaku was a precocious, brilliant person since his teens; he was able to
write novels of more than 200 pages. He was a very ambitious and
optimistic young man who wished by all means to become one of the greatest
African writers idyllically acknowledged around the world. His
sacrifice for literature as a youth was gargantuan and incredible. He
was strongly affectionate about books and literature was his favourite subject;
and amusingly he even emulated Bolaji’s hand-writing!
We learn that books were Kunle’s treasure;
as his then home in Kano (Northern Nigeria) had a splendid home library which
had all kinds of literary material. Bolaji had an opportunity to
visit his family in those days and he was very impressed with the extraordinary
family library of the Apantakus’.
“It was clear that this was a family of
bibliophiles. I marvelled at the sprawling library which was almost
like a small house on its own. There were countless titles to choose
from, including many of my personal favourites. “How did you manage
to build up such a library?” I had to ask Kunle this
question. Kunle smirked. “My brothers and I love buying books
regularly and my parents, my Father and Mother are only too keen to indulge
this. We receive generous allowance all the time. And
though my younger brothers are still kids they are already reading adult
novels. This one in particular “At this stage, Kunle with a
saturnine smile, pointed at his baby brother Abiodun- “is already reading very
big books like your Sidney Sheldon. Lanre (the other brother) reads
everything...”
Dolefully, Kunle Apantaku’s agony and
suffering for literature was very excruciating; frustrations and fallacious
expectations denied him the chance to potentially become one of the greatest
African writers. However, kudos to the author (Bolaji) who excellently
manages to resurrect the literary spirit of Kunle Apantaku to the world. Kunle was exceedingly passionate about
literature!
I strongly believe that this new book
needs to be used as a guide to young people. Alas, nowadays technology in particular - smart
phones with electronic features like Facebook, Twitter and What’s up etc - gobbles
up most of the time of young people; and subsequently literature in general is
dwindling.
Comprehensively, this book reveals a most
interesting story about young boys who were so keen to be writers. The youth
throughout the continent in Africa must make efforts to read and write books.
It is completely unacceptable for literature to be the privilege or domain of
only a few people, like academics. Inevitably, literature in Africa must
flourish and avoid the current deteriorating situation.
- Review by Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga
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