That Monday morning, Azubuike Ogbogu had just caught the muse. Bubbling with inspiration, he was determined to pencil down every scene of the movie he just conceived. So, his destination was not the nearby polytechnic or secondary schools but Prof. Chinua Achebe Library on the premises of Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The librarian was already seated minding his own business. Ogbogu sat scribbling to his heart’s delight. He was so engrossed in his musing that he didn’t notice the frown on the face of the librarian. He didn’t also notice the librarian would occasionally raise his leg and examine it, shake his head, sigh and stare at nothing in particular. This happened at intervals.
“I have a sore on my leg and most times, it hurts so much,” the librarian told the reporter.
Still, Ogbogu wrote on. The script, set in Yorubaland, would tell the story of an orphan child of providence who conquered great feat against the odds. He had got the story from someone and was determined to expatiate on it. And to have an epic film story, Ogbogu bent over his paper scribbling on. He was not detered by the fact that there was not enough books in the place to help with his research. Having lived in the Southwest for sometime, he wrote from his head knowledge and from his consultation with friends from that Yorubaland.
Given his limitation, he did not want any bit of the story to elude him so he wrote with deep concentration. So deep was his concentration that he did not even notice the frown on the face of young Ozemena Isaac as he searched the shelf for a science book to help his study for the day. Ozemena, 19, had come earlier with the mind of studying English but changed his mind when he did not find the books he was looking for. That was not his disappointment.
“I was also disappointed when I could not find an Encyclopedia Brittanica. It was the same thing the other day when I came here to read. I had left school with the mind of finding the book that would help with my assignment but it was so unfortunate that they do not have it here,” he said.
With a name like that of the widely-acclaimed writer attached to it, one would have thought that the place would be fully stocked with materials. But that is not the case. If you are out to savor diverse books by the author, you might be disappointed. You may have to settle for the torn and worn out copies of the 1998 edition of Things Fall Apart, which is the only book by the author in the library.
Ozemena, who claimed to have read about 1,000 novels, including those of the late author whom he refers to as an “inspiration”, challenged the government to look into the state of the library, saying this may affect the reading culture of teeming youths and by extention the standard of education.
He said: “The state of this library paints a picture that the government does not care about the educational progress of its citizens. This place has been here for over five years even before it was renamed after the writer and look at how it is. I expected that our government who claim to be educationally-oriented should be concerned with improving this facility which can help upgrade the standard of education in our society. With the name of Prof Chinua Achebe, who is my hero, attached to it, the government should not have allowed it to look like this.”
Perhaps out of curiosity over the movement and questions by this reporter, Ogbogu finally raised his head from his book. Ogbogu, who is a lecturer and the Secretary-General of Ogidi Union of Nigeria, named the politicisation of the library as one of the factors that has led to its present state. “This library is patronised by many, including traders, within and outside the community, because more and more people are getting educated and they need a place like this to help their scholarship.
This library is the wisest gesture that whoever thought wise to name it after the late author, but having named it after him, more should have been done to equip and make it standard. But it is unfortunate that it has been politicised.”
According to the Librarian, Mr Edwin Chidozie, the library was established over eight years ago by Sir Uche Ezediora, the then interim local government chairmen. It was later renamed after the author to mark the 50 years anniversary of his epic novel, Things Fall Apart, during Mr. D.C. Ezeukwu’s administration.
Evidently, the room housing the library is too small in size to house an edifice named after a man of Achebe’s status. With one shelf containing books on various subjects and a smaller one containing fiction and non-fiction books, one would have expected something larger; and of better standard.
Interestingly, in spite of its condition the place has the nationalistic trappings of notable Nigerians and Africans such as Prof Wole Soyinka, the late Biafran Warlord, Chief Emeka Odumegu Ojukwu, Zaynab Alkali, Chief Charry Onwu, Karl Maier, Peter Abrahams, Ngugi Wa’Thiongi, among others. But the books are worn out and others with some pages missing. A broken table, chair and unused furniture litter the room. It is almost as if it also serves as a store room of sort.
Reiterating Ogbogu’s words, Chidozie linked its decay to insensitivity of the authorities and political gimmickry.
He said: “The books we have here are books that were those got during the time of Uche. Now the new management does not seem interested and has not been paying attention to the library that is why it is like this. They said this place is not recommended as a government property and that even the staff and board members are not government staff. We have not been paid salaries for five years.”
Asked how he has been coping for five years and his inspiration. He said: “Achebe is my brother. I am proud of him and don’t want anything related to his name to spoil. In spite of everything, many people still come here to read because it is peaceful and quiet. You can see I have sore on my leg, but I am still coming. it is the love I have for my brother that is moving me. Since Achebe died, everybody have been making noise, please, let them look into our case; we are suffering. For the past five years, I have been living on the salary of my wife who is a teacher and the goodwill of people.,” he said.
Council Chairman, Raphael Asha Nnabuife, said plans are in top gear to transform the state of the library. On its size, he said, in recognition of Achebe’s contributions to writing and scholarship within this environment and across the world, the council plans to relocate it to a more conducive place.
He said: “We are working out something with the state government. As a matter of fact, we are trying to relocate the library because it is too close to the main road. We would bring it in and use the blocks for something else so that we can now bring in a lot of books.”
On the staff welfare, he said, the council was working at resolving the issue. “The staff, i.e., those working in the library are paid. People that are claiming they are not being paid and they need to be paid are those who say they are members of the board. I can’t say anything about them because I came in and inherited people who say they are members of the board. But I cannot find anything in the register of this local government that says there are board members there. Some people came in there and we have written to the Ministry of Local Government to see how we can resolve and what can be paid to them,” he said.
Ogidi community leaders decried the sorry state of the place, while alleging that idea of a library named after the author was first conceived by the community, adding that it was stalled due to conflict within the town’s hierarchy stet Ezegbo said: “Prior to its establishment we had written to him, telling him we were going to secure a good piece of land in a more central place in Ogidi to build a very big library and that he should be thinking of how to fortify it when built. We were already contributing money to build not just the present library at the council, which is political, because the then chairman of the council did it as political gimmicks. All these plans have been on ground before now even before Achebe’s accident; but for the some problem within the Ogidi hierarchy, it would have been achieved.”
