Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor: ‘A Father’s Pride’
By Ishaya Ibrahim
A Father’s Pride is the title of a book from the stable of Mrs. Ndidi Dorothy Chiazor-Enenmor, one of Nigeria’s most prolific and multi-talented female authors and a dyed-in-the-wool advocate for education, children’s rights, and cultural awareness, which was recently long-listed in the 2024 edition of the NLNG-endowed Nigeria Prize for Literature.
It was not by coincidence that when the judges did the heavy lifting job of pruning down the 153 entries submitted for adjudication to just 11, advocacy and social consciousness led the thematic thrust of their choices.
Right from 2019 when Jude Idada’s advocacy book, Boom Boom, which dealt with the issue of sickle cell anaemia and the need for intending couples to be aware of their genotypes before committing themselves to each other in marriage, won the coveted USD$100,000 prize money, there has been a deliberate attempt by judges to tilt more towards books that are rich in socio-cultural advocacy for maximum impact.
So, it is not surprising that Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor’s A Father’s Pride made the list this year. The book explores the themes of cultural preservation, environmental conservation and protection of children, which are dexterously woven to produce the excellent work.
A very delicate narrative, the protagonist, Urenna, suffered many indignities at the hands of her guardian – an aunt who turned the young girl into a kind of slave. Coupled with the bullying she encountered in school, Urenna’s complicated situation nearly broke her but she forged on.
It is the everyday story of the cultural shock and abuse that most children, particularly females, face when they are taken from their bucolic dwellings under the watch of their parents to the cities in the care of mostly uncaring relatives.
In this case, Urenna, after arriving in the city from her remote village was shocked at how fast her expectations of a beautiful city life faded.
As the author puts it, “She encounters unpleasant experiences alien to her but is fuelled by the desire to rise above the tide and fulfil her late father’s wishes. Through many twists and turns, Urenna discovers her unique role as a custodian of her culture and a champion for the environment.”
Such transformation is usually arduous. It is a story that successfully pitched the resilience and indefatigability of the human spirit. Against all odds, Urenna, determined to make a mark by championing the noble causes of tree planting and cultural preservation, using her late father’s wishes as a compass to navigate the treacherous terrain of child abuse, became a beacon of hope for other children in her unfortunate circumstance.
At the end of the story, goodness triumphed over evil, showing the power of friendship and determination.
It is heartwarming that in this era of wanton degradation of environment, a book is campaigning for environmental sustainability using children as the drivers of the noble cause. Urenna, the protagonist, was delicately projected as a climate change aficionado, an issue that is at the heart of both local and global conversations.
The Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF), the country’s premier non governmental organisation dedicated to nature conservation and sustainable development in Nigeria, is so enamoured with the book that not only did it endorse, but also the Director-General, Dr Joseph Daniel Onoja, stamped his seal of approval thus: “This book is s great contribution to the body of knowledge on environmental education in Nigeria. I wish to commend the author for her efforts towards the preservation of the environment.”
But it is not only the NCF and its Director-General that are ululating. Adeleke “Mai Nasara” Adeyemi, author of The Missing Clock, past winner of ‘The Nigeria Prize for Literature,’ is impressed.
“Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor is a prolific and award-winning writer who has been hard at work telling truly important stories for decades,” he wrote about the author and her book. “She is an incredibly gifted storyteller with a voice that demands to be heard by the world at large. Like her previous books, A Father’s Pride will provide readers with copious joyous moments as well as provoke needful conversations in society.”
Of course, Adeyemi knows what it takes to write an award-winning book, having authored one himself. And he is also aware that the stakes are much higher when it is the Nigeria Prize for Literature, a Nigerian literary award instituted in 2004 to honour literary erudition by Nigerian authors. The award which rotates among four genres; fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature, repeating the cycle every four years, craves for excellence and literary craftsmanship.
First awarded 19 years ago in 2005 with the total prize value of US$100,000 to individual winner, it is the biggest literary award in Africa and one of the richest literary awards in the world.
That explains why the competition is stiff. So, to be long-listed is already major achievement. And those who are privileged to read Chiazor-Enenmor’s book are not surprised that it has attained such glorious height.
“I read A Father’s Pride from the first page to the last without putting it down,” enthused Eyinjouluwa Olanrewaju, member, Headfort Foundation for Justice. “The book is emotion-laden, factual and true to life. What the author portrayed is a reality of what is happening in our society – children being abused physically and emotionally. I believe this book will be a stimulant to make our justice system and other relevant bodies more proactive,” he added.
And that exactly is the very idea of Chiazor-Enenmor’s book, which is not only spot on in its advocacy for the preservation of the environment but also shines a very illuminating light on the provisions of the Child Rights Act, two issues that are unarguably the most consequential discussions in the society today.
But it is in her character to undertake such intricate narratives in her literary odyssey. Right from that fateful Thursday evening in May 2006 when she publicly presented I Will Always Eat My Food, a children’s book at the Golden Gates Restaurant, Ikoyi Lagos, Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor has not looked back.
Of course, she couldn’t afford to when she made a solemn vow on that occasion in the presence of the veteran children’s book author, Ma Mabel Segun, the then Director of the British Council, Samantha Harvey, among other personalities, that: “This is not a fluke. I have come with a staying power. I am desirous of making a mark in writing for children.”
Since then, she has proven her mettle. The long-listing of A Father’s Pride in the NLNG-endowed Nigeria Prize for Literature is a testament to her tenacity in churning out beautifully crafted and relevant books for children’s entertainment and education. It is also a testament to her literary sagacity and staying power.
Ndidi Dorothy Chiazor-Enenmor holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Library Science and English from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Lagos.
Over the years since her debut in 2006, she has written extensively for children, producing a range of books which include picture books, early chapter books, and teen fiction.
Her notable works include A Hero’s Welcome, long-listed for the Nigeria Prize for Literature (2019); and One Little Mosquito, winner of the Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Others are Mina and the Birthday Dress, My Fruits My Alphabet, I Will Always Eat My Food, Timi and the Barber, (translated into several African languages), and Stories of Our Land, (a collection of folk tales from different ethnic regions of Nigeria).
In addition to children’s literature, Chiazor-Enenmor has written short stories, plays, and novels. Her short story, Oso Ochu was published in Wings of Dawn, an anthology of works by Nigerian female writers; a project supported by the British Council in 2006. Her novel, If They Tell the Story won the ANA Prose Prize in 2022.
As an advocate of education beyond the classroom, Chiazor-Enenmor has conducted numerous creative writing workshops and reading promotion projects for school children in Lagos and Ogun states. She has also partnered with organisations like the Lagos State Library Board, Goethe Institut, Alliance Francaise, and Didi Museum to host events and promote literacy.
Chiazor-Enenmor is passionate about preserving local languages, culture and the environment. She is also a strong advocate for the rights of children. She explores these themes in her books and champions them through workshops and events. She is regularly invited by schools and libraries to read to children during ‘World Book Day’ celebrations and other related events, an assignment she executes with joy and pride.
A dedicated philanthropist, Chiazor-Enenmor has donated hundreds of copies of her books to children from low-income families in Lagos, her state of residence, and Anambra, her state of origin. She plans to replicate this gesture nationwide.
Her career has spanned a brief stint in journalism after which she worked in the publications department of Landover Aviation Company, later working with the British Council Lagos. Apart from writing, she runs an educational consultancy outfit.
Married and blessed with four children, Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor has written this time, even if unwittingly about herself, being, as it were, her father’s pride. This is one consequential and impactful book that will continue to reverberate in Nigeria’s literary circles and even beyond the shores of the country for a very long time.