Two recent publications commemorating Dr. Bukar Usman’s literary milestones attest to his sheer devotion and unwavering commitment to polishing his writing talents, which garnered him accolades and name recognition in literary circles. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports
On turning 70 exactly a decade ago, Dr. Bukar Usman told an interviewer that he didn’t celebrate birthdays. That, he explained, was because he “came from a background where birthdays are never celebrated.” Despite this, the retired public servant still published two large books to commemorate his 80th birthday: the 1126-page My Literary Works (Reviews and Reports) and the 928-page Conversation with Bukar Usman.
These books, for which many researchers—even generations yet unborn—may still thank him, are invaluable collections of his reviews and interventions, as well as those that have so far been written on his works, his person, and conversations with him. Indeed, it will be hard, even after a casual perusal of these compendiums, one of which was published by Klamidas Communications Ltd. and the other by Kano-based Whetstone Publishers, for a reader not to discern the name recognition of Dr. Usman, the warm acceptance of his efforts among the local literati, and the good will he enjoys among them. Does this not somewhat explain why the first cited book, My Literary Works, which is divided into four parts, features a collation of 93 reviews of his writings by over 23 reviewers as well as his own reviews of the works of others? This is in addition to a section in the book featuring a compilation of an outpouring of reader feedback.
Also, his many awards and recognitions, which include the Council of the Pan African Writers’ Association’s Noble Patron of the Arts Award and the Linguistic Association of Nigeria’s meritorious award, among others, as well as his leadership of the Nigerian Folklore Society as its president, further burnished his credentials in the literary community.
Since the kick-starting of his literary career in 1992 with the writing of his autobiography, Hatching Hopes, which he eventually completed in 2006, his predilection for writing has become more and more evident. In a moving tribute published from pages 616 to 619 of My Literary Works, albeit originally published in key national daily newspapers, Khalid Imam aptly describes Dr. Usman as “a silent achiever and generous philanthropist,” who “has willingly offered himself as a strong pillar of financial support for many academic scholars, researchers, undergraduate students, critics, and young writers writing or conducting research in the indigenous languages, especially in the field of Hausa studies.”
Of course, Dr. Usman’s route to literary prominence was paved not just by his generosity, but also by his remarkable persistence in turning out book after book. Despite his publication of over 20 books, he once modestly shrugged off the writer tag in an interview published in The Nigerian Pilot in 2013 and reproduced on pages 99 to 102 of one of the two recently released books, Conversations with Bukar Usman, commenting that “at seventy, some people regard me as a writer, but I do not feel I am there yet.”
That he is a man who refuses to be dressed in the proverbial borrowed robes is evident in his subsequent awakening to the merits of creative writing soon after the compilation of his previous writings into the book Voices in a Choir: Issues in Democratisation and National Security in Nigeria, which was published in 1999, seven years before his autobiography. “My communicative voice changed after Voices…,” he discloses in the early pages of his book, My Literary Journey, adding that “this change is evident in my newspaper articles published after 1999. These newspaper articles were different from my official speeches not merely in terms of message but significantly in terms of style of writing. They were simple, more personal, and approached issues from a human-interest angle.”
According to him, while his speeches back then addressed his audience, his autobiography and subsequent writings (especially in the newspapers) talked to them. “And the responses I got since the shift to plain talk show that generally the audience prefers to be talked to rather than …addressed.”
Looking up to the likes of the Kenyan-born Ngugi wa Thiong’O (whose novel The River Between he deems “lucid, yet very forceful”) among a few others, he continued to recalibrate his writing skills. It might not be inaccurate to assert that his time spent penning short stories, which took centre stage along the way, provided his readers with a taste of his creative writing ability.
His short story collections were published in three batches, the first of which, a collection of 10 stories published in 2005, was titled The Bride Without Scars and Other Stories. As for the two subsequent collections, containing eight stories each, they are titled The Stick of Fortune and Girls in Search of Husbands. Even when these stories were taken from local traditions, Dr. Usman added more details to the plots, characterisations and dialogues.
As for his publication in Hausa, which technically is not his mother tongue since he hails from the Borno State town of Biu, it came in two batches. The first batch, which included six books (Marainya da WasuLabarai, JaruminSarki, Yarima da Labbi, Tsurondi, Sandar Arziki, and Dankuntungayya), was released in 2005. The second batch, which contained eight books (Gwaidayara, Dan Agwai da Kura, Tsohuwa da ‘Yan Mata Uku, Dankucaka, Al’ajabi, ‘Yargata, Duguli Dan Bajinta, and Muguwar Kishiya), was released in 2009.
Beyond the publications in Hausa, on account of which he bagged an award by the Ranar Mawakan Hausa Foundation for his effort and outstanding contributions towards uplifting Hausa literature and promoting Hausa music in Nigeria and Africa, he also serves on the board of trustees of the Cibiyar Raya Harshen Hausa da Al’ adunsa (Centre for the Preservation and Promotion of Hausa Language and Culture).
There is no doubt about the fact that Dr. Usman’s retirement from the federal civil service (where he rose to the post of a permanent secretary in the presidency) in 1999—30 years after his graduation from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with a degree in public administration and international relations—afforded him the time to devote his energies to creative writing.
