Eriata Oribhabor is a poet and frontline promoter of Naija languej. He started off writing poetry in the indigenous Nigerian Pidgin currently being standardized as Naija languej. A former chairman, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Abuja Branch, Oribhabor is the brain behind Poets In Nigeria (PIN), a poetry promotion initiative. He is also the author of ‘Abuja nakpangba’ and ‘Oda puem-dem’. In this interview with IBRAHIM RAMALAN, Oribhabor talks about inspirations behind PIN and poetry in general.
You are one of the few poets around that write and promote pidgin poetry. Where did you really get the inspiration?
The inspiration came to me in an effort to bring back lost values. There are so many things we do or we say in our traditional languages that if said in another language may not really drive home the message very well. So, to me, Pidgin English falls within the traditional language so to speak. While growing up in Warri many years ago, I discovered that there were so many words we used to use that as we got matured some of these words got extinct overtime. When I was transferred out of Warri, I started documenting these words for use as a dictionary. But later on, when I attended a conference of Pidgin English in 2009, the idea of standardizing Pidgin became the main focus. One of the outcomes of that conference was not just to standardize the use of pidgin for literary usage, but also to give it a name and identity. Because if you call it Pidgin English, it is like still down there, but if you also call it Nigerian Pidgin, it is a little bit better.
Could Pidgin be described as a language?
Now, when you describe it as a language on its own, it means it can stand on its own like say French, Hausa and any other recognized languages around the world. It could as well be studied around the world. That is however what is lacking. SO it is no more called Pidgin, it is now called ‘Naija Langwej’. Very soon, the dictionary of Naija Langwej will come out.
So if you ask me what informed me, I would say to document our words, phrases and sentences so that they don’t get extinct. Secondly, I want to promote traditional language. Come to think of it, Pidgin English as at today is the most widely spoken language in this country.
You started Poets In Nigeria (PIN), a literary promotion initiative. There other initiatives already on ground. What is so distinct about PIN?
PIN was established to promote poetry. We grew up to discover that poetry is like mathematics or arithmetic as a subject. That is to say that poetry is mathematics in literature that most people dread. The question now is, why do people dread poetry? The answer is, it is because poetry has always been written in an old-fashioned ways. It is so encoded that you need to decode and I discover that only a few people have such a luxury of time for decoding. That is why we took up the initiative of promoting assessable poetry, poetry that people would easily read and enjoy without losing the features of poetry. I think poetry doesn’t need to always be written in concrete languages that people can hardly understand. So, Poets In Nigeria is a renaissance in the vanguard of stimulating creativity in a multiple directions.
How do you operate?
We are doing that through so many platforms and events. We just had the Nigerian Poetry Prize, we have the Ten-day monthly poetry challenge. We have the food poetry online and many others. We have connect-centers around the country. Right now we have Agyaragu Connect Centre, Akwanga Connect Centre, Keffi Connect Centre, Kano, Makodi, Calabar connect centres. So it is just a renaissance in trying to take poetry to people’s doorsteps and let them see that creativity actually started from poetry. Believe me, very soon Pidgin poetry will soon take over Nigeria’s literary space.
How do you source funds to drive this initiative?
It is purely based on individual contributions. We put our resources together to render this selfless service to humanity. PIN will be two years by this October. So many people couldn’t believe it is two year old because the initiative has got itself busy with a lot of activities.
What is your call on the government and other spirited individuals to come and buy into this initiative?
Yes, I believe this idea is highly marketable. It is something that people could easily buy into, especially now that we cry everyday that the reading culture is declining. Why won’t reading culture decline when you don’t have functional libraries around? How would the people read when you don’t provide the right ambience for people? How will a reading culture improve when the politics of a country is not encouraging at all – where considerable value is placed on immaterial things? PIN is promoting poetry but is also using poetry to stimulate reading entirely. Poetry is the foundation of literature. So, why do we tend to forget the foundation – where the fabrics supposed to rest – and be promoting other trivial things? Therefore, I believe that with poetry, creativity at its best would be given attention.
A lot of people believe that poets and writers are not appreciated in Nigeria. What is your take on this?
Poets and writers are appreciated. The level of appreciation is the question. It is so because we are in a corruption ridden society where merit is compromised daily in all ramifications. What do you expect? This is why continuous promotion of literature and writing is vital towards changing orientations for good. Meanwhile, as long as a country’s politics is wrong, the concept of the good life; the essence of politics, will keep nosediving to the detriment of the citizenry.
What is your advice to young poets?
My advice to poets is to always read wide. Write. Read. And, be open to critiquing. Finally, writing should be seen beyond writing for writing sake or, poetry for poetry sake. Poetry should be seen as a vital tool for reorienting people towards greatness.
