My writing is inspired by God – Mohammed

Born into a polygamous family of four mothers,  Mrs Farida Mohammed who attended Ahmadu Bello University from where she obtained her double honours in BA Ed. Education/ English  is consummate writer and one of fast –breaking creative writers from Northern Nigeria. But it is actually a series of event of her childhood that set her on the intellectual path. In this interview with AGOZINO AGOZINO, the Minna, Niger State-based author of collection of poetry , A Dance with the Ocean ,Sand on the Foot of a god, among others throws light on how her creative odyssey started. She also discusses crucial issues on Nigerian literary scene. Excerpts

Give a background of your education and where you were born.

I was born into a polygamous home of four mothers but I was father’s favorite. I was born on 13th Nov 1967 and I started my primary education at the age of six at Godo Primary School, Sapele. It was in those days that the yardstick for admission was riveting the hand above the head to touch the opposite ear. I could recall that my own did not touch; perhaps it was because as a child I was shy and timid. Nevertheless, I was admitted and I was to finish in 1979, when my father transferred his sojourn to Minna and naturally we all moved with him. As a child my first encounter with books was Undesirable Element  by Mohammed Sule, Too Cold for Comfort, and Pace-Satters book. In those days Undesirable Element had made waves and was in almost all hand. My real contact with books was when I got into form one in Gulu, Women’s Science Teachers’ college, in 1989. Strictly speaking, I was also into James Hardley Chase world, though my teachers felt it was two high for me. Perhaps in terms of the pornography on the cover pages, thus I was introduced into a plot of sensational world, full not only of chaos and intrigues, but fast-moving. I now became thrilled, reading everything that came my way, Burning Grass, Weep Not, Child, The Concubine. I cannot recall the order. They were a bit difficult for me then.

I mistakenly entered Madaki Primary School at Bosso Road into Primary 5 in 1980 believing that  Primary 6 would be too high for me. After my primary education I did a common entrance and got admission into Women Science Teachers college, Gulu. Then I got admission into College of Education (COE) Minna in 1990 to read English Primary Education Studies. Then I got a direct entry into Ahmadu Bello University to read double honours BA Ed. Education/ English. So I can teach Education as well as English. I also opted for Public Admin in National Open University for my Masters in Public Administration . I also did journalism, Post Graduate Diploma. At present, I am doing my defence in Masters in teaching English as a second language in ABU, Zaria, 2016. I am a voracious reader, I learn a lot outside the classroom.

You know when you are reading books, you naturally start imbibing the spirit of writing. I started writing my first poems in secondary school, in form 3, and my short stories, I have not published them but they helped trigger the writing of my major works.

What was it like growing up?

Growing up was fun. I grew up into a happy family with a disciplinarian father who was an engineer who had travelled as far as England and other places. Although I said my father was a disciplinarian I don’t remember an occasion of an altercation between him and my mother. My family was the type that was full of love. My mother was not highly educated. I know she had been to an elementary school. She was the house-wife types.

I remember many people bringing vehicles to my father’s workshop which was very big indeed. Whenever I visited the workshop I was treated as oga’s daughter with great respect. We had many boys who did the chores in our house for us girls such as laundry, cleaning, and even cooking sometimes. These boys where those brought as acolytes to my father’s workshop for apprenticeship, as we were in Sapele, then a booming town and sea-port, some of the boys came to our house from within Sapele and went back home at dusk, but the rest who were surrounding towns  Okpara, Ughelle, Warri, etc and villages such as Aghanukpe, Ghana (then a suburb of Sapele), Efuru, Eku, Orerokpe and so one. Our house used to be a typical beehive and it was in such surroundings I grew up and I thank God for that. I learned a lot about characters in them. All these I am telling you occurred in the 1970’s.

You run an organisation that promotes creative writing. How did you start and can you give an insight of what you have done in the past and your next programme?

I am the chairman of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Niger State and a trustee of Association of Nigerian Female Authors (ANFA), Niger State. But it did not start that way. I had started writing long ago, before I joined ANA in 1994. I had written several poems and short stories that I can no longer find. That’s what happens to writers. However, these works lost built me and inspired me into becoming a patient writer who appreciates excellence. That’s the gem I am trying to put in the younger writers who are with us in ANA. As a leader of ANA Niger State I have been able with my good friends in ANA to organise three ASCAFS. Another ASCAFS (which will make it the 4th) is in the pipeline, comeApril 26th to 28th, 2016.

ASCAFS means Annual Schools Carnival of Arts and Festival of Songs. This is a programme designed to bring together students of post primary schools for an annual intellectual fair. It is a forum for secondary school children to showcase their talents in creative-writing, drama presentation, quiz, painting, songs rendition, cultural display, craft, and photography. At the end of the programme, they are given incentives to stimulate their interest in books, culture and arts.

We are also into a programme called Writers’ Spell. It is a programme in which we take a critical look at a writer’s manuscript. We help to cross the t’s and dot the I’s making sure it is well-edited before going public. We discuss the plot, style, etc. when the Writers’ Spell started I was the vice chairman. That was in 2011. In my tenure I created a Night of Literary Enchantment, where we celebrate writers’ works. It is a time writers exhibit their prowess and relax.

There is also this very good man, a Barrister (SAN) who gives annually to the national body of ANA a grant to be distributed to deserving states ANA for sponsorship of reading campaign. This year’s Yusuf Ali reading campaign comes up in April in Niger State.

Our major problem has been funding because we are an NGO and we are not into any business. We are seeing what we can do about getting into a little business, but we need a capital. Which is not forthcoming anywhere.

When I was a vice chairperson of WRITA (now ANFA) in 2009 we organised the first creative writing workshop for women in Niger State. We did it in 2010 and 2011. But in 2012 I organised the first spelling Bee for secondary schools in Niger State.

Do you consider yourself a feminist? And what is it like to be a writer in the northern part of the country?      

I think so. My former boss use to call me a feminist. I think he must have read my A Dance with the Ocean. I think in that work my friends say I over- favoured women. He may also have seen my antecedents of helping women groups, I think they call themselves cooperatives. I was then in 2005, 2006, 2007 the chairman Fadama Community Association (Niyya), Niger State. The organisers in the FADAMA office in Niger State are very good and friendly people. Up till today we still relate as brothers and sisters.

Back to the root of the question, I think feminism as a literary movement, is all about how we treat women in our work of art.  Women must excel in an exploitative world of men dominance. Even in my present work,Sand on the Foot of a god, the feminist theme resonates throughout the stories, the subjugation of women and the struggle of the wronged woman.

What challenge do you face as a writer?

My major challenge as with most writers is finance, not inspiration. I can write a novel in a week. But, how do I publish them is the wahala. You must also know that married women face the constraint of lack of freedom, though my husband is a darling and really understanding. I need an unrestrained freedom to interact and feel the pulse of society for true inspiration. Writers  within their society and so should feel the pulse of happenings in their

What inspires your writing?

I get inspiration from God, thinks that happen around me, the Eureka experience. As a young girl my father too was a source of inspiration. He was a good man.

Mention some of your works.

A Dance with the Ocean, Footprints of a Democrat, The Breath of a New Dawn, Sand on the Foot of a god.

Do you think creative writing is growing in Nigeria?

In Niger State here we are well-known for Teen Authorship and so even very young ones as low as seven years write.  So we have a booming industry of writers in Nigeria and, indeed, world over. Though the critical nature of world economy inspires, it does not help in publication. So if I must answer your question directly as to whether creative is growing in Nigeria, I would say Yes, No. Yes, many people are writing but No, many still cannot publish.