Written by GREGORY AUSTIN NWAKUNOR.
THE setting could not have been more perfect. The Lagos Island. The place has put on its finery — The beautiful skyline, with streetlight illuminating the neighbourhood. There’s a dash of Sedan and Sports Utility Vehicle, as they crisscrossed the streets. Nneoma Obiageli Igwegbe is ensconced in the lounge of a quiet, elegant hangout.
She’s just had a reading of her work, Trillion Dollar Race, and soaked in the cadence, expletives and praises of her craft and was ready to unburden her soul to her guest before she dashed back to her base in Awka.
At 27, Nneoma wears the innocence of a teenager, but breathes the confidence of an adult. Her book is about solution to Nigeria’s problems: Not a subject many people of her age are brave enough to tackle. But she’s very different.
What made her choose fiction as the best genre to talk about solutions to Nigeria’s problems?
“It was more like a calling. After Law School, I practiced for a while, but I had a burning message in my heart that kept me captive for years behind my computer, it was as if this was something I simply had to do and that’s how the Trillion Dollar Race trilogy was born,” she says, over a drink.
According to the lady, “as a scholar of international law, many think it’s best for me to write law books. But I feel that fiction is the best way to reach out to everyone. Everyone needs to hear this story, not only lawyers and academics. So, I chose to write fiction because it’s the best way to speak directly to the masses in a language that everyone will appreciate. I actually grew up in a world of books, and in my undergraduate years, I spent half of my time at the university library, poring over great books encompassing the works of masters from science to psychology, economics and politics. In the literature section, I fell in love with Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. Franz Kafka’sMetamorphosis was also a revelation and for me the greatest love of all was Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.”
Nneoma says, her eyes scanning the movement around the hangout, “the best part of Trillion Dollar Race is that it can make you a billionaire. Someone was complaining that in America, there are over three thousand dollar-billionaires, but in Nigeria, we do not have up to 20. This trilogy is an eye opener. It contains all the secrets to make ordinary people billionaires. Even if they have no connections or rich uncles or massive bank loans. It’s our only chance of getting more black billionaires from among the masses.”
She smiles, “after writing the Trillion Dollar Race, I was worried that people, especially the youths, are not easily intrigued by the idea of investing in a book. So, I created a game just like Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The book has 12 chapters of which each goes for a hundred naira, each week from October to December, a question will be asked on the Trillion Dollar Race website and facebook page in which the fastest finger to answer correctly wins fantastic prizes even up to one million naira at the grand finale.”
Utterly confident, Nneoma says in a voice that is tiny and not strong enough to fill a room. “It’s an exciting new project. Though, I am aware that Nigerians are wary of getting scammed on Internet, but this is a sincere project to draw everyone into experiencing this book. A regular literature reader will recognise the importance of a book from the reviews and may decide to buy, but 70 per cent of the people will rather spend on recharge cards, music, games, movies and other fun things. So, I decided to make this great reading experience more fun for everyone.”
The legal personnel adds, “another advantage of this project is that people who buy the book will not just leave it to gather dust on their bookshelves without opening it. Knowing they can win a prize from the weekly quiz emanating from the chapter of the week will motivate them to read it from cover to cover. And they’ll find that the greatest benefit of participating in the game is not whether they win the prizes, but the fact that this book can make them billionaires; so, I was tempted to name the game Who Wants to be a Billionaire? But finally settled for Trillion Dollar Race Game.”
NNEOMA is bright and enthusiastic, utterly self-assured and charmingly open like a new page. She says, candidly, “I think that literature today is now tilting from aesthetic art to commercialisation. You’ll find that the current global trend is for authors and publishers to churn out books in series the same way apple churns out new models of the i-phone every year or Toyota has a new series of the Camry every year. So, you see that Harry Potter ends up with seven books, if you go to Amazon, some even have up to 10 series. I think that literature is being diluted for mass appeal and merchandising.”
She says, “I believe that not being a virtuoso should not stop you from telling a story if it’s important enough and it’s what people need to know. For me, it is very important that your story has a universal theme. I constantly have this argument with my editor and one of my friends and he says that the most important thing that’ll make a book a best seller is the style of the author and he gave me the example of Chimamanda and kept saying to me, go and read Half Of A Yellow Sun. Now, I am a fan of Chimamanda and I’ve had her books since 2008, and so, I’ve read Half Of Yellow Sun up to three times. I explained to him that what stands out in Purple Hibiscus is Catholicism. And since there are many Catholics all over the world, it qualifies as a universal theme that anyone anywhere in the world can relate to, and as such, be sufficiently interested to get the book. The second theme in the book, which focuses on domestic abuse, is also relatable anywhere in the world. I mean Rihanna built a massive career on a domestic abuse case.
“These are relevant issues that people are concerned about. Then you look at Half Of Yellow Sun, the themes of war and love are what bestsellers are built on all over the world. If you watch American pop culture, you’ll find that, even till date, they find a way to chip in the Second World War, Hitler, Nazis, and Vietnam veterans, most times,” retorts Nneoma.
She adds, “the theme of Things Fall Apart was colonialism, which was an extremely big issue in 1958 when the classic was published. This was a time when Africans were seen as animals, even as late as 1958, Belgium held a human zoo fair. There were human zoos all over Europe like any other animal zoo and people were paying to come and watch them and feed them bananas. So, his book tried to tell the world that Africans were humans like any other human being anywhere else in the world, with pride, culture and civilisation a long time before the white man came to Africa. That is what I mean by a universal theme. I am saying that style plus a great story is recipe for a bestseller, so, we should not overlook the importance of having a big enough theme.”
So, what are the most important qualities of a writer that she learnt on the street?
“You’ll have to be a really good eavesdropper and maybe an agent provocateur to hear both sides and get a balanced view on issues and you’ll also need a shipload of patience with your work and with family, friends and strangers who may not understand your chosen career path,” she says.
The Ichida native says, “I spend a lot of time online trying to study the minds of Nigerians. I’m at large a psychologist and philosopher, and so, I tend to try to figure people out. It’s fascinating to get into people’s minds and try to understand them. During my research on Nigeria for Trillion Dollar Race, which is set in Nigeria, UK and America, just after the Second World War till Nigeria’s independence, I kept saying to myself, ‘if I ever meet Awolowo, I’ll have to ask him ‘what the hell were you thinking?’ General Ibrahim Babangida said that ‘Awolowo, for four decades, had remained the issue in Nigerian politics’; once you understand the truth about Awolowo, you’ll understand why Nigeria is the way it is today. It’s about time our elders started telling us the real truth as many eyewitnesses have gone to the grave or are very close to the grave and a lot of truth will die with them, forever leaving the youths in perpetual darkness. I think what we need more than unity in this country. We even need truth more than light, water and good roads in Nigeria today.”
What’s the most valuable piece of career advice she’d given herself?
Haah! She draws a long laugh and breathes, “I asked myself what is the most important legacy I’ll love to leave on earth? What will it be that if I drop dead right here, right now before the age of 29 that I won’t mind going? It won’t be money or cars or gadgets or houses, because it’ll take a stadium-sized grave to bury you with all that. I figured that it’d be the legacy of a better life for my fellow human beings. So, I followed the path that could do the greatest good to the greatest number of people.”
What does she most hope that people remember her for outside her book?
A puzzle look comes over the young lady. She glances across the table and says, “I want to be remembered for transforming Eastern Nigeria to New York or Dhabi. That’s a project I strongly believe in and I am willing to dedicate my time and resources to achieving this dream. I also call on all Easterners to identify with this project, which will be clearer to understand after reading Trillion Dollar Race.”
Trivia
NNEOMA attended Federal Government College, Okigwe, Imo State, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. She is a lawyer by training, but currently pursuing a Ph.D in international law. She is also the author of the blog, www.trilliondollarrace.blogspot.com. She is from Ichida, Anaocha Local Council of Anambra State and is the second of six children. Her mother is a Deputy Registrar, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State.
“I probably spend a quarter of my day on research because I’m a doctorate student, I spend another quarter writing, another quarter running my establishment called Imago Global Concepts and another quarter doing what everybody else does,” she says.
Like what?
“You know na,” she smiles.
Who is your role model?
“God, and Jesus,” she says.
You want to know her favourite holiday spot?
“
Any place where I can find peace and quiet.”
Her favourite food is pounded yam with Edikang Ikong. “I am a very good cook,” she adds, brimming in smiles.
What is your favourite holiday gadget?
“I take my laptop everywhere, because I love to be able to put down my ideas once they come,” Nneoma confesses.
Her fashions style involves African fabrics such as Ankara, Kente or Aso oke.
Culled from: Guardian Newspaper
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/life-magazine/on-the-cover/182529-panacea-to-nigeria-s-problems-let-s-hear-it-from-the-girl
