Last Saturday, leading figures of Ibadan’s intellectual community gathered at RovingHeights Bookstore, Old Bodija, for a book reading and conversation with Navy Captain Umar Abubakar Sidi.
Sidi who is the author of the novel, The Incredible Dreams of Garba Darkaskus was engaged by the moderator, Poet laureate and the 2013 Winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature, Tade Ipadeola.
The curator of the event, Femi Morgan, stated that Sidi was one of the few authors who place high premium on engaging authors and readers across Nigerian cities. He stated that despite Sidi’s regimented work life as a soldier, he has been able to produce impressive works of poetry and a novel, and travel across major cities to meet and have robust conversations with people about culture, literature and the arts.
Morgan stated that Sidi’s novel, The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus, was shortlisted for the NOMMO Prize for speculative fiction and the Dublin Literary Award, while his poetry have been twice shortlisted for the Association of Nigerian Authors Prize in 2018 and 2023.
Acknowledging the presence of all the persons in the audience, he paid special homage to Professor Mark Nwagwu, Professor Sola Olorunyomi, and Ipadeola, for remaining an inspiration and backbone for Ibadan’s intellectual fervor.
While moderating the event, Ipadeola stated that Sidi’s work is impressive and aligns with the notion of Mikhail Baktin, a cultural philosopher who stressed the need for broad experimentation in storytelling because the novel is not bound by strict rules or categories. Ipadeola stressed that the book caricatures ‘political animals’ in modern society, delves into history and explores cities.
He noted that the Dublin Literary Award must have regarded Sidi’s work because of its range, its narrative force and for Sidi’s development of the book as the central character.
Ipadeola asked questions on his creative process, the centering of Africa in his novel in what he described as a globally contested landscape of narratives. He also engaged him in surrealism, one of the philosophies that shaped Sidi’s poetry.
For Ipadeola, Sidi novel was a book that he would love to write as the book explores tyranny, power struggle, civilizations, metaphysics, and psychological trauma. Ipadeola thanked Sidi’s publisher, Masobe, for taking a chance on a novel as many publishers would have expressed skepticism. He stressed that Masobe has begun to change the landscape of African publishing despite the challenge of capital and systems that has plagued the publishing industry.
Umar Sidi responded that it took him six years to complete the novel. He said that what led him to write it was that many Nigerian novels which he read had begun to have a similar, predictable, and linear storytelling outlook. For him, a writer must aspire to stretch his own imagination, explore the several possibilities of stories and voices, and broaden the mind of the reader.
Sidi also stated that he had influences from Ben Okri and Italo Calvino to write a novel he would love to read. He stressed that his novel was also inspired by the exploration of Timbuktu and the several underground cities of knowledge and civilizations in Africa. For him, subtle and blatant colonisation of the African peoples dealt a blow on the knowledge and civilization of underground cities and knowledge systems found in cities like Timbuktu, Sokoto and Ife.
Responding to how he was able to balance the regimen of military life with his creative output, Sidi noted that he practiced Salman Rushdie’s approach of taking a hot bath to wash away the salesman to consciously become the writer every day. He also stated that he always kept awake after work hours by drinking coffee.
While exploring the question of the publishing industry, Ipadeola broached the urgent need for federal, state and local government investment in libraries. However, Mrs Sylvia Oyinlola, a governance NGO expert, prodded further to stress that individuals and NGOs can support, institutionalize libraries as part of their legacies instead of spending money on lavish parties and luncheons. She also stated that we need to build respect and dignity for books, authors and the creative ecosystem to increase the value of creativity.
The event was graced by Professors Nwagwu and Olorunyomi, Oyinlola, Segun Ayoade, a governance and brand strategist, Sogo Faloye, technology strategist and Chief Operating Officer of Fairchild Media. Other members of the audience were Mrs Jane Orire, a forensic criminologist, Servio Gbadamosi, Poet and Publisher at Noirledge, naval soldiers, lecturer and poet, Mr Waliyulah Tunde, students of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, culture enthusiasts and advocates.
