Afan Kazé (Doug)

Formerly Doug Kazé | Associate Professor, English @UniJos | African Humanities Fellow @ACLS1919 | PhD @Rhodes_Uni || Singer-songwriter, Poet, Fiction Writer, ☕️

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

Afan Azhang Kazé 😊

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

https://t.co/PGqeEb1JzF

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

“Limbo” (@KleighIV) OUT NOW!

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

Doing the @freeman_fanatic’s #gadaraopenversechallenge

[Ikhide R. Ikheloa @ikhide]

In the sixties and seventies we had Heinemann's African Writer's Series and Fontana books. We also had Onitsha Market literature. They produced hundreds of books and many writers were writing various things about their Africa. I would argue that if you read TM Aluko, Flora Nwapa, Cyprian Ekwensi, etc. they were addressing an audience that was primarily home grown.

Fast forward to today, those structures have been largely dismantled and trying to get published in the West is like climbing the pyramid from hell. Only a handful get to the pinnacle. We have a problem.

Today there is a great body of work on the literature of that era. We cannot say the same today about this generation's literature to the extent that approximately 100 percent of it is on digital media. Traditional literary communities are fixated on the zero percent. Because they are faithful to the old paradigm - be published in books. But I am being generous, they alone do not speak for Black Africa.

Social media often reminds me of Onitsha market literature. It's a good thing. Tell your stories with what you have.

Onitsha Market literature? I once wrote about it here: https://t.co/pQZjRi6HZv

Kansas University has a rich archive of Onitsha Market literature that can be accessed and read electronically for free at: https://t.co/8UdkoXHlLm

They have justified the "piracy" by stating in fine print that most if not all the authors and their estate cannot be traced.

Well, whatever, go over there and enjoy what was basically the beginning of the democratization of narrative. It may have failed then, but social media has done it.

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

@signor_martini @_Dear_Dame @Agbutun @EricLimani

[Orhma @The_Orhma]

Nigerian music industry lies & practices I refuse to believe:

1. There is no market for any other genre
2. The audience just wants gbedu
3. Nigerians don’t consume albums, singles or nothing
4. Drop a 12 track album, promote 2 songs and move on

[SizZzle. 😎🇳🇬 @n6oflife6]

Today Boko Haram Killed about 50 soldiers. If Nigeria went into a Proper War. I highly doubt any army in the World can Butcher 50 of our soldiers in 1 day. Still No word from AsoRock. & No Speech from BAT. It’s 8:21pm, that Massacre just went like another regular Monday. 😢💔🕊️

[foxygen @foxypiano]

why are African classics so rare despite its importance? why are books we grew up reading, locally inaccessible or otherwise sold for extravagant prices in foreign sites? from a place of privilege it's easy to criminalize readers who try to access these books digitally, for lack

[servant of Allah @alouibrahim92]

The Enemy of Northern Nigeria is in Northern Nigeria. No need to look for phantom enemies or to construct some whimsical conspiracy theories; the Enemy of Northern Nigeria is from Northern Nigeria.

[Henry Oliver @HenryEOliver]

Literature is calling you to put down your phone; ignore the culture wars; block out the secondhand musings of newspaper philosophers. Turn to the great works of civilisation. See that your life is a quest for meaning. Become as ambitious as the poets whose work outlived empires.

[Dwayne Wong @DOmowale]

Thomas Sankara explained: "You have to counter a system with a system, an organization with an organization, not simply individuals full of goodwill". This is a mistake many of us continue to make. If we are not thinking in terms of building and changing systems, then we aren't really thinking about implementing actual meaningful change.

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

@juddsaul Read well.

[Entertainment Lawyer @Iamsynord]

Artistes, Copyright registration of your songs with the NCC is essential if you want to maximize the exploitation of your songs . It's a major requirement for sync placements and caller ring back tunes services in Nigeria.

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

@Gidi_Traffic Which room? 😂

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

@ScholarshipfPhd Hi

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

@Thuso1Africa This is funny. Xenophobia and ignorance of history.

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

Okay, sir 😂

[Lupin @lupinxart]

read the books you bought … read the books you bought… read the books you bought.

[Afan Kazé (Doug) @theafankaze]

Nothing has changed one bit though. People are still being killed.

[Ikhide R. Ikheloa @ikhide]

In Nigeria, Chigozie Obioma's The Road to the Country costs N15,000 (paperback) or N20,000 (hardback)

Oyin Olugbile's Sanya costs N15,000 (paperback)

Nikki May's This Motherless Land costs N10,000 (paperback) or N17,000 (hardback).

To collect all three, you would need at least N40,000. If you order online, be prepared to pay N5,000 extra.

I am going to send my niece at the University of Benin 50,000 Naira and ask her to buy all three books as a gift. I suspect she will collect my alert and go buy groceries. I wouldn't blame her. N20,000 for just one book is way out of her price range and her family is not poor. She has other pressing priorities. Literacy has been priced out of reach of most young Nigerians.

This is the issue. What are the options for addressing what I see as a national crisis? Our youngsters are reading nonstop online, reading mostly crap, and literature in books has become an elite hobby. How can the state help? How can we help?

PS, my niece here with me in the US has unfettered access to my library both online and in my house. I have all three books in hard format and on kindle. Well, Olugbile's Sanya is only available as a paperback, but I have it. 💪🏾