It’s 2118 and you’ve arrived in Lagos for a book festival. When you step out of the airport, what is the first thing you see?

An outdoor theatre ensemble performing ‘Welcome to Lagos’.

You’ve been selected for a mission to the moon. Which African author are you taking and why?

Buchi Emecheta – to remind myself of the resilience of the human race.

What invention do you think would change the lives of Africans today?

A trust/integrity app to help one verify if someone is trustworthy and will do [as] they say (integrity). If I could sell ‘Trust in a Bottle’, we’d know which leaders to get behind, which prospects to partner with, which people to hire, which companies to work for, which people to get hitched to, let into our lives or shut the door on. I think the world would become a better-oiled machine.

Two things you’re doing when not reading or writing?

Listening or talking.

To what extent has African literature envisioned an African future?

I can’t judge, as I haven’t read any African literature that envisions the future. I tend to read that which captures the past or the present.

What book do you think best captures Afrofuturism?

I’m clueless here as it isn’t a genre I’m familiar with.

You wake up one morning to find that you’ve grown a pair of wings. What do you do?

I visit the ‘man upstairs’… or at least get as physically close as I could.

Name one book that made you think differently about the world.

‘Factfulness (Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things are Better Than You Think)’ – Hans Rosling.

What is the most difficult part of your creative process?

Procrastination.

What is your African dream?

An Africa where every young person has the skills and opportunity to become what they imagine.