When I think of the significant impact that young, gifted Nigerians like Helen Oyeyemi and Chimamanda Adichie have made on the global literary scene through their bold efforts at putting their thoughts in writing, I ask: who will wake the sleeping giants within the ranks of their Christian counterparts?
Helen and Chimamanda have something in common. Like many other gifted Nigerians, including those of earlier generations, they had the privilege of leaving the shores of their homeland to take advantage of the opportunities and better facilities available in some foreign countries. In the case of the former, it was the United Kingdom, where her parents migrated to, while the latter had her breakthrough in the United States, having gone to study in that country.
One might thus be tempted to conclude that these young women might not have attained their present status had they remained in Nigeria. Should that be true, for how long shall we tolerate the trend? Till when shall we sit by and watch the exodus of our “brightest and best” to add value to other lands?
The secular segment of the country is waking up to reality. Everyday we hear of one more thing being done to discover, nurture and develop artistic and other talents. There is an increasing realisation that such talents are not only options, but perhaps more viable ones, to be explored by our teeming youths in their quest for gainful employment and self actualisation. Are we in the Christian world going to continue in a state of lethargy while our young ones are lured through yet another avenue – from within in this case – to achieve the personal fulfilment we all crave? Many have gone and more, if something isn’t done, will go.
Brothers and Sisters, the day is far spent and it’s time we got to doing something definite about the situation. As the visionary Nehemiah would say, “Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach” (Nehemiah 2:17).
The proposed CANAAN LITERARY INITIATIVE (CALIN) is a response to this clarion call. As the name implies, it is specifically geared towards discovering, networking and bolstering the development of gifted Christian writers, and creating a first-rate and wholesomely rewarding Christian literary and publishing landscape, in Nigeria and ultimately all Africa.
Christian books abound on the shelves of our bookshops, but many are substandard, having been written by people whose qualifications to do so are questionable. Others are mere reworked versions of the spoken words or perspectives of preachers and other prominent personalities. CALIN, on the other hand, is saddled with the mission of equipping and strategically positioning genuine, gifted Christian writers to possess their land – by which we mean writers whose works are either overtly Christian or reflect a Christian perspective.
There are not only “diversities of gifts” but also “differences of administrations [or operations]” (I Corinthians 12:4,5). Though both may teach, one is particularly equipped to speak, the other to write. Greatest results are achieved when every man occupies his lot, for “as a bird that wandererth from her nest, so is a man that wandererth from his place” (Proverbs 27:8).
Also within the purview of CALIN is an aggressive campaign to inculcate the reading culture among Nigerian and other African Christians, for this indeed is the key to the most profound development of the human mind in preparation for “all good works.”
