"In Nigeria this "echo chamber" effect is complicated by the fact that there is no real structure for objective, professional literary criticism. Literature professors and students who may have the knowledge and background to do it rarely review commercial literature. There are very few literary journals, and newspaper reviews are normally written by enthusiastic reporters or laypeople who are often personal friends of the authors. This is further complicated by the patronage networks that undergird all of Nigerian society. An enthusiastic review of a mediocre book written by an important personality can go a long way – and you want to be careful who you offend in case they become "somebody" tomorrow.
Don't get me wrong, writers and their critics have always had complicated, often personal, relationships. And many of literature's most famous feuds began with a scathing review – or two. But we cannot deny the poor quality of much of the literature being produced in Nigeria. Part of it is our poor education system and our lack of a reading culture, but another part of it is that our standards are so low. We don't really know what constitutes good Nigerian literature."
- chinelo
I have my concerns about the piece; we cannot divorce the state of our literature from the debilitating effect of years of a crumbling educational system, pretend publishers, etc.. I think under the circumstances our writers are making the best of an awful situation. Amd we have some of Africa's best writers toiling gamely in Nigeria. Kudos to them.
- Ikhide
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