Where do you consider home and why?
I consider home to be both a spiritual and geographical construct. For the latter, home is Lagos, Nigeria and Trier, Germany. Spiritually, my home is both the Anglican Church and my lover – they nourish my mental and biological needs respectively, regardless of which physical space I’m in.
List three words or phrases that come to mind when you think of home.
Food, Love and Lust
Have you ever been homesick? Tell us the circumstances and how it felt.
The most I’ve felt homesick was in 2010, working in South Africa. One wintry morning I entered a Joburg taxi minibus and immediately, my mother called me. I ended the call quickly but it turned out not fast enough. Because I then asked the driver for my change and he said he wouldn’t give it to me, unless I spoke to him in Zulu. My explanations that I was a student who recently came to Mzansi fell on deaf ears. He told me (in Zulu and English) that I had no reason to be here, if I couldn’t speak any of South Africa’s official languages. This continued until his vehicle passed my stop, and then two more stops. Finally he parked, and barked at me to get out. I came down, shaking, and walked the 20 minutes back to work, crying. I felt drained, fearful and angry. I called my mum and told her I wanted to return home to Nigeria.
What is your opinion about brain-drain?
I’ve moved from being alarmed to wondering if we are looking at it the wrong way? Brain drain is a problem when it is viewed as a phenomenon that pins brains to a location. In this continuously globalised, digitised, world, isn’t it myopic to view humans as needing to be rooted to one spot? ‘Brain spread’ is how we should look at it, where we recognise the agency of people to shift and shape where or what they call home, and focus our efforts on ensuring technology and policy enables us to benefit from one another, regardless of where citizens choose to migrate to.
In what way does your physical location impact your creative output?
My physical location exposes my blind spots, heightens the descriptive phrases and ensures speedier creative output,
What is your preferred mode of travel and why?
By foot. It allows me to take my time, really see my co-travellers, weave and bob between other ‘vehicles’ and it’s less fraught with crashes.
In her debut collection of poems Home Coming, Sonia Sanchez’s writes:
“i have returned \\ leaving behind me \\ all those hide and \\ seek faces peeling\\ with freudian dreams.”
What does the phrase “freudian dreams” mean to you?
On one hand, it describes actual dreams—which may be subconscious admonitions or even premonitions. On the other hand, Freudian dreams can be dreams that come from those who one shares a “home” with—filial, sexual or professional. They can be the dreams these folks impose on you or define you with, as you communicate, copulate or collaborate. I often turn my back on these ‘external’ Freudian dreams. For me, this is the best way to establish boundaries in one’s mental and physical ‘homes’.
The mission to establish a colony of humans on Mars is becoming a realistic proposition. Would you agree to be one of the founding members?
No. Hell no. Actually…fuck no! Because I read an article about pooping and urination when in space. It appears far from fun. I think I’ll pass on Mars…the planet, not the chocolate bar.
This is the 10th anniversary of Ake Arts and Book Festival. If you have attended this festival before, please tell us what was special about your experience. If you have never attended, what are your expectations?
I’ve attended before and what was special was that even though it was virtual, the amount of care put into the themes and panels was so beneficial to guests. The way Ake achieves relevance and chooses topics others run from is really its unique superpower. I expect to be taking copious literal and mental notes.
What does Africa need right now?
Africa needs to make this continent a home for Africans. The vestiges of colonialism as reflected in our borders and passports continue to divide us, and deny a homecoming for generations to date. You only need to look at Cameroon, Ethiopia, South Africa or Libya.
Africans and Africa’s governments need to tackle the polarisations brought on by civil wars, ethnic militia, climate challenges and state capture. These continue to make home a non-existent reality for millions of internally-displaced people.