After 13 years in the financial sector, Chinyere Vivian Obi-Obasi walked away from it all. Motivated by her passion, Mrs Obi-Obasi, a lawyer, anchored her career on the shoreline of creative writing. This 2011 Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Literature Prize finalist has co-founded Grower Literature, a publishing outfit. She is advocating parents-driven involvement in promoting reading. With Evelyn Osagie, she shares her thoughts and motivation.
Writing is a gift. It has been fun writing books and stories and being appreciated by those who read them. My mother introduced me early into the world of creative writing. In promoting my creativity, she spent a lot of money buying novels for me. My mother used to buy us as much as 10 books; and they were relatively cheap. She would give us money to buy books ourselves and exchange with friends when we were done with reading. She also encouraged my writing then. All these helped me to become the writer I am today.
I have always been writing. I started writing bit by bit from secondary school. Up till while I was studying English, and later Law, I kept on writing. After my second degree, I sent a complete manuscript to a publishing company: they neither acknowledged nor published it. I finished law school and concentrated on my law practice. And it was not until 2001 when I got into the bank that I picked up writing again to fill up those nights that I used to prepare my submissions.
The high point of my writing career, which gave me a lot of joy, was in 2011 when I got to the finals of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Literature Prize competition. I have published three children’s books, The Brave Driver, The Faithful Dog and The Great Ponds, while my short stories have been featured in newspapers/anthologies (Camouflage) and (Eko O nibaje). My book, The Great Ponds, was shortlisted for 2011 NLNG Literature Prize. That same year my book, The Change, won the ANA/Lantern Prize. I am the current National Financial Secretary for the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).
My voyage into banking
It was a very difficult situation. I spent about 13 years working in the banking sector. I worked in the bank up till last year August when I resigned to concentrate and go into writing full-time and on my writing other allied professions, such as public speaking and script-writing.
Banking job is not something most people just wake up and want to do. Sometimes, it is the Nigerian situation that forces them into it. Banking job is attractive and so you come with your talents and gifts; but when you get there you find out that this is not what I am supposed to do. But what do you do, you have family responsibilities and friends depending on you. In fact, bankers don’t spend most of the money they make; it goes to the public because you don’t even have time to go to the market or enjoy or relax. And I intend to do a book that I call Banking Exposed.
Another terrible thing about banking job is that it is not like most careers. For example, a teacher can leave teaching profession, chances are that he/she would open a school or set up a centre or something related to it. A journalist can you leave journalism and establish his/her own paper or run an online paper; and it is same with a medical doctor. But it is not so with banking. To set up even a community bank is not a tea party. So you would see a banker who, after leaving, goes into an entirely different career that has nothing to do with banking. So it doesn’t matter if you’ve spent 20 years. Yes, there are things I know about how the bank works that the ordinary person doesn’t, but what else.
Mixing banking and writing
While in banking, I already had a good writing culture, so I wrote every night.Just like I did during my school days, I wrote every night from 2am till early hours of the morning without fail, including Saturdays and Sundays. While I was working in the bank, then, there were lots of frustration: long working hours and all that. When I came back home, I’d pour that frustration into my writing. Writing was like an escape for me and a lovely experience.
I would have left banking a long time ago but I didn’t have a clear vision of what I was going to do. I knew I’d leave there and write someday; but I wasn’t sure about what I wanted to do to put food on my table. I wanted to own a bookshop but there was the danger of not running the bookshop by myself. So, I left last August when I got a clear vision of what I was going to do. I have no regrets. With Kenechi Uzor, we have floated a publishing house for children, Grower Literature. We currently have three books on our label. This is beside the other things I now do, such as public speaking, stand-up comedy and acting.
Eking out a living off my creative works
I don’t because sadly, your books must be sold first and not so many get sold except when I get bulk purchases like when Julius Berger took me on a tour in certain cities and bought hundreds of my titles or when schools purchase the books in bulk. Writing is something that would yield after some years. Right now, My Great Ponds, published by Hybun that made 2011 NLNG Prize for Literature final list, is on the curriculum of five states; and some of my children books may get into the school’s curriculum soon. Despite being on the curriculum, my book is still faced with the challenges confronting the industry, such as distribution and agent problems. Some people would pick the book without remitting the money.
In this part of the world, to make money from your books, you have to personally go into marketing and since you cannot catch two birds (writing and marketing) at once, something will give way. I look forward to a time when genuine marketers will handle the marketing side so the writers can concentrate on writing and producing good quality books. One of my goal is to own a bookshop which will take only 10 per cent for running cost because the author who gives me his/her books to put in my store is doing me a favour. If half of the books you find in bookshops are paid for in cash, shop owners would not be able to pay for them all. But what gain is there if the author gives his book to shops and the shop owners take 40 per cent. Let’s say the book costs N500, 40 per cent of that amount is forfeited by the authors to bookshop owners. Meanwhile, the take-home price is not up to the cost of production. So the next thing to do is to increase the price so that you can make profit. But writers should make money from the proceeds of their works. This brings us back to the exuberant cost of books. In a way, it is not entirely the authors or publishers fault. There is need for government interventions. Let the writers get involved and establish bookshops that would begin to charge lesser percentage.
My growing up
My upbringing inspired the woman I became. I was born into the family of eight children (six girls and two boys). My parents, Mr and Mrs Iwual, were industrious business people, who were very caring. They embraced their God-given assignments with joy and complemented each other well. Whereas my father will not beat you, my mother will beat you but, all in all, while growing up, we were closely knit and happy. My father was very democratic that my mother believes he was, sometimes, too lenient with us. I used to jokingly tell my children that I cannot match my parents’ level of care. My mother made me into the woman I am today; and I mirror her life in all ways. In those days, we had talks every day on the facts of life; she told me many important things that I am planning to put into a book.
My mother, who died in 2010, taught me that raising children is not a time to be involved with excessive socialising but a task that requires deep concentration. Before she died in 2010, she was a consummate businesswoman who tried her hand on diverse legitimate businesses.
My parents loved education and encouraged us. Five out of us attended Federal Government Colleges; I attended Federal Government Girls’ College (FGGC), Benin-City. I read English Language/Literature in Abia State University; Law from University of Uyo before proceeding to Law School such that by 27, I was done with all these.
I have also copied their legacy of education in raising my kids. Two of my children finished from Queens College and I used to visit them once a term. I used to jokingly tell my children that I cannot match my parents’ level of care. They hardly missed any visiting day; and took me home during mid-term breaks that were not up to a week.
Managing the worlds of spouse, motherhood, banker and lawyer
I work within the time God has allotted me; do not complain. I have a good attitude towards whatever I do. I owe it as a duty to the society, to be a role model ‘wife’ in assisting my husband in everything; to bring up children who are industrious and ready to add value wherever they find themselves. And finally, I owe it as a duty to myself and my Maker to be fulfilled and discover, utilise and maximise every given talent in me. As a parent, your life is a mirror to your children. If you tell lies you cannot tell your children not to. If you don’t read, you can’t raise children who read. They see the positive results of my hardwork and that I have not died, they find it very easy to do the same.
My third daughter Ugochi Obi-Obasi is a brilliant writer. Sometimes when I read what she writes I marvel. She has won a number of awards and I know in future she will be one of the writers that will be well spoken about in Nigeria. She is currently the head girl of her school. I am very proud of her writing skill.
My son Chukwuemeka Obi-Obasi is a performance poet who was only last year at the age of 10 awarded a scholarship on account of his brilliant performance.
He performs poetry like a grown up not a child in the best professional manner. These poems were not necessarily written by him. He is also ever willing to learn.
Igniting reading culture in kids
In our days, we had Pacesetters, Hints and others publications to read; but all the publishing houses soon folded up. If we are saying we are bringing back the book, it means that something happened to the book at some point. What happened to it? Parents have a role to play reviving the dwindling reading culture, especially in children. I also adopted her policy on my children. My house is full of books….cartoons of books. I buy new and second-hand ones. Sometimes with N5000, I can buy so many. My children watch TV and they read. They watch and when they get an uninteresting segment, they’d read two pages.
