By; ADAMA JOHN, Lokoja.
A professor of English and African Literature, Prof. Ayodele Anthony Bamidele has called on African writers to begin to envision and invent imaginatively, a better and brighter image of Africa that is full of hope for a better tomorrow.
Prof. Bamidele made the call while presenting the 22nd Inaugural Lecture of the Federal University Lokoja (FUL) with the theme: “Beyond Entertainment: Unravelling the African Novel as a Utilitarian Art”, in Lokoja over the weekend.
He urged that the African novel necessarily, has to be committed to the agenda of making Africa a better place to live in rather than pursue the bourgeois formalist school of thought which negates the colonial and post-colonial reality of Africa.
The professor said that after colonialism came the struggle for nationalism which saw African writers file up side by side with politicians to agitate for the independence of African countries.
He described the eventual “Flag Independence” as a sham because the gains of independence did not diffuse from the new men of power to the masses thereby, negating the essence of the agitation.
The Professor of African Literature pointed out that with African leaders imbibing exploitative capitalism of the West, the flag independence became a huge disappointment leading to disenchantment and disillusionment that enveloped the entire African
continent.
He said that what the vast majority of the people did not know about the flag independence was that it was a mere treacherous exchange of batons between the outgoing master and his few trusted heirs.
As a result, he noted that the Africans who took over power from the colonialists had their loyalties to the external authority in Europe and America instead of Africa with Brenton wood institutions dictating the economic growth and pace of African nations.
“Since independence, in most African nations, it has been tales of woe that betide Africa. It is a sorry tale of coups d’état, civil wars that occasioned bloodshed, political trickery, and socio-economic dysfunctionality”.
These he said, culminated in estrangement and disillusionment on the part of the masses of Africa, adding that the scenario set the stage for the poetics of liberation struggle in Africa and highlighting the nexus between Literature and Politics.
Prof. Bamidele faulted the argument by some scholars that literature should have nothing to do with politics describing the statement itself as a political statement.
“Literature finds content and sustenance in every facet of society and is thus necessarily emblematic of the society that produces it”, he said.
He therefore implored African writers not to be daunted or circumscribed by Neo-colonialism apologists but envision Africa from a new perspective of brighter light at the end of the tunnel.
In his welcome address, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi, Vice Chancellor of the University reiterated the place of inaugural lectures as requirement for confirmation of an academic professorship.
Prof. Akinwumi applauded the inaugural Lecturer, Prof. Bamidele as he scored his presentation, composition, currency, choice of words, resourcefulness and analysis all above board and more than “fantastic”.
The Vice Chancellor announced that the Professor of English and African Literature did not disappoint him saying that Bamidele, had proved his mettle and was therefore, “discharged and acquitted” and now, fully confirmed as a professor.
