Fiction Book Imports and the Indigenous Publisher

in Nigeria.

A Thesis Submitted In Fulfilment of the

Requirements For

Masters of Arts in Publishing

At

London College of Communication

University of the Arts London

By

Ibiso Graham-Douglas.

2006

Abstract

This research project was carried out with the aim ofexamining the state of fiction publishing and bookselling inNigeria. The main objectives of the project were to establishby research the consumption of fiction literature byNigerians, and gauge the effects imports of this genre havehad on local production by indigenous publishers. This wasdone, with the intention to propose ways that would improvethe publishing of fiction and consumption of fiction, usingillustrations from other local industries.

The methodology adopted were a combination of both primary andsecondary methods of research, using quantitative andqualitative approaches. Secondary research was used to carryout the literature review stage of this work, where it wasdiscovered that previous research had often focused onacademic publishing which is said constitutes approximately95% of all publishing activities in Nigeria. The lack ofinformation about fiction publishing in Nigeria led to theneed to conduct of primary research using questionnaires andinterviews. Booksellers and Publishers in the main cities ofLagos, Ibadan and Port Harcourt were polled to gatherinformation about the condition and demand of the genre. WhilePublishers’ representatives based in the UK were interviewedto get their perception about the demand for fiction emanatingfrom Nigeria. Questionnaires were used to poll the publishersand booksellers, because it was the most convenient way toreach them within the given time frame for the researchproject. This was also the most effective way to quicklyascertain what the industry consensus on publishing andselling both local fiction and foreign fiction.

The research findings however did not support the initialperception that book imports may have impaired the publishingof the genre by indigenous publishers. It was discovered inthe findings, which the literature review also reinforced thatthe publishing industry in Nigeria has been plagued with anumber of economic, political and socio-cultural problems,which have hindered its progress generally, and in this case,had impaired the publishing of fiction.

This research project therefore highlights that a successfulpublishing industry cannot thrive in an unstable and turbulenteconomic or political environment. It finds that the emergingtrend of fiction publishing in Nigeria hinges on the stable

ii

environment as created by the recent return of its governmentto a democratic system of government, and all the economicreforms that have been implemented since that time. Thisresearch project has in its study considered an aspect of thebook trade and publishing in Nigeria that is often overlookedand considered, demonstrating that a potential market for non-academic publishing exists in the country. The researchhowever only skims over very important issues, leaving roomfor more in-depth study on the areas identified, while abroader study probing the opinions and perceptions of authors,librarians and consumers who are also important actors in thepublishing process and ultimately the books chain.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I’d like to thank my supervisor, Mr. Charles McGregor forhis direction and help during the writing of this thesis.Special thanks also to Des O’Rourke, Gill Davies andDavid Penfold for their patience and concern as theytaught us through the year. Also, thanks to Dr. JoanBurks for all the courses she organised that I partook ofespecially the new creative ventures course at the LondonBusiness School.

Thanks to all the publishers and booksellers whoparticipated in the research, especially Muhtar Bakarefor the contacts he gave me in the industry.

Thanks to my classmates, especially the W210 crew –Hilary, Kathleen and Emile, who were my sounding boardand were of great help as I wrote this thesis.

Special thanks to my family and friends for their prayersand support. To my mum, Bev, Asikiya and Botoba whofollowed my progress closely. My fellowship group fortheir prayers and encouragement. Teresa, Bolanle, Fabiaand finally, Ekaette Ikpe for helping me understand theeffect of GDP on consumers and also borrowing just thebooks I needed from SOAS for me.

Most importantly, special thanks to the One who owns mylife, the Creator of creators, Publisher of publishers,the only wise God. Thanks to my Father God in heaven forHis help and faithfulness not just during my writing, butalso through the year at LCC, and my whole life. ThanksLord for the insight and understanding you given me inpublishing.

iv

LIST OF TABLES

Figure 2.1

Publishing Value Chain 13Figure 2.2 Book Import Value Chain 14

Figure 3.1 Solicited and unsolicited book aid – a comparison

25

Figure 3.2. The Book Chain 26

Figure 4.1 Quantitative and Qualitative: A Comparison

32Figure 4.2 Nigerian Publishers by category

33

Figure 4.3. Contacted publishers and booksellers table 36

Figure 5.1 Fiction demand as perceived by booksellers 43

Figure 5.2 Fiction demand as perceived by Nigerian Publishers

44

Figure 5.3 Effect of fiction imports on locally publishing

fiction 46

v

List of Abbreviations

ACTS African Christian TextbooksAWS African Writer’s SeriesAPNET African Publishers NetworkBDC The Book Development CentreCNN Cable News NetworkCMS Church Missionary SocietyECOWAS Economic Community of West African States IMA Inter Media Africana MTV Music TelevisionNPA Nigerian Publishers AssociationNBF Nigerian Book FoundationNBA Nigerian Booksellers AssociationNERDC The Nigeria Education Research and Development Council NGOs Non-Governmental OrganisationsNCC Nigerian Copyright Council PTF Petroleum Trust Fund RCM Roman Catholic MissionsSTRAP Strategic Action Against Pirates SYP Society of Young Publishers TBN Trinity Broadcasting Network WIPO World Intellectual Property Organisation UCC Universal copyright Convention UBE Universal Basic Education scheme UNICEF United Nations Children’s FundUNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural organisationUSAID United States Agency for International DevelopmentUNN University of Nigeria Nsukka

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page……………………………………………………………………………………...i

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….ii

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………iii

List of tables………………………………………………………………………………….iv

Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………………..v

Table of contents…………………………………………………………………………….vi

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Objectives of Research1

1.2 Justification for Research 2

1.3 Methodology3

1.4 Structure of dissertation3

1.5 Conclusion3

1.6 References4

2.0 History of Industry5

2.1 Background to the industry7

2.2 History of fiction in Nigeria9

2.3 Indigenous Publishing – a definition10

2.4 Structure of Nigerian publishing industry11

2.4.1 Company structures11

2.4.2 The publishing process12

2.5 Book Imports in Nigeria13

vii

2.6 Conclusion14

2.7 References15

3.0. Literature review and findings16

3.1 Government Policy on books 16

3.2 Focus on Academic books19

3.3 Lack of a reading culture and multiple language situations 20

3.4 Lack of skill and education in publishing/book trade 20

3.5 Copyright21

3.5.1 Piracy and reprography22

3.6 Book Aids24

3.7 Distribution27

3.8 Lack of funding for the industry29

3.9 Conclusion29

3.10 References30

4.0. Methodology31

4.1. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches 32

4.2. Secondary Research33

4.3. Primary Research 344.3.1. Questionnaires – Publishers and

Booksellers 344.3.2. Interviews – UK Publishers

Representatives 364.4. Conclusion 36

viii

4.5. References 38

5.0. Analysis of Research 39

5.1. Economic Considerations39

5.2. Feedback40

5.3. Fiction in Nigeria today 41

5.4. Demand for fiction43

5.5. Indigenous fiction publishing48

5.5.1. Editing fiction49

5.5.2. Marketing and Distributing fiction49

5.5.3. Copyright Protection50

5.6. Other issues raised50

5.7. Conclusion 515.8. References 52

6.0. Discussions, Conclusions and Recommendation53

6.1. Conclusions 536.2. Limitations to research

556.3. Recommendations and discussions

556.3.1. Consolidation of industry efforts

566.3.2. Investment in authors

576.3.3. Cover design

576.3.4. A page from Nollywood

576.3.5. Embracing emerging technologies

59

ix

6.3.6. Piracy60

6.3.7. A Different kind of aid 60

6.3.8. Quick Reads60

6.4. Further research61

6.5. References 62

7.0. Bibliography62

8.0. Appendix68

x

CHAPTER 1

1.0. Introduction

This work of research critically examines the state of fiction

publishing and bookselling in Nigeria. As a first step, it

considers the history of publishing fiction in Nigeria. This

is essential, in order to better understand the current state

of the publishing industry in Nigeria. In doing so, a detailed

analysis will be undertaken of issues affecting the publishing

industry, bookselling and in particular, the attitude to

fiction. Following on from the analysis, this work suggests

recommendations based on the situation in the publishing

industry of another part of the world. It also examines other

industries with a view to determining how local creativity

could be harnessed at the same time as ensuring a vibrant and

dynamic industry.

1.1. Objectives of the Research

The primary aim of the research is to study how the

importation of books in fiction, has affected the harness of

local content by indigenous publishers. However, in order to

gain a better understanding of the industry, an examination of

1

other important issues, which have affected the vibrancy of

publishing, in general, has also been undertaken. Other

objectives of this research also include:-

o To study how fiction publishing in Nigeria has fared

through the years;

o To study the effect book imports have had on fiction

publishing in Nigeria.

o To examine factors that have led to the current state of

an under-utilised and lethargic publishing industry in

Nigeria, with particular reference to fiction;

o To examine and propose ways to improve and enhance

fiction publishing and distribution by publishers,

booksellers and all other stakeholders in the industry

and the larger society.

1.2. Justification for research

Previous research, findings and proposals on the development

of publishing and the book in Africa usually concentrate on

the academic sector. There is comparatively little on the

cultural front. It is important to address this imbalance. In

any developed society, the role of books is not merely an

educational one. There is also the cultural dimension, which

must not be overlooked, as this is one of the main creators of

social capital. Nigeria’s publishing industry needs to be

mindful of its cultural responsibility, especially as the

country develops both economically, and politically.

Therefore, the need for this research has arisen to illuminate

the diverse book needs of the average Nigerian, whose

interaction with books often does not end after his period of

formal education, but lasts almost through his entire life.

2

According to a US Department of Commerce and the US

International Trade Commission report, Nigeria is reported to

be the fifth largest export destination for Bibles,

testaments, prayer books and other religious books from the

United States of America. In 2005, the value of export in this

area was in the region of 5,369,000 in dollars and 2,849,000

in volume (2006).

This is a good illustration of the level of non-academic book

interest and consumption of some Nigerians. Although

information is presently unavailable, Nigerians consume books

in other genres such as, biographies, business, cookery and

fiction. It is therefore necessary, that research in these

other areas be carried out in order to better understand and

determine the general attitudes and perceptions to non-

academic books in Nigeria, as well as spot any emerging trends

in the industry. The success of the ‘Onitsha market

literature’ of the late 1940s and early 1950s, the African

writer’s series (published by Heinemann) and the pacesetter’s

series (published by Longman) all give an indication that

Nigerians have a history of fiction and indeed non-academic

book consumption.

1.3. Methodology

The research was carried out using a combination of primary

and secondary methods through quantitative and qualitative

approaches. It is recognised that there is a dearth of

adequate information about fiction publishing in Nigeria, and

this is reflected in the limited secondary research available

on this area. It was therefore imperative that further primary

3

research be carried out using questionnaires and interviews to

gain consensus as well as perceptions of both publishers and

import booksellers in Nigeria. UK publishers’ representatives

were also included in the research. This was to gain

understanding, and determine if the Nigerian market was viable

one for fiction book exports from the UK. More information on

this can be found in Chapter 4 of this document.

1.4. Structure of the dissertation

This document is structured with two underlying premise - a

history of publishing in Nigeria, and the current condition of

publishing as a result not just of its history, but of other

economic, political and socio-cultural factors that have

shaped the industry. The aim of the first basis is to create a

clear picture of the origins of publishing generally, and how

perceptions of the trade have shaped its characteristics as

well as its output in the country. The second basis considers

the current and the future situations, identifying persistent

problems and inhibitions. It then gives recommendations for

developing the fiction genre in particular and the industry at

large. Illustrations with tables and diagrams are employed

where necessary through out in support of the research.

1.5. Conclusion

Although publishing and bookselling activities in Nigeria have

primarily been focused on the academic sector, there have been

indications that Nigerians consume non-academic books across

genres. The aim of the research is to examine fiction

consumption through imports, and gauge its effect on the

publishing of this genre. The research also considers other

4

factors that may have also contributed to the present state of

the industry.

5

1.7. References

o Kalu Ogbaa (2003) A century of Nigerian Literature Africa

Research and Publications.

o Innocent Okoro (2002) From Onitsha Market Literature to

General Trade Book Publishing in Nigeria SABDET [Internet]

pp.1 available from

<http://www.sabdet.com/ASAUL2002_okoro_paper.htm> [accessed

20 July 2006].

o Top 25 Export Destinations for HTS 4901990040: Bibles,

Testaments, Prayer books and other Religious Books

[internet] available from

http://ita.doc.gov/td/ocg/exp4901990040.htm [accessed 27

July 2006).

o Top 25 Export Destinations for HTS 4901990040: Bibles,

Testaments, Prayer books and other Religious Books

[internet] available from

http://ita.doc.gov/td/ocg/exphs4901990040.htm [accessed 27

July 2006).

6

CHAPTER 2

2.0 History of Nigerian Publishing

Missionaries through the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and

Roman Catholic Mission (RCM) have been said to have introduced

the book into Nigeria. These missionaries set up mission

schools where students were taught to read and write in

English from as far back as 1892 in eastern Nigeria and

earlier than that in the western Nigeria (Okoro 2002). These

books used in the education of Nigerians at that time, were

usually imported from the United Kingdom and this import

activity culminated in the setup of what was known as the CSS

Bookshop in 1869, whose primary aim was to source and secure

appropriate reading and leisure material for the use of

colonial elites and their Nigerian counterparts (Mammah 2002).

The amalgamation of the northern and southern territories that

resulted in the country called Nigeria in 1914 brought about

the introduction of English as official language for

governance, education, commerce and politics.

The British system of education was adopted in colonised

Nigeria thereby creating opportunities for British educational

7

publishers to establish offices in the area. Longman,

Macmillan, Oxford University Press and Heinemann all became

key players in publishing and book trade in the country, with

Oxford University Press being reported as the first commercial

publisher to set up in the country in 1949. According to Alan

Hill, at about the time that Heinemann arrived in Nigeria

1959, these big British publishers regarded West Africa as a

place where you sold books not where you published them, and

these books were overwhelmingly schoolbooks (Clarke 1998).

Heinemann’s Africa Writer’s series (AWS) broke the educational

book tradition with its launch of the series and the

publication of Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe.

The approach and dawn of the independence marked a change in

the educational policies in Nigeria. Nationalist and regional

leaders were eager to ensure education was available and free

to a wide section of citizens. This created an even greater

demand for educational books, thereby causing publishing and

book trade activities to explode in the country. The British

publishers already operational moved beyond import and sale of

books and begun to undertake actual publishing activities. The

movement of men and machinery also created employment for some

pioneer graduates of the University of Ife.

In 1965, the Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA) was

established. It was set up with the intention to be the

umbrella body of publishers, as well as a support institution

for them. The establishment of this organisation, helped

encourage Nigerian nationals who had been exposed to the

industry, set up independent indigenous publishing houses.

Some of such publishers to emerge at that time were Litramed

8

Publications Limited and Onibonoje Publishers and both of

these houses are still operational to this day.

According to Ogbaa, the early postcolonial period of 1961 –

1970 could be regarded as the best of times and worst of times

for Nigeria and its writers (2003). It was the best of times;

because it was in this decade that significant developments in

the publishing industry took place. It was the worst of times

because it was a decade of political upheaval and instability

as a result of a military coup and the Biafran civil war.

Thereby creating an unstable economy and society for the

industry to expand and thrive. Post 1970 publishing in Nigeria

produced the Pacesetter series by Macmillan and a Nigerian

book fair tradition with the inauguration of the Ife

International Book Fair.

In 1972, the then military government introduced the

Enterprises Promotion Decree. This decree was introduced with

the intention to give Nigerian nationals at least 60% equity

participation in businesses. This also included book

publishing. As a result, foreign participation in a British

multinational dominated publishing industry in Nigeria at that

time was reduced tremendously. This change in the ownership

structure of the publishing houses also brought about a change

of name for some publishers. This decree is said to have

marked the birth of indigenous publishing in Nigeria.

The 1980’s brought an unprecedented book famine to the

country. This was particularly as a result of the unfavourable

political and economic environments that the industry found

itself operating in. Scarcity of paper, a reduction in

9

government expenditure on education and a huge decline in the

purchasing power of citizens as a result of the implementation

of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) are few factors

that hampered industry growth and curbed book trade

activities.

2.1. Background to Industry

Publishing in Nigeria is a private sector affair with most of

the publishing houses either individually owned or registered

as private limited companies. Like in other African countries,

Government made an unsuccessful attempt to begin publishing in

the 1970s. The failure of that, created a tradition that saw

government parastatals and ministries work in collaboration

with publishing houses when they want to publish educational

texts.

Professional organisations such as the Nigeria Book Foundation

(NBF), Nigerian Booksellers Association (NBA) and the apex

organisation the Nigerians Publishers Association (NPA) (which

has more publishers outside its membership than inside), exist

in the industry. The effect of these organisations is often

restricted by a lack of funds, even though they exert minimal

control or regulation of the industry. In 2000 the federal

government established the National Book Council, but it never

managed to function. It is the Nigerian Book Foundation that

has managed to make some progress in development of the book

and publishing, usually with assistance from organisations

such as British Council and Book Aid international. APNET has

also made considerable progress in the area of research about

the industry, and a few other publishing industries in Africa.

10

The industry has experienced various efforts by the government

and other international bodies at addressing the problems that

plague it, as well as giving recommendations that would aid

its development and advancement. Some of such efforts were

o 1968 UNESCO meeting of experts in Accra

o 1973 The Ile-Ife Conference on Publishing and Book

Development

o 1975 Commonwealth African Book Development Seminar in

Ibadan

o 1988 First Nigerian National Congress on Books on Lagos

o 1987 panel of Book Policy for Nigeria

o 1988 National Seminars on Reducing cost of textbooks in

Nigeria, Lagos and Kano

o 1992 National Books Policy (Final Draft)

While all these meetings were converged to improve the

industry, their effectiveness was never properly monitored to

evaluate any potential progress the industry may have made as

a result. The 1973 Ile Ife conference is often referred to as

one of the most pivotal conference as it considered every

aspect of publishing, giving recommendations identifying all

possible areas of improvement. It considered education and

training in publishing, recognising the printing industry as

an important and vital aspect of publishing, indigenous

publishers, authorship, children publishing, literacy and

reading education and government responsibility to industry.

As is the case with most well-intentioned efforts, lack of

funding and commitment hindered the effectiveness of the Ife

recommendations.

11

Ike opines that 90% of the books published in Nigeria are

textbooks for primary and secondary education (2004). English

the official language of the country is the main language of

publication. With some publishing also done in the three main

languages of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba.

Recent years have seen an increase in the publishing of

Christian books. These books are however not published by

publishers, but buy the mega churches that have developed

publishing functions to cater to the demand of their church

members.

2.2. History of fiction in Nigeria

Creative writing as fiction is often called in Nigeria has its

origins in the 1930s with the publication of Pita Nwana’s

‘Omenuku’ (1933) and D.O. Fagunwa’s ‘Ogboju ode ninu igbo irumole’

(1939) (Ogbaa 2005). However the first recorded indigenous

attempt at fiction and general trade publishing was the

Onitsha Market literature, which published its first book in

1947 (Okoro 2002). These literatures were novelettes and

chapbooks written for the general public in very simple

English with themes that readers could identify with. They

were published in the Onitsha market in Anambra State in the

eastern region of the country, and were said to be a

phenomenal success, with anyone and indeed everyone with

literary skills seeking to participate (Mammah 2002). It is

said that in the peak of its publication, the number one best-

selling title Veronica my Daughter by Ogali, A. Ogali sold some

60,000 copies (Okoro 2002). The Biafran war unsettled this

12

phenomenon and by its end in 1970, the publications of these

books had died.

The launch of the African Writer’s Series (AWS) in 1962 did

not allow Nigerian fiction authors to be denied the

opportunity of being published. According to Hamilton-Jones,

the books were to be written by black Africans and sold at

affordable prices. Chinua Achebe was named editorial advisor

and his book Things Fall Apart was the first book published in the

series. Ogbaa attests that the decade of the 70s was when

what is regarded as a Nigerian national literature emerged, a

literature recognised as a quintessential and dominant part of

continental African literature (2003).

The 1970s saw Macmillan launch a fiction series called

Pacesetters. This was often described as a refined version of

the Onitsha Market series, published for mass appeal and

captured youth and adult readers (Mammah 2002). Economic and

political problems of the 1980s, which included devaluation of

the Naira and a subsequent decline in the purchasing power of

consumers, made the series unaffordable and ultimately brought

its end.

The 1980s and 1990s saw Nigeria experience military rule that

brought an increase in censorship that subsequently stalemated

the publishing of fiction. Known and renowned authors had

acquired international publishers, which saw their books

published abroad but not at home. Besides local publishers

were focused on the more profitable academic sector.

13

In recent times, political and economic stability have

produced an increase in publishing activities by independent

new breed publishers who publish Nigerian editions of Diaspora

writing. Old publishers have also sought to revive their

fiction publishing. Spectrum Publishers in 2005 released a

list called the Spectrum Big 25. These were supposed to be the

best 25 fiction titles published in the last 25 years by

Nigerian publishers. Shortly thereafter in 2005 Macmillan re-

released titles from its Pacesetters series.

2.3. Indigenous publishing – A definition

Technically, the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Decree of the

1970s made all publishing houses in Nigeria, indigenous. This

is the view adopted by Ike who stated that there was no longer

any need to distinguish between local publishers and what used

to be foreign publishers (2004). However, Orimalade sees it in

another light, stating that there is a difference between

indigenised publishing houses and indigenous publishing

houses. The indigenised publishers are trans-national

publishing companies, which now have nationals as majority

equity shareholders, while indigenous publishers are those

with no ownership affiliation to international houses (1999).

Chakava defines an indigenous publisher as one with the

following characteristics and objectives: -

o A publishing company owned and controlled by Africans

o A company situated in Africa

o It should satisfy at all levels the country’s educational

needs

o Through its publications, the local culture and languages

of the people be preserved and promoted

14

o The publisher should cater to all non-academic areas

including children’s books and adult literacy materials

o The publisher should produce culturally entertaining

literature

o The publishing company should guard its independence, not

succumbing to external political, financial and

ideological pressures

o The publishing company should endeavour to cater to a

wide market both within the country, and across the

continent of Africa

For the sake of this research however, Orimalade’s definition,

by her distinction of both the indigenised and indigenous

would be used. Chakava definition, while laudable identifies

almost no publisher currently operating in the country as an

indigenous one. Therefore, this research identifies

independent small and medium enterprise publishers such as

Fourth Dimension Publishers, Spectrum Book Publishers and

Farafina Publishers, as examples of indigenous Nigerian

publishers. The bigger houses such as Macmillan, Longman, and

Evans etc are the indigenised publishers and not the focus of

the research. As the Tanzanian president put it at a

conference in 1996 on the future of indigenous publishing in

Africa, ‘A thriving autonomous publishing industry is essential to the intellectual

and cultural health of a society and therefore to its development generally’. He goes

on to assert that books published from outside the country

generally have a tendency of succumbing to economic and

political pressures of their countries of origin, thereby

promoting ‘seriously distorted and dangerous messages about the history, culture

and value of the third world societies. Nowhere has this tendency been more evident

than on the face of Africa’ (Davies, C. 2006).

15

2.4. Structure of Nigerian publishing industry

Publishing in Nigeria is to a certain degree, unregulated.

Government regulation could be said to be not specific. Not

specific in terms of control, through limitations and

restrictions on culture and output from the industry. However,

the industry as with all publishing industries is constrained

by legislation on defamation and libel, privacy, obscenity and

confidentiality. The industry also lacks a code of conduct for

industry stakeholders such as booksellers, publishers and

printers. It has often been reported that membership of

professional organisations in the industry are not as

widespread as they could be.

2.4.1. Company Structures: - The structures each publishing

house adopts, is often influenced by its size. As mentioned

previously, publishing in Nigeria is a private sector affair

with a majority of the output being academic books. However,

regardless of the size of the publishing house, departments to

execute the basic publishing functions of editorial,

production and marketing would exist.

2.4.2 The Publishing Process: -

Editorial: - Publishing processes in the houses are usually

middlemen free. Publishers deal directly with the authors,

without the mediation of an agent. The exception of this is in

international rights purchase cases.

Production: - As is the case with most other Africa countries,

there is usually a shortage of professional illustrators and

designers. Lawal-Solarin asserts that finding good

16

illustrators and designers in Nigeria is like looking for a

needle in a haystack (1998). Publishers still manage to cope

although the big publishers are better off. Small publishers

usually outsource production functions including printing

while the larger publishers have their established production

departments with the in-house capacity for all pre-press

activities.

Marketing: - this function is often said to be the most silent

part of the publishing process, particularly because academic

texts constitute the majority of books published in Nigeria.

The aim of publishers is usually to have their books as

recommended texts in schools. In such a situation, there is a

direct lobby with ministry personnel, school principals and

head teachers by the publisher’s sales representative. This

affords them minimal expenditure in marketing, distribution

and warehousing.

Distribution: - this is unarguably the weakest aspect of African

publishing (Bgoya 2005). This is made difficult because of the

lack of commercial outlets for the books, weak infrastructure

and lack of adequate postal services. In Nigeria, the norm is

that publishers handle their warehousing and transportation

for all their books. The bigger houses usually have warehouses

and storage in the same location as their head offices as well

as regional depots in order to allow for easier nationwide

reach of their titles. Smaller houses often do not get their

titles beyond a certain geographical area.

Bookselling: - Bookselling in Nigeria has often been marred by

distrust between booksellers and local publishers. In times

17

past, booksellers have been known to be side-lined by

publishers who often tended to sell their books directly to

the government through schools or libraries (Brickhill et al

2005). It has not been strange to find some publishers with

their own bookshops to aid retail activities, and in areas

beyond their geographical reach, independent sales agents are

often appointed. This competition between publishers and

booksellers stems from past experiences publishers have had

with them. Booksellers are purported to have abused credit

facilities, sold pirate copies of books and were interested in

books only during peak school season. This history of a

strained relationship is frequently given as part of the

reason why some booksellers have concentrated on importing

books instead of dealing with local publishers.

Figure 2.1 - Publishing Value Chain

2.5. Book Imports in Nigeria

The book in Africa and indeed Nigeria has its foundation in

imports. The books for schools and churches that the

missionaries used to instruct were primarily imported from

Britain. According to Makotsi 80% of Nigeria’s book needs are

imported (2000). Although this is a high figure, it is lower

than those from Swaziland, which imports 99% of its book

needs, and Lesotho and Botswana who both import 90% of their

book’s needs.

18

Consumers- Schools

Warehouse and Depot

PublishersAuthors

The educational book imports into Nigeria are mainly for

tertiary and semi-skilled education and the bigger established

publishing houses, and the independent booksellers are usually

the main importers. Other genres such as Christian books,

fiction and business books etc. are also imported into the

country although on a negligible scale when compared to

educational book imports. As mentioned previously, booksellers

are often major book importers, and they have been known to be

appointed as distributors for international publishers with a

number of them functioning in capacities as both wholesalers

and retailers. Where Ibadan is the publishing district, Lagos

is the bookselling district in Nigeria. One can often find

that booksellers outside Lagos tend to go Lagos, for most of

their book purchases, and then, in turn retail in other parts

of the country.

Figure 2.2 – Book Import Value Chain

2.6. Conclusion

The British it’s been said, introduced publishing and the book

in Nigeria in the late nineteenth and twentieth century with

the main focus being academic books. British publishers

dominated the industry till the 1970s Enterprise decree that

gave Nigerian nationals majority ownership in existing

publishing houses. This also encouraged small/medium sized

19

Other Booksellers

Consumers

Book importers

- Booksellers

International Publishers(or their representati

indigenous publishers to spring up. The industry is still

greatly influenced by imports with an estimated 80% of book

needs being imported from abroad, primarily the UK.

Fiction publishing in Nigeria has its origins in the late

forties with the Onitsha market literature. Since then,

fiction publishing has been sporadic and often series based.

Unstable political and economic climate has made it difficult

for publishers to thrive, as well as made books unaffordable

for consumers. There has been a very gradual pick up in the

publication of fiction in recent years owing to a more stable

economy guaranteeing consumer purchasing power.

20

2.7. References

o Mammah, R. (2002) The History and Prospects of the Nigerian

Book. Mace Publications.

o Okwilagwe, O. A. (2001) Book Publishing in Nigeria Stirling

Horden Publishers (Nig) Ltd.

o Okoro, I. (2002) From Onitsha Market Literature to General

Trade Book Publishing in Nigeria SABDET [Internet] available

from <http://www.sabdet.com/ASAUL2002_okoro_paper.htm>

[accessed 20 July 2006].

o Hamilton-Jones, R. (1998) The African Writer’s Series

[Internet] available from

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/apm/publishing/culture/colonia

l/aws.html! [Accessed July 2006)

o Clarke, B. (1998) The History, Development and Effect of the

African Writer’s Series on African Culture and Publishing

[Internet] available from

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/apm/publishing/culture/colonia

l/aws.html! [Accessed July 2006]

o Ogbaa, K. (2003) A century of Nigerian Literature Africa

Research and Publications.

o Makotsi, R. (2000) Expanding the Book Trade Across Africa: A

Study of Current Barriers and Future Potential, APNET.

o Chakava, H. (1996) Publishing in Africa: One Man’s Perspective,

Bellagio Publishing Network.

o Bgoya, W. (2005) Multinational Control of Textbook Industry

Starves African Publishing [Internet] available from

http://www.campaignforeducation.org/news_past_jul05html

[accessed 20th July 2006).

o Davis, C. The Necessity for Indigenous Publishing [Internet]

available from

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/apm/publishing/culture/colonia

l/indigpub.html! [Accessed July 2006).

o Orimalade, O. (1999) Indigenised or Indigenous Publishers?

[Internet] available from

21

http://www.africacentre.org.uk/connections.htm [accessed 20th

July 2006].

o Ike, C. (2004) Book Publishing in Nigeria [Internet] available

from http://www.sabre.org/publications/publishing-in-

nigeria.pdf [accessed July 2006].

22

CHAPTER 3

3.0. Literature review and findings

The publishing industry in Nigeria is often considered as one

of the biggest in Africa, second to South Africa and about the

same capacity as Kenya. However, little information exists on

its developments as an independent industry. Most of the

research findings identified peculiar problems and

characteristics of African publishing industry as a whole. The

following paragraphs identify and discuss them.

3.1. Government policy on books

Nigeria has been ruled by military dictators for more than

half of its 46 years of independence. A civil war and several

coups made political, economic and social life unstable for

the nation, its citizens and their businesses. The nationalist

leaders of post independent Nigeria were ousted in the

collapse of the first republic, giving way to a breed of

military leaders whose reputation for unaccountability,

corruption and self-aggrandizement came before national

interest and development of the state. Consequently, this

created an unfavourable environment for most industries,

including the publishing industry to thrive.

23

There is no record of a known government policy on books and

publishing in Nigeria before 1992. The lack of policy by

either legislation or decree suggested that the industry was

one of the least priorities in the government’s agenda. As

Emeyonu put it, the government more or less, considered the

book industry as an elitist extravaganza, which like

universities, could wait till more important items on the

programme for national development had been taken care of

(1993). This lack of policy at both state and federal levels

of government made it difficult for the government to focus

development objectives on any particular aspect of the

publishing or book industry. Also, the introduction of the

Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the 1990s, forced the

Nigerian government to introduce stringent economic policies

that included the devaluation of the naira, which brought

about a subsequent reduction in the purchasing power of

consumers, further driving down the demand for books,

especially on a personal level. This time also saw a reduction

in government expenditure on education, primarily schoolbooks.

SAP made it difficult for publishers to be able to purchase

and make foreign exchange payment for books from abroad, and

made paper imported into the country for printing, expensive.

Subsequently driving up the cost of production for publishing.

The Book Development Centre (BDC) an arm of the Nigeria

Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) was the

government body used to influence the book industry from 1988.

According to Okwilagwe, in 1992 the NERDC noted that there was

no intensive programme backed by a national policy on book

production, supply, distribution and use and as such, they

24

decided to publish a draft national book policy (2001). This

draft was in two parts. The first part set out to recognise

the relevance of the book as an educational and cultural

instrument for national interaction and understanding, as well

as recognise the role of the book, as an agent for individual

growth and promotion. Some of the objectives of this draft

included to: -

o Promote and encourage local authorship, as well as

seek to create a favourable environment for publishing

activities to flourish

o Make books available and affordable at all levels

o Support and encourage research in book development

o Where necessary purchase rights for educational books

o Develop and promote national and regional training

facilities in all areas of the book industry

o Create and foster a reading culture and habit across

age groups

o Support the establishment and growth of libraries

across all communities and levels of governments

o Through book fairs, seminars and workshops, promote

the awareness of book needs

o Encourage the production of all kinds of professional

books

o Encourage the production of specialised books (e.g.

Braille)

o Ensure minimum production standards

o Remove contradictions that militate against an

efficient and cost effective development and supply of

books

o Foster policy and implementation coordination between

different ministries and organs of government (i.e.

25

government ministries, parastatals and non-

governmental Organisations)

o Create an affordable and sustainable financing

mechanism for the production of instructional

materials for primary and secondary schools.

The NERDC policy seemed well intentioned for the industry, but

the problem with Nigeria and indeed most African countries, is

the implementation and execution of these objectives.

Especially when an organization such as the NERDC is not

equipped to manage the responsibility of implementation.

Government commitment usually ends when it is time to budget

and fund these objectives; this ultimately renders even the

most well intentioned policies ineffective.

In Nigeria, the government textbook provision scheme through

Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) of 1997/98 is regarded as one of

the factors that contributed to undermine the effectiveness of

the draft NERDC book policy. The PTF initiative saw the

government award contracts to the tune of about 7.2 billion

naira for the provision of textbooks and stationery for

primary and secondary schools. The main problem with this

initiative was that it was only a temporary measure to stave

off the book famine that the country was experiencing at that

time. This initiative also did not consider the need to build

the capacity of the indigenous publishers to a level where

they could adequately meet the present and future book needs

of the country without aid and government assistance. This is

usually the case with government policies, often focused on

only one actor in the book chain, which in most cases are the

schools and their students.

26

The publishing industry has not been recognised by the

government as an industry capable for revenue generation for

them, as well as custodians of cross-generational knowledge in

culture and development. As a result, government focus on book

development has always been and remained on the level of

immediate provision of academic book needs, with emphasis on

primary and secondary education; making no commitment to build

the capacity of the industries directly or indirectly linked

to the book, or creating an environment that would cause these

industries to thrive. This attitude has produced a society

that leaves a huge chunk of the out of school reading public

un-catered for.

In addition, although government has encouraged the early

education of students to be in their mother tongue, it has not

demonstrated a commitment to this policy by offering

concessions either monetary or otherwise, to encourage

publishing of history and culture in indigenous languages.

3.2. Focus on academic books

The focus of Nigerian publishers on academic publishing is a

situation peculiar to all of Africa. As Bgoya puts it, up to

95% of books published in Africa are school text-books (2005).

Several factors have been the reason for this. One of the main

reasons is that academic books, especially primary and

secondary school books are generally more profitable, and

guaranteed revenue for these publishers. This situation is

more inviting because of the unstable economic and political

environments of these countries. In the case of Nigeria, there

is a prescribed school curriculum by the government which

27

publishers adapt their titles to. A lot of times the same

government is usually the main customer for these books

particularly in step with the varying national policies on

free basic education.

Specialisation in academic book publishing could be seen to be

cheaper to produce as it relates to marketing and promotion.

Because of the ministry’s influence on the set curriculum and

set texts, publishers do not need to spend as heavily on

marketing and promoting the academic titles, the ministry

usually gives the needed exposure that would lead to the

demand for these books. This bias for academic publishing has

consequently produced publishing professionals who may not

have the skills, experience and confidence required to

successfully publish other genres of literature.

It is also important to emphasise that the young publishing

industry that exists in the country today was inherited as a

mainly academic one from its British publishing ancestors

whose beginnings in the book trade were academic focused both

for imports and later on, in publishing.

3.3. Lack of a reading culture and multiple language situations

It is believed that Nigerians, and Africans in general lack a

reading culture. This has been attributed to the oratory

nature of their societies and the multiple language situations

of most of these countries. Nigeria alone boasts of over 250

languages. In most cases, these languages are the primary

languages of communication and thought and because there has

been an underdevelopment in the transcriptions of these

languages, publishing in many of them have been non-existent.

28

The three official languages of Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo have

been the major secondary languages of publications in Nigeria.

As mandatory subjects in secondary schools, most books

published in them are tailored to the teaching of these

languages.

According to Orimalade, Nigerians read. She attests that

Nigerians would read beyond the spheres of formal education as

long as the books are available, published in a language, and

on themes that are of interest and relevant to their cultures

and communities. She quotes the Kano market literature of the

1990s as a successful example of non-academic publishing

projects that captivated the reading interest of the general

public.

In addition to a multiple language situation, Chakava

identifies other factors that have affected the attitude

Africans have to reading. He declares that the foundations of

reading in Africa were not for pleasure. This is because

Africans were introduced to read as a mandatory effort for

education. Also, the books Africans were originally exposed to

in many cases often contradicted their beliefs and cultural

values. He mentions high illiteracy rates, lack of a reading

education and an underdeveloped publishing industry as other

factors which contribute to create environments that do not

foster a reading culture and book buying habits among

Africans. A final factor that is quite influential is the lack

of finances by the average Nigerian and African to buy books

for pleasure. Affording the basic necessities of life, and

even educational books is often a challenge for a majority of

the people.

29

3.4. Lack of skill and education in publishing / book trade

As mentioned previously the publishing industry in Nigeria is

one of the least regulated industries in the country. This has

often been attributed to a lack of education and

professionalization of the book trade and publishing. There

are reportedly very few universities with courses in

publishing or book development. On the industry side, there

is no stipulated code of conduct or licensing scheme that aims

to guide or encourage uniform basic practises in the industry.

This situation has produced a trade that has earned little

respect and recognition by its government and general public.

For quite a while, publishing in Nigeria had been viewed as a

simple exercise of printing and selling books. This was later

compounded by the rise of vanity publishing in the 1980s where

no skills in editorial, marketing and production were

necessary to publish these books. This tide however has

changed, with recent calls by some industry experts. Adesanoye

states that book publishers must enhance their professional

practise through deliberate, purposeful and sustained training

in the art of publishing (1995). In yet another place

Okwilagwe (2001) makes a few recommendations African

publishing industries need to consider for implementation, in

order to regularise industry practises. They are: -

o High competent technical standards should be introduced

through training workshops and seminars, in the

publishing and printing industries

30

o Higher education institutions should introduce courses

targeted at building the capacity of creative writing

talents and publishing skills

o Publishing courses in editorial, production, marketing,

illustration and design training should be offered at

degree levels in more schools across Africa.

3.5. Copyright

Nigeria’s copyright laws have its origins in the British

Copyright Act of 1911. This law, which was a culmination of

several acts before it, was extended to Nigeria in 1912. The

law was in force throughout the period Britain colonised

Nigeria. 10 years after independence, there was an attempt to

indigenise copyright control in the country, and the Copy

Right Act 1970 came into existence. In practicality, this law

was the same as the 1912 Act, with very little modification.

Problems arose when this law governed, because the governing

authorities at that time, did not have a proper understanding

of the necessity of such a control and as such did not make

provision for its protection, implementation and enforcement.

This environment coupled with a history of imports and few

locally published authors, made it quite easy for piracy to

thrive in the country.

Sensitisation of both the government and general public by

stakeholders of copyright industries such as publishers,

musicians etc brought some change to this situation leading to

the first national seminar on the Nigerian Copyright Law. The

resulting draft document is said to have produced a

comprehensive list of workable recommendations, which produced

the 1988 Copyright Decree. The main improvement on this decree

31

compared to the previous Act, is that it made provision for

the set-up of the Nigerian Copyright Council (NCC), which

later became a commission in 1996 with its sole responsibility

to administer the copyright law across the movie, music and

publishing industries. Okwilagwe lists the functions of the

NCC as: -

o To be responsible for the enforcement of copyright laws

through the provision of lawyers as inspectors who are

mandated to prosecute offenders without going through the

director of public prosecution

o Social mobilisation of the general public on all matters

relating to copyright

o Protect the royalty entitlements of Nigerian artists

o Represent the interest of Nigerian artists in

international copyright matters

o Keep record of the works of all Nigerian authors

o To monitor and supervise Nigeria’s position in relation

to international conventions and advice the government

accordingly.

International works in Nigeria are protected by the

international agreements such as the Berne convention, the

World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Universal

Copyright Convention (UCC), and the Paris Convention for the

Protection of Industrial Property that have Nigeria and most

countries in Africa as signatories.

3.5.1 Piracy and Reprography

Piracy constitutes the greatest challenge to copyright control

in Nigerian publishing (Kolawole 2005). It also affects the

music and movie industries at a more damaging level. It is

32

estimated that the book publishing industry in Nigeria loses

about $200 million to pirates each year (Okwilagwe 2001). The

piracy carried out in the country is in two dimensions. The

first is piracy of books published by local publishers, and

the second is piracy of books by international publishers. It

has been said that book piracy activities are usually

concentrated in the eastern cities of Aba and Onitsha, places

that are far away geographically from the publishing city of

Ibadan, and the bookselling city of Lagos (about 5 to 8 hours

by car from the west to the east). Industry specialists have

given many reasons for such a high rate of piracy in Nigeria

and indeed in the continent of Africa.

Bgoya claims that a lack of understanding by African

publishers of possible openings that could be exploited within

the international copyright system that would allow them

access to educational books more cheaply than through

conventional rights purchase is a contributing factor (2005).

Altbach blames the piracy problems in third world countries on

the hard line of both the Berne convention, sponsored by

Europe, and the ICC sponsored by the US as copyright systems

that cater for the interest of what he calls the ‘have’

countries (1998). Finally, the international intellectual

property alliance attributes the seriousness of the problem of

piracy in the country today, is as a result of a 2003

government reduction in educational funding (2006). However,

the general state of the society and the inability to seek

redress by the authors and publishers in the court with the

police enforcing any judgement have also fostered the

propagation of piracy in the country.

33

For whatever the reason, piracy has thrived in Nigeria, to the

detriment of local publishers and content creators. What

started out as a response to a lack of availability of books

at affordable prices has produced an established criminal

industry that may have more knowledge of the market than they

are given credit for. Piracy in Nigeria today is said to be on

a large scale, and across industries. It has been said that

collaborations between companies in Asia and Nigeria exists to

aid piracy, and pirated products are often exported to other

African countries from Nigeria.

Indications demonstrate that the NCC has been unable to

adequately restrain piracy in the book trade to the extent

that would demonstrate considerable change in the industry.

This is because the commission is also said to be in charge of

enforcing the copyright laws for both the music and the movie

industries. This Herculean task, with limited funding makes

their daunting assignment most difficult. The NCC’s custom of

sporadic raids and seizures may not suffice in its effort to

curb this problem. Group effort by all stakeholders is needed

to rein in and control the piracy situation in Nigeria. The

NCC seemed to have recognised this with the launch of a new

initiative called Strategic Action Against Pirates (STRAP) in

2005. STRAP is a stakeholder multi-sectoral platform for

enhanced copyright protection and anti-piracy campaign in all

ramifications.

Reprography by photocopying is another aspect of copyright

breach that is prevalent in Nigeria. This is primarily

concentrated in Universities. A strong culture of photocopy

has emerged in the Universities, with lecture handouts and set

34

texts falling victims to photocopying. This is a particular

problem, especially because photocopy is considered as

indispensable in the advancement of education in Nigerian

Universities (Igbeneghu 1993). This began as the result of a

need, a need that has not been adequately addressed by the

creation or the provision of alternatives by government,

publishers and booksellers to date.

3.6. Book Aid

There are no actual records of the amount of book aid Nigeria

receives each year, and what percentage of the overall market

share of imported books actually come into the country as aid.

What is known is that Nigeria receives a substantial amount of

book aid, from Western countries. Book Aid International

states that their programmes to Nigeria constitute their

largest effort in Africa. This is because of the need created

by the number of Nigerians at school and the government’s

current Universal Basic Education scheme (UBE). Book Aid

International is not the only international organisation with

aid programmes in Nigeria or Africa.

The World Bank, UNESCO, USAID and the British Council have all

in the past and present funded and provided diverse book aid

schemes to Nigeria. Book aid has proved to become an

independent and established industry in Nigeria. This has come

about because

o The book industry in the Nigeria was undercapitalised and

unregulated and as a result, unable to adequately cater

for the educational and cultural book needs of the

country.

35

o The book industry is not wealthy enough to sponsor

detailed research for publication in many subjects, and

as such rely on the findings from overseas, which would

also be expensive to import, leaving the market to rely

on donations in these areas.

o The economic crises of the 1980s saw Nigeria receive

economical help through the Structural Adjustment

Programme (SAP). This resulted in the cut of government

expenditure on books and education resulting in a weak

book industry, which had heavily depended on revenue from

government for the purchase of schoolbooks.

o Purchasing power of citizens was also greatly reduced as

a result of the economic situation, and as such books

were not deemed priority purchases.

o Lastly, natural disaster has been said to be a reason for

book aid. The toll the Biafran war had on the University

of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) library is an example. It was

estimated that half of the library stock was lost in the

war. In such a situation, lack of insurance in the

society will almost guarantee that the books may not be

ever replaced, except by acts of benevolence such as book

aid.

Books that get donated to the country are either solicited or

unsolicited. For the solicited books, it is usually at an

institutionalised level. Organisations such as NGOs, churches

and businesses often solicit a lot of these aids received.

However, unsolicited book aids are not rare, and in some cases

perceived as a way for western publishers to dispose of old

books they cannot get rid of in their countries The official

language of English, makes the country and easy target of

36

being a dumping ground for such books. These different kinds

of books aid each have its advantage and disadvantage. See

table below.

Figure 3.1 solicited and unsolicited book aid – A comparison

Solicited Book Aid Unsolicited Book AidBooks received at the request

of recipient organisation

Books sent with no formal

request by any recipient

organisationRequest usually made as a

result of a need

Needs of the recipient are

not adequately taken into

accountBooks received usually

relevant to the educational

and cultural need of the

recipient.

Books sent may not be

relevant to the educational

and cultural need of the

recipient.Aid may be to more than one

aspect of the value chain.

E.g. a reader and a

bookseller.

Aid would be targeted to only

one aspect of the value

chain, the reader.

Mauro Rosi diagram identifies five actors in the book chain

and comments that book aid, often only focus on one actor of

the chain, as opposed to enhancing the whole chain. See figure

below

Figure 3.2. - The Book Chain

37

CREATIONAUTHORS - writers,

translators,illustrators etc

Rosi states that there is a degree of interdependence amongst

all the actors in a book chain, and that many book aid

projects fail because they are often based on a partial and

non-integrated concept of the book chain. These projects are

often focused on the final actor which is the reader with

minimal and in most cases, no consideration of the other

actors in the chain. This ultimately results in a weakened

book chain, rather than its improvements. The publishing and

distribution actors are the most often negatively affected in

Nigeria by book aid. This is because these aid often

constitute unfair competition for the locally published books,

as well as not encourage innovation in creativity and research

even when available and affordable. On the side of

distribution, book aid which are usually supplied directly to

the readers through libraries and schools, eliminate the

distribution actor completely, thereby creating an environment

where readers are not encouraged to demand and request

information, training and content specific to their own

particular needs.

38

PUBLICATIONEDITORS -

commissioning

editor copy

READINGReaders – school

children,

DISTRIBUTIONBooksellersWholesalersDistributors

Finally, it is worth a mention that recent years have seen a

particular increase in Christian book and business book aid to

Nigeria. The Nigerian church is said to be the third largest

national evangelical church in the world (ACTS 2006). As such

there is a huge need for the provision of textbooks for

theological training, which is usually not budgeted for by any

aspect of government. This need is usually catered for by

Christian organisations world-wide through book aid.

Business books on the other hand, get to the country through

reputable business NGOs like the Fate Foundation Nigeria, who

partner with their sister organisation in the US to get these

books to aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs who monitor

industry specific developments. Harvard Business School,

Kellogg School of Management and Stanford graduate school of

business have been institutions that have contributed to this

kind of initiative. However, Ike states adequately that ‘Book

donation only help to fill yawning gaps in the publishing output of Nigerian

publishing houses and will continue to do so for quite a while. The ultimate goal

must be for Nigerian publishers to publish the bulk of the books required for formal

and non-formal education in the country, particularly in the areas in which foreign

books are unlikely to be available’ (2004).

3.7. Distribution

Distribution is the aspect of the book chain that ensures that

the published work reaches the booksellers, and ultimately

readers. It almost defeats the purpose of publishing if the

creative product does not reach its target market. As is the

case with a number of the other factors discussed in the

preceding chapters, distribution is a particular problem to

African publishing. This problem is most difficult in Nigeria

39

because of it large land mass. Nigeria is approximately

923,770 sq. km in size with land constituting 910,770 sq. km

of it and water 13,000 sq. km of it. This is a lot of land and

water to reach especially in the absence of a fully functional

transportation network. Bgoya points that in addition to bad

transportation, postal systems are not optimally functional,

greatly compounding distribution issues. Chakava has described

book marketing and distribution as the Achilles heel of

African publishing (1996). He opines that most African

publishers have not imbibed a custom of preparing and

producing advance publicity information about their titles.

This should not be strange as considering that most of these

publishers publish educational books to a curriculum written

by the government who in often case is their major customer,

the need for promoting these books may therefore not be

recognised.

In Nigeria, access to books can be quite difficult. The bigger

multinational houses usually have depots and sales

representatives by regions but this does not automatically

grant the public access to the books. The smaller houses with

smaller print run of titles usually cannot justify investments

in distribution beyond a certain geographical area. A

publishing house like the Fourth Dimension Publisher of Enugu

has its own network of distributors in major cities and towns

in Nigeria. What is unclear is whether these distributors have

all their books in stock at all times, or consumers have to

order in titles as and when it is needed. The drawback with

this kind of arrangement is that there may not be a commitment

by these distributors, to market the titles and ensure they

40

are distributed to all bookshops and retail outlets in the

given area.

In Nigeria, distribution usually depends heavily on road

transport systems which is often expensive, and arduous.

Postal services are most unreliable with high incidents of

losses, which have brought about the need to insure all

parcels. All these add up to the eventual price of a book,

making it expensive by the time it reaches the consumer. This

problem with distribution has also been the major hindrance to

intra-African book trade, even where the books are language

and culturally relevant. Nigerian publishers quiet often

cannot get the books across to other African countries

particularly those outside the Economic Community of West

African states (ECOWAS).

The problem of distribution is not unique to Africa, and is

said to be prevalent in a lot of third world countries. As

Arboleda puts it, the reason this has persisted as a problem

is because third world publishers often assume that what is

published would be sold (1998). A workable distribution system

is therefore necessary for the progress of publishing in the

country, as Datus Smith points out that mass distribution of

books, help develop an educated citizenry (Arboleda 1998).

3.8. Lack of funding for the industry

The private sector nature of the industry makes it difficult

for most publishing houses to gain access to adequate funding

of their businesses whether as a start-up, or a means to

expand operations. Commercial banks are usually unwilling to

lend money to finance businesses such as publishing. This is

41

because there is a perception that investments in industries

such as publishing generally yield slow return on investment.

High interest rates also make it difficult for repayments in

the few exempt cases where a publisher or bookseller may have

obtained funding. Aid for publishers, especially financial

grants is often not as popular as book donations.

This burden of under-capitalisation of the industry affects

its productivity and profitability in many ways than one. It

could restrict the cash flow and working capital available for

publishers in the course of their business operations. This in

turn pressures them to minimise costs, inadequately market

their books and spend little on distribution. This ultimately

influences terms set for trade with booksellers, creating

unfavourable conditions for booksellers, which as a result,

could reduce the value of the industry.

3.9 Conclusion

The publishing industry in Nigeria is young and struggling.

Various factors in the past political, economic and social

history of the country have shaped the industry and made it

what it is known as today: - an undercapitalised and

unregulated industry, whose focus on academic books is barely

able to adequately meet the educational and cultural needs of

the nation. This hopefully should change with the more settled

political, economic and social environment of the country. The

resuscitation of the Nigerian book fair culture and the

continuous work of intra-African organisations such as the

African Publishers Network (APNET), who organise activities

that raise awareness of the trade on the continent while

42

creating avenues for collaboration between industry

stakeholders in different countries.

43

3.10. References

o Walter Bgoya (2005) Multinational Control of Textbook

Industry Starves African Publishing [Internet] available

from

http://www.campaignforeducation.org/news_past_jul05html

[accessed 20th July 2006).

o Oshiotse Andrew Okwilagwe (2001) Book Publishing in

Nigeria Stirling Horden Publishers (Nig) Ltd.

o Ruth Makotsi (2000) Expanding the Book Trade Across

Africa: A Study of Current Barriers and Future Potential,

APNET.

o Henry Chakava (1996) Publishing in Africa: One Man’s

Perspective, Bellagio Publishing Network.

o Paul Brickhall, Chris Chirwa, Benght Lindahl (2005)

Changing Public/Private Partnerships in the African Book

Sector, APNET.

o Sule Bello, Abdullahi Augi (1993) Culture and the Book

Industry in Nigeria, Council of arts and Culture

Publications, Lagos.

o Philip G. Altbach (1998) Publishing and Development: A

Book of Readings, Bellagio Publishing Network.

o Mauro Rosi (2005) Book Donations for Development, UNESCO

[Internet] from

http://www.codecan.org/english/documents/Book_Donations.p

df [accessed 23rd August 2006].

o Nigerian Tribune (2006) Publishers visit Copyright

Commission [Internet] from

http://www.tribune.com.ng/18082006/arts.html [accessed

5th September 2006].

o Oluronke Orimalade (1999) The Market is there. People

Read! [Internet] available from

44

http://www.africacentre.org.uk/connections.htm [accessed

20th July 2006].

o International Intellectual Property Alliance (2006)

Special 301 Nigeria [Internet] available from

http://www.iipa.com/rbc/2006/2006SPEC301NIGERIA.pdf#searc

h=%22international%20intellectual%20property%20alliance

%20nigeria%202006%20special%20301%22 [accessed August

2006].

o African Christian Textbook ACTS (2006) About Us.

[Internet] available from

http://www.africachristiantextbooks.com/about_us.php

[accessed September 2006].

CHAPTER 4

4.0 Methodology

According to Clough and Nutbrown, methodology provides the

reason for using a particular research recipe (2003). This

they perceive is often characterised by forms of radical

enquiry. However, whatever recipe used to carry out a given

research project, it is important to determine possible

45

constraints early enough to help with the direction of the

project.

Considering the different methods available for research in

the time frame, a combination of both primary and secondary

research methods using quantitative and qualitative approaches

was used in carrying out this research project.

In the literary review stage of this research project, it was

discovered that prior research on publishing in Nigeria

focused on the academic sector, in a lot of cases, grouped

African publishing together. This as a result, made it

necessary to carry out additional primary research. After some

considerations on the kind of findings required, the

constraints of time and expenses, it was decided that both a

quantitative and qualitative research approaches were the

necessary methods to be used to execute the objectives of this

research.

4.1. Qualitative / Quantitative Approaches

Quantitative and Qualitative research methods each have their

own advantages and uses, and are often placed one against the

other. The following table gives a side-by-side comparison of

these methods.

Figure 4.1. Quantitative and Qualitative: A Comparison

Quantitative Research Qualitative Research

46

This usually involves the

analysis of numerical data

This usually involves the

interpretation of wordsOften viewed as an efficient

way to test hypothesis

Often builds hypothesis and

concepts from detailsOften used to get information

about the prevailing

consensus and the norm

Often used to gain

understanding of underlying

perceptions of informants

Instruments such as

questionnaires, surveys are

used to collect the numerical

data

Instruments such as

interviews are used to

collect information that is

value boundGeneralisations are usually

time and context free

Data gathered is usually

context and time boundAnalysis from this method is

usually deduced

Analysis from this method is

usually induced

It is not a rare situation for a mixed method of using both

quantitative and qualitative approaches in a given research.

Neill suggests that more good can come of social science

researchers if they develop skill in both realms of

qualitative and quantitative methods instead of debating which

method is superior. Also, mixed methods such as qualitative

surveys which could be a questionnaire with open-ended

questions, and quantitative group discussions are simple ways

in which the strict demarcations between the two approaches

can be ignored for the purpose of a given research. These

opinions influenced the decision to adopt a mixed method

approach for this research. This was done using questionnaires

with open-ended questions at the end, and interviews.

47

4.2 Secondary Research

The reading of books, journals, and related websites at the

literature review stage was the main form of secondary

research undertaken. It was discovered at this stage that a

bulk of previous research and findings generally group all of

African publishing together. There is little research and

information on Nigerian publishing as an independent industry,

although it is often mentioned as one of the most vibrant

publishing industries in Africa. Another discovery was that

information on academic publishing dominated much of the

information available for publishing in Africa, with very

little recognition and information on other genres.

It was found that publishers of fiction and other non-academic

genres generally published educational texts as well. Also, it

was realised that a history of publishing successful fiction

series had existed at various times in the past. Examples of

this were the Onitsha market literature, African writer’s

series, Pacesetter series and Kano market series.

A useful insight was gained studying the directory of Nigerian

book development. It was discovered that out of 80 publishers

listed in the directory, only 20 of them published listed

fiction as a genre they published. The directory also gave

useful insight about the ownership makeup of the publishing

houses that existed in the industry (see figure 4.2.)

Figure 4.2 – Nigerian Publishers by category

TYPES OF BOOKS PUBLISHED

NUMBER OF

PUBLISHERS

48

Business 0

Biographies 1

Fiction 20

General* 30

Type of ownership  

Individually owned 10

Private Limited Company 22

Number of titles published annually  

Less than 5 10

10 - 20 books 6

20 books or more 3

 Note: Wholly academic publishers and multinational

houses not included in this table  

* It was not specified what kinds of books were

classed as general  

4.3. Primary Research

As mentioned above, the lack of sufficient, substantial

information about fiction publishing in Nigeria, led to the

need to carry out both quantitative and qualitative primary

research. The aim of this research was to test the hypothesis

of the existence and consumption of fiction literature in

present day Nigeria, as well as measure whether the demand for

the genre had increased in recent times. These approaches were

also used in order to enumerate information on general

editorial and marketing practises of publishers, determine

booksellers’ perception and experience in selling the genre.

The instruments used were questionnaires with a few open-ended

questions at the end. This allowed for detailed comments and

observation, which it was believed, could help in gaining a

49

better understanding of the traditions, customs and attitudes

to the genre, of these actors in the industry. A couple of

publishers’ representatives were also included in the primary

research, through email interviews. Here, two seasoned

publishers representatives experienced in exporting to Nigeria

from the UK were interviewed to arrive at findings that may

not be the consensus, but would give valuable insight about

the nature and type of books being exported from the UK to

Nigeria. This was to help in establishing the point that book

exports to Nigeria was not solely academic.

4.3.1 Questionnaires - Publishers and Bookseller

Time constraints were the primary determinant that influenced

the choice of a questionnaire. It was believed that the

questionnaires would provide information from which knowledge

and a general consensus about the market, authorship,

marketing, and distribution could be gleaned especially since

the information available would be through the lenses of

booksellers and publishers. In addition, a few open-ended

questions were included to give a contextual understanding to

industry perceptions of publishing and the genre of fiction

especially as it relates to the future of the genre in

Nigeria. It was intended that general knowledge about the

practises of these publishers, and booksellers would aid a

better understanding of the industry, as well as help to

adequately identify general industry trends and cultures that

may have contributed to hindering the growth and development

of the genre.

A limitation of the research however is that survey was

restricted to booksellers and publishers with no primary

50

information available from authors. Although contact was made

with a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), no

response was received as at the time the research project

concluded. It would have been most interesting to discover

author perception of the industry as it affected them.

The table below lists all the business contacted to be

included in the research. The names and contact details of a

number of these organisations were found on the Internet, or

were obtained through other participants in the research. Also

important to note, is that the publishers included in this

research were indigenous publishers as identified by

Orimalade’s definition, whose ownership history was

independent of any international multinational publishing

house. It was a deliberate attempt of the research to include

publishers and booksellers, from different parts of the

country. This is because publishing and bookselling activities

tend to be concentrated in the towns and states in western

Nigeria.

The publishers and booksellers approached were those that wererelatively easy to contact by phone, fax and email. Also, they

were businesses that command a substantial amount of the

market even though no figures exist to prove their size and

market share. Knowledge of their relevance in the industry was

gained in the years spent as a bookseller, as well as their

presence on the World Wide Web. Web presence is still a new

concept for a majority Nigerian businesses, and therefore

booksellers and publishers who have a website demonstrate a

certain degree of establishment in the business and industry.

51

Figure 4.3. – Contacted publishers and booksellers table

Publishers BooksellersSpectrum Books, Ibadan Bookworm Bookshop, LagosFarafina Publishers, Lagos Rainbow Bookshop, Port

HarcourtAfrican Legacy Press, Lagos Paperworth Bookshop, Port

HarcourtCogito Publishers, Enugu NuMetro Bookshops, Lagos and

AbujaCornerstone Publishers,

Ibadan

Glendora Bookshop, Lagos

Fourth Dimension Publishing,

Enugu

Mosuro the Bookseller, Lagos

and AbujaIM Publications, Zaria CSS Bookshop, LagosKonk Publishers, Lagos Booksmart Bookshop, Port

HarcourtKraft Books Ltd, Lagos Lase Books, LagosMace Books, Lagos Options Book Centre, Ibadan Mosuro Publications, Lagos Manna Books, LagosNew Generation Publishing

Company, Lagos

Lanterna Ventures, Lagos

4.3.2 Publishers’ representative interviews

The lack of substantial data and information on export to

Nigeria and fiction in particular led to the need to interview

the publisher’s representative. Six questions in all were

posed to them, and the main aims of these questions were to

gather information and knowledge about their experiences in

export to the country. This was done in order to help

substantiate the claim that there exists demand and

52

consumption of other genres of books, especially fiction in

Nigeria, as well as gauge the level of demand whether this had

increased or declined in recent years. The time frame of

between 1999 to date was chosen because 1999 was the year when

Nigeria returned to democratic rule, thereby ushering a period

of stable political, economic and social environment for

individuals and their businesses. It begs to reason that this

stable environment would have made it easier for businesses to

thrive, including publishers and booksellers as well as

increased the purchasing power of consumers.

4.4 Conclusion

For this research a combination of methods and approaches have

been used to gather knowledgeable information. The aim of the

research was to recognise Nigerian consumption of non-academic

literature in fiction, identifying the importers that have

provided readers with this genre and subsequently, gauging the

effect this has had on indigenous fiction book with the hope

to suggest possible improvement in the industry.

Certain constraints limited the scope of the research, making

the research not as expansive and as detailed as would have

been preferred. It would have been beneficial to receive

feedback from authors, as no response was received from them

though contact was made. Authors who are the creative content

originators would have given valuable insight on the process

publishers and booksellers put their work through and help

determine the level of commitment these actors have to the

genre.

53

A broader response base, as well as the inclusion of the

indigenised publishers would have helped strengthen the

consensus discovered from the research findings. Finally, the

cautious culture of business prevalent in most private sector

dominated industries in Nigeria prevented any gathering of

information on sales figures. This would have helped

adequately determine volume and value of the genre in the

industry.

54

4.5. References

o Peter Clough, Cathy Nutbrown (2003) A Student’s Guide to

Methodology, London: Sage Publications.

o Elizabeth Orna, Graham Stevens (1995) Managing

Information for Research. Buckingham: Open University

Press.

o Judith Bell (1993) Doing Your Research Project, 2nd

edition Buckingham: Open University Press.

o James Neill (2006) Analysis of Professional Literature

Class 6: Qualitative Research 1 [Internet] from

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/reserach/Qualitative/q

ualquan.htm [accessed 4th August].

o James Neill (2006) Qualitative versus Quantitative

Research: Key Points in a Classic Debate [Internet] from

http://wilderdom.com/research/QualitativeVersusQuantiatai

veReserach.html [accessed 4th August 2006].

o Ike, C. (1998) Directory of Nigerian Book Development.

Awka: Jointly published by Nigerian Book Foundation &

Fourth dimension Publishers.

55

CHAPTER 5

5.0. Analysis of Research

Cambridge dictionary defines fiction as stories written about

imaginary characters and events and not based on real people

and facts. For the purpose of this research fiction refers to

any creative writing in drama and prose. The research does not

limit this definition to a particular kind of fiction, but

covers all genres of creative writing ranging from romance to

crime thrillers, dramas and science fiction. In the UK,

fiction is believed to represent the largest sector in the

market, accounting for an estimated 9% of the total UK output

of books by major category (Mintel 2006). To re-iterate, this

research was carried out with the following intentions: -

o To establish the fact that Nigerians often consume books

beyond the sphere of educational purposes.

o To test the hypothesis of the existence of fiction

consumption in Nigeria and how book imports may have

affected the publishing of the genre by indigenous

publishers.

o To gain an understanding about current industry trends

and perceptions pertaining to the genre of fiction,

56

identifying whether the recent increase in the publishing

of Nigerian editions of Diaspora writing, is an emerging

trend in the industry.

5.1. Economic considerations

The analysis and conclusions of this research cannot be fully

understood, without first considering Nigeria’s economic

background. It is often argued that countries like Nigeria

with low GDP per capita, and with a huge amount of its

population living on less than a dollar a day, often find that

its citizenry cannot afford beyond the very basic essentials

of life. The 2005 estimated GDP per capita for Nigeria was

$1400. When compared to the UK GDP per capita of $30, 300 or

the Malaysian GDP per capita of $12, 100, the Nigerian rate is

indeed low (CIA fact book 2006). Nigeria’s low GDP per capita

could mean that its people may have low purchasing power, and

as a result, most of the books bought by the people would

either be for academic or religious purposes (i.e. Bibles,

Korans etc), thereby keeping fiction and other non-academic

genres of books out of the reach of a majority of its people.

However, the low GDP per capita could also be demonstrating

that there exist a high level of inequality between the rich

and the poor, so that if say the rich constitute 1%-2% of the

general population, in a country like Nigeria with population

of about 130 million people that is a potential substantial

market for fiction.

Therefore, the data collected in the primary research stage of

this project, was analyzed from the above stated basis,

recognizing that fiction consumption constitutes a minor part

of the total book market in Nigeria. Also, the focus of the

57

research was in urban areas. Booksellers and publishers in the

cities of Ibadan, Lagos, and Port Harcourt were the main

respondents of the survey, although booksellers in some other

main cities and towns were contacted, but no response was

received from them.

5.2. Feedback

The response rate for the questionnaires was below 50% from

both publishers and booksellers. Out of a total of 24

questionnaires sent out to booksellers and publishers in

Nigeria (12 for each group), a response was received from 5

booksellers and 4 publishers. Both the publisher’s

representative contacted for the email interview responded.

The information from these sources, were analysed as being

typical of the industry and were considered as representative

of general market trends. Issues such as total number of years

of experience in the industry and perceived commitment to the

publishing of fiction, were influential in the analysis. For

example, question 23 in the booksellers’ questionnaire asked

the respondents to comment on demand for local fiction

compared to foreign fiction. Responses for this were weighed

according to their reply to question 10 (which asked

booksellers to list their bestselling genres).

5.2. Fiction in Nigeria today

The general perception of the genre turned about to be quite

varied amongst the different groups polled. The publishers’

representatives in the UK said that demand for fiction

emanating from Nigeria was negligible. However, all the

booksellers and publishers involved in the research sold and

published fiction. This indicates that there is consumption of

58

the genre in the country, and three publishers agree that the

demand has increased in recent years. Bakare (Farafina

Publishers) attests that the future of fiction publishing in

the country is promising; this view is also held by 2 other

publishers although with a lower level of optimism. Okeowo of

Spectrum Books believes that the future of the genre would

only mirror the economic performance of the country, which in

turn would have an effect on consumption by readers. This is a

fundamental aspect of not just the publishing of fiction, but

also the publishing of other non-academic genres. This is

because the market has to be ready to accommodate the books.

This can only occur in a stable economic environment that

would produce an increase in the level of the purchasing power

of readers and potential readers. The publishers polled agree

that there was a recent rise in the demand for local fiction,

which in their opinion is as a result of economic, political

and socio-cultural factors, but also as Okeowo points out, as

a result of an increase in level of reading and school

enrolments as well as the effect of various prizes to promote

writing.

These opinions of the publishers are somewhat modest compared

to those of the booksellers. The booksellers who have industry

experience ranging from less than five years and up to 15

years, all sell fiction. 20% of them have fiction as their

bestselling genre, and since another 40% have fiction as the

second bestselling genre meaning, more than half of the

booksellers sampled had fiction as one of the bestselling

genres of their businesses. This buttresses the research

assumption of the existence of fiction consumption in the

country, although there are no actual sales figures to allow

59

for a more definitive judgement. The market share of each of

the booksellers and publishers is not known. However, because

these businesses polled are in the major cities, it is safe to

assume that the demand for fiction experienced by these

booksellers, could be among the upper to middle class

Nigerians, and in some cases among expatriates.

What is most interesting however is that although the

booksellers agree that local fiction publishing in the country

is not thriving, indicating that their fiction books are

obtained internationally, the UK publishers’ representatives

who they are supposed to be trading with do not agree that

fiction is one of the most bestselling genres after academic

books in Nigeria. According to Makope of Intermedia Africana

(IMA), fiction sales to Nigeria have ‘been so low, and too negligible to

express in terms of percentage’. This has often left the publishers

they represent such as Time Warner, Headline and Faber and

Faber disillusioned about the Nigerian market. Van Hasselt’s

thoughts on this give some form of clarification, albeit

small. He says that he has noticed some specialised outlets in

Lagos selling fiction, but they are not importing from him.

Therefore, it is safe to assume that the reason the

publishers’ representatives do not share the optimism of the

booksellers on fiction is often because the booksellers are

probably not getting their fiction books from the

representatives. Perhaps these books are being purchased from

UK publishers directly who are known for better discounts, or

even from US publishers, who 40% of our booksellers sample

state they also purchase books from. Also, Christian

literature is a big market in Nigeria, and the survey did not

60

draw any distinction between Christian fiction and ordinary

fiction. Two important issues considered when analysing the

data on fiction publishing and consumption in Nigeria today,

were the lack of details about the value and volume of the

fiction by publishers and booksellers. This information would

have given a better understanding of the market for the genre

especially in monetary terms. It would have been worth knowing

the total value of fiction sales for each bookseller in the

last year, or even the total number of fiction titles sold

compared to total number of all other non-academic book sales.

To be succinct, this research discovered that all the

publishers and booksellers polled published and sold fiction,

with more than half of the booksellers importing 70% -100% of

their titles. Fiction publishing in the country seems to be

growing, but only marginally. Its growth hinges on a number of

very important environmental factors, largely dependent on the

state of the country’s economy.

5.3. Demand for fiction

The booksellers who are often the industry’s representatives

to the general public were divided on the issue of how demand

for fiction had fared in recent years. 40% of them agreed with

the publishers’ representatives interviewed that fiction

consumption in recent years had not increased or had stayed

the same, giving the indication that demand had declined. This

however was not the opinion of the remaining 60% of

booksellers who had experienced an increase in the demand for

fiction in recent years. An intelligent conclusion cannot be

drawn considering these figures in isolation, as this

61

difference in perception could be influenced by all sorts of

other issues raised in the questionnaire, such as country and

organisations of supply (publishers or publishers

representatives), volume of imported books in store,

relationship with local publishers and of course, industry

experience. See Figure 5.1.

Figure 5.1 – Fiction demand as perceived by booksellers

Has Recent Demand for Fiction Increased? (Booksellers)

YesNo

Two out of the three booksellers who have seen demand for

local fiction increase in recent years, have 50% - 70% of

their books imported, while the opposing two booksellers who

would not agree there has been an increase, have 70% - 100% of

their books imported. This shows that the booksellers who had

experienced an increase in demand for local books were the

ones who stocked 30% - 50% of their books from indigenous

publishers.

It was also discovered, that the more positive booksellers

tended to have less than five years’ experience in the

industry compared to the 10 –15 years’ experience of the

62

booksellers disagreeing with them. This could be seen to

demonstrate two important points. Firstly, that the former

group of booksellers may be more adventurous with the books

they sell as well may have approached the industry with new

perspectives, which for example would give the local

publishers more opportunities for business, than the latter

would. Conversely, it can be argued that the more established

booksellers who have the same perception as the experienced

publishers’ representatives, have better knowledge and

understanding of the industry and having compared year on year

sale of fiction in the last 10 – 15 years, they have realised

that the market had indeed not improved in recent years.

On the other hand, 75% of the publishers polled agreed that

the demand for the fiction they published had increased in

recent years. Amongst the publishers, Spectrum Book

Publishers, which has the most industry experience in the

sample (even amongst booksellers), had experienced an increase

in the demand of its fiction titles in recent years. Figure

5.2 illustrates the publishers’ responses.

Figure 5.2 – Fiction demand as perceived by Nigerian

Publishers

63

Has recent demand for fiction increased? (Publishers)

YesNo

Although the consensus amongst the booksellers and publishers

is that there has been an increase of fiction consumption in

recent years, some issues that were not addressed by the

questionnaire would have helped give insight on the level of

increase, possibly detecting emerging trends in the industry.

Questions to do with volume and value of fiction books

compared to other popular non- academic genres like Christian

books and business books would have been most helpful in the

data analysis. Also, information about yearly increase or

decrease in the value of the sale of fiction books by both

booksellers and publishers would have served as an indicator

of the future of fiction in the industry and would have helped

form a better judgment about the performance of fiction in the

market.

Regardless of the various experiences and opinions of these

publishers and booksellers, they have managed to identify a

number of factors that have influenced demand in recent years.

Interestingly, their opinions were in consonance with some of

the factors already identified in the literature review part

64

of this research project. Some of such factors identified are:

-

o A stable economic and political climate. 75% of

publishers and 20% of the booksellers agreed that this

had fostered demand for the genre in recent years.

According to the managing director of Spectrum

Publishers, fiction publishing in Nigeria has bright

prospects. These prospects however depend a great deal

on the continued economic improvements of the country.

The point of the nation’s economic performance and

progress, cannot be stressed enough, as the publishing

industry’s performance hinges on the performance of the

nation’s economy. Especially in the areas of

entertainment and leisure activities which fiction

books constitute a part of. Without a stable and

growing economy where the population have a

considerable amount of disposable income, the demand

for fiction books is be non-existent.

o Diaspora writing: - This has also been identified as

one of the factors that have positively influenced the

demand for fiction in recent years. Although all the

booksellers agreed that Diaspora writing has helped

raise awareness for fiction in the country, only 40% of

them agreed that this awareness has had a positive

influence on demand. Recent success of Diaspora authors

such Chimamanda Adichie, Diana Evans and the winner of

the 1998 Caine prize for African writing winner, Helon

Habila have brought good publicity and exposure to

writing and publishing in the genre.

o Fiction book imports: - All the booksellers import

books, with more than half of them importing 70% -100%

65

of the books they sell. When asked what effect fiction

book imports had had on locally published novels, more

than half of the booksellers agreed that these imports

impair demand, with only one bookseller opining that

fiction import had fostered demand. Ironically the

consensus on this point by the booksellers agrees with

only a minority of 25% of the publishers. In this case,

the publisher had their fiction titles constituting

about 20% - 30% of their current front list. 50% of the

publishers with fiction titles of more than 50% of

their publishing list think that book imports have

fostered the demand of local fiction. Generally

speaking, out of the total sample of nine

organisations, 44.4% agree that fiction imports have

impaired demand while those who think imports have

fostered demand or had no effect are 33.3% and 22.2%

respectively. See figure 5.3.

Figure 5.3 – Effect of fiction imports on locally publishing

fiction

Impaired demand

Fostered demand

No effect on demand

0%10%20%30%40%50%

Effect of book import on demand for locally published fiction

Series1

66

It is therefore safe to conclude on this point with the

notion that although more than half of the booksellers

feel fiction imports impair demand, they are a minority

compared to the total industry sample where the majority

of those polled feel that fiction book imports have helped

fostered demand for the genre, or have had no effect on

the demand of the genre. This information, when considered

recognising the effect of industry experience on such a

perception, realised that two out of the three

organisations with over 10 years’ experience in the

industry believe that imports have impaired demand. On the

other hand, the companies that think imports have fostered

demand all have less than 5 years’ experience in the

industry.

o Publishers’ focus on academic books: - The survey

identified the major constraint on the publishing of

fiction, as identified by booksellers, as being

publishers’ focus on academic books. On the contrary,

half of the publishers mentioned that their own greatest

challenge in the publishing of the genre related to

issues to do with distribution and booksellers.

This attitude of blame shifting expressed by both the

publishers and booksellers, maybe considered a major

hindrance to the development of the industry. These two

actors in the publishing book chain need to co-operate

for the industry to thrive. What can be deduced from this

is that the publishers are hesitant to publish the genre,

because they are concerned about the distribution and

ultimate sale of the books. This is more of a problem to

them, especially in an environment that has trained them

to make direct supply of their academic books to either

67

government or schools. On the other hand, the booksellers

may be hesitant about the locally published fiction

because when compared to design, layout and even the

promotion of the titles, the books published end up as

sub-standard books, when compared to foreign fiction.

Although other constraints were identified, a lack of

demand was the other factor that 60% of booksellers and

25% of the publishers believed inhibited publishing of

the genre. This lack of demand could be as a result of

economic factors as hinted previously, but it could be as

a result of the publishers’ not publishing stories that

are of interest to potential readers, as well as not

designing and promoting these books in such a way as to

create a demand. The other 25% of the publishers found

that the cost and price of books as well as competition

with foreign titles constrained their publishing of

fiction.

o Nollywood: - The Nigerian movie industry is often called

Nollywood, and this industry has grown in the last decade

to be referred to as one of the fastest growing movie

industries, and the third biggest film culture in the

world (Vanguard newspapers 2006). 66.7% of all the

booksellers and publishers surveyed believe that this

industry has positively affected publishing, as well as

stating that there are lessons to be learnt from it. A

few booksellers believe that their success is an

indication that Nigerians appreciate local creativity, as

well as yearn for local content in entertainment. Most

importantly, it is believed that lessons on effective

book distribution can be learned from how these videos

68

are distributed. More on this is discussed in chapter 6

of this document.

o International promotion: - Finally, 60% of the

booksellers identified the positive effect international

media exposure has on the demand of some books. Cases

cited by them were the Harry Potter books, The Davinci Code and

the Christian fiction Left Behind series as examples of when

a CNN or TBN interview increased demand for the books.

The extent of this effect can only be properly measured

by considering the volume and value of any subsequent

sales that have arisen as a result. This is a good

indication that even Nigerians are often tuned to

prevailing global cultures and phenomena, especially in

the media. Most importantly, it serves as a lesson to the

indigenous publishers that other media wield a degree of

influence on what readers and potential readers would be

interested in, and demonstrates that total exposure of

their books in these media is often necessary to create

demand and ultimately increase sales.

5.3. Indigenous fiction publishing

The industry’s concentration on educational publishing made it

almost impossible to find publishers who did not publish

academic texts. As a result, most of the publishers in the

survey published both academic and non-academic books. Their

commitment to the genre as measured by the percentage of

fiction titles on their current front list was quite varied.

The older houses with over five years’ experience tended to

have fiction constituting less than 30% of their list, while

the newer houses with less than five years’ experience had 50%

- 100% of their front list as fiction. This could be an

69

indication of an emerging trend in the industry i.e.

publishing houses being set up with their priority being to

publish fiction. However, these figures only represent on

average 5 – 10 books (the number of fiction titles published

each year) indicating that the said increase in demand, though

large in terms of percentage, is small in terms of volume. The

average print run of these fiction titles is not known, and as

such it makes it difficult to judge the growth rate of the

genre as experienced by these publishers.

5.3.1 Editing fiction

The more experienced booksellers believe that lack of creative

local authors has been one of the main factors inhibiting the

publication of fiction by the publishers. The publishers

however think differently. The impression received from the

research was that editors do not edit the genre any

differently from their editing of academic books. It was also

discovered that the main problem publishers had with local

authors are the unrealistic remuneration expectations.

Standard means for remuneration is royalty payments. Most

publishers acquire their books through rights purchase, from

known authors, and through unsolicited manuscripts. A majority

of the publishers however acquire books through unsolicited

manuscripts. In the cases of rights purchase, half of the

publishers acquired these rights from in more than a few

cases, the UK and either the US or another African country.

Interestingly, for a country with over 250 languages, the

survey found that English was the only language of

publication. None of the publishers published books in any of

70

the three main languages of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. What

remains unclear is whether this is as a result of an in-house

policy, or whether the authors are not just writing fiction in

Nigerian languages or maybe publishers have experienced no

demand for Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa novels. Also, the lack of

publishing in local languages, could be because the publishers

desire to captivate a huge amount of the potential market of

readers who would in most cases all speak English, but many

different local languages as well.

5.3.2 Marketing and distributing fiction

Booksellers and the distribution process were identified as

major difficulties the publishers identified as plaguing them.

They are not in isolation on this point as the literature

review pointed out. What was however noted was that for such a

young publishing industry, the publishers did not feel the

need to establish their brand through marketing. Only 25% of

them did this, compared to the 75% who either marketed their

books by title or by genre. Generally, the authors that got

promoted were from the Diaspora.

What would have been useful to investigate is the type of

publicity used to market these books. Recent years have seen

an increase in book signings, in an existing culture of book

launches. The medium employed in the marketing was not

specified. Newspapers and magazines have been known to carry

adverts of books but not so much television and radio.

Marketing of any product or service should undoubtedly be

tailored to a target audience. All the publishers identified

their target audience as Nigerians in Nigeria with their books

sold mainly in bookshops. The airport and exhibitions are

71

secondary places of sale. Although there has been increase in

organised road transportation, publishers do not appear to be

seizing this opportunity to sell their books in bus stations

and terminals, and with street vendors who are the primary

sellers of magazines and newspapers in the country.

A network of booksellers was discovered as the preferred means

of distributing the books and for the most established

publishers, a regional sales representative. For a country as

large as Nigeria, this distribution system may be regarded as

an ineffective method of giving publishers especially small

publishers access to their potential customers in the total

market. Working with a network of booksellers could limit the

reach of books and in the cases where the booksellers are

unwilling to give a publisher a chance, the public and the

publisher both lose. Also dealing with too many small

publishers can be a bit tedious for a bookseller. These are

some points that the questionnaire did not identify because of

the limitations in its scope.

5.3.3 Copyright protection

The publishers re-iterated that their greatest challenge in

the area of copyright protection is piracy. Piracy and weak

enforcement of copyright laws have often been a source of

discouragement for the publishers. Although this question was

left with a space for comments, no detailed comments were

given. Thus leaving the impression that perhaps the publishers

view copyright laws and the issue with piracy as the sole

responsibility of the government, and possibly, had not

considered or recognised the difference collaborations within

the industry and across sectors can make.

72

5.4. Other issues raised

Some other issues the survey raised, which are worth

mentioning are: -

o Sale of Christian and business books seem to be thriving

in the country, with both genres outselling fiction in

the experience of 60% of the booksellers.

o The culture of reading for pleasure is not as vibrant as

it is hoped it could be. There is some reading, but not

primarily of fiction, better put in the words of one of

the respondents, ‘men read newspapers, women, magazines and

students their school books’. Also, Adewunmi of Bookworm bookshop

Lagos, opines that a newly burgeoning middle class is

emerging, but unfortunately, their priorities are often

to keep up with what she class the ‘MTV’ generation of

the first world and as a result, do not perceive book

reading especially for pleasure as an imperative.

o Booksellers also have a role in marketing the local

fiction titles; in the same way they market international

titles.

o There is a need for an improvement in the physical design

(i.e. books covers etc.) of fiction titles. This is to

allow them better compete successful in other markets.

o Literary awards like the Noma award for African writing

and the Caine prize for African writing have helped

raised the profile of the industry.

5.5. Conclusion

Fiction in Nigeria constitutes a very small percentage of

publishing. Different political and socio-cultural factors

have led to a recent small increase in demand for the genre.

73

However, proper records relating to sales data and market

research are unavailable to substantiate this claim. Book

imports have had a minimal effect on the genre as imports in

the genre are quite expensive and as a result out of the reach

of the general public. A majority of publishers and

booksellers look to the future of publishing fiction with

optimism, primarily as a result of the stable political and

economic climate and an increase in the disposable income of

the emerging middle class as well as a recent increase in the

publicity of Diaspora writing.

74

5.6. References

o CIA (2006) The World Fact Book – Nigeria [Internet]

available from

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ni.htm

l accessed 25th September 2006.

o Ebereonwu (2006) Between Nigerian literature and

Nollywood: a stakeholder’s comment Vanguard Newspapers

[Internet] available from

www.vanguardngr.com/articles/features/arts/at227082006.ht

ml accessed 11th September 2006.

o Mintel (2005) Books, Music and Video Retailing - UK -

June 2005

o Mintel (2006) Book Publishing (Industrial Report) – UK –

May 2006

75

CHAPTER 6

6.0. Conclusion, Discussions and Recommendations

This chapter seeks to consolidate all the information in the

preceding chapters of this work; addressing the core research

objective, which was to explore how fiction book imports have

affected the indigenous publishing of the genre in Nigeria.

6.1. Conclusion

Nigeria, with its relatively high literacy rates of about 67%

(UNICEF 2006), has very little publishing outside academic

texts. This situation is often typical of most low-income

countries where 50% or more of the population is under age 25.

In Nigeria, this situation has been compounded by the oratory

and communal nature of its societies. The industry focus on

educational books has led to the underdevelopment of non-

academic publishing. However, book imports have enabled

consumers to gain access to some of these non-academic books,

such as fiction, Christian books, business books etc.

Fiction publishing in Nigeria dates to as far back as the

1940s with the Onitsha Market literature series. Other fiction

76

series such as the AWS and Pacesetters have followed, and this

has tended to become the norm for fiction publishing – branded

series. Series targeted at young adult readers have been very

popular. They have often being published as part of

supplementary school reading materials as education amongst

them expanded.

What this research has sought to do is to critically examine

the way fiction book imports have affected the publishing of

the genre by indigenous publishers. The initial perception was

that these imports have impaired the publishing of the genre,

but the outcome of the research has challenged this opinion,

identifying only a minimal effect in both positive and

negative ways.

Firstly, book imports across categories arose as a result of a

need in the market. As illustrated in this research, the young

publishing industry that exists in Nigeria has been unable to

adequately cater for the needs of the vast majority of its

people, especially it’s out of school reading population. In

addition, the industry is dealing with a lot of issues that

are completely independent of imports. Various political,

economic and socio-cultural issues have created an

unfavourable environment for the industry, thereby making its

people reliant on foreign literature, particularly from the

English speaking West. These imported books are often diverse

and accessible, albeit to a select few who can afford them, or

through different aid organisations to the general public.

Fiction imports have generally been on a small scale, not

constituting a major portion of books imported into the

country. The bulk of the imports have been in the areas of

77

tertiary educational books, Christian books, professional

books and business books (although not in as many numbers as

the academic texts).

A return to democratic rule, which has in turn produced a

stable political and economic environment, has produced a

certain degree of optimism in the industry, particularly

amongst newer publishers and booksellers. They believe that

the future of the industry has promising potential.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that although book

imports came about as a result of consumer needs, they

contributed to making publishers static and unimaginative in

fiction publishing, as well as restricting readers reading

diet to what is perceived as exotic literature, primarily

obtained through import.

To put it concisely, fiction book imports in Nigeria have

neither impaired nor fostered the publishing of the genre. The

lethargic state of fiction publishing is as a result of

independent factors that have generally plagued the industry.

6.2. Limitations to research

The above conclusion is a tentative one because so many other

important industry factors were not considered in this

research. The views, opinions and perceptions of authors,

librarians and most importantly consumers, were not included

in the research. Quite significant, is the absence of the

opinion and input of the indigenised publishers such as

78

Longman Nigeria, Macmillan Nigeria etc. who are not only

important players in the industry, but also have the most

experience and have often spearheaded fiction publishing

activities in the country.

Also, the research did not highlight particular information

about economic and socio-cultural projections for the country

in the immediate future. This would have helped forecast

industry progress. The role and effect of the professional

organisations such as the Nigerian Publishers Association and

Nigerian Booksellers Association in the industry were not

considered in the research.

6.3 Recommendation and Discussions

The main problem with fiction publishing in Nigeria, as

identified by this research, is the chasm that exists between

two distinct camps within the industry. The first camp

consists of publishers and the industries that support them

e.g. printers. The second camp is the booksellers and

consumers. The former do not appear to be in tune with the

tastes, interests and expectations of their consumers that is

why they have been unable to adequately captivate them.

Publishers do not seem to know who their readers / potential

readers are. They don’t know where they are and how to reach

them and most importantly according to Agbali, some of the

works written in Nigeria are often too abstract, and

unappealing to popular imagination (2006).

Undoubtedly, marketing and distribution are important aspects

of publishing, but it is unfortunate that most African

publishers have still not mastered these skills. Also, other

79

aspects of a book such as its cover design, blurb, and quality

of the printed work are equally important, and are often a

first step in the publicity of the book. Although the research

did not cover these areas, from experience, Nigerian books

tend have covers and jacket designs that are unattractive, or

not contemporary enough and ultimately, unappealing to the

target audience. This ultimately limits the potential of the

book being read. Content and the language used to write a

novel are also very important if these books are to be read

for pleasure and entertainment.

The following paragraphs give modest recommendations on

particular areas that could help improve the publishing of

fiction.

6.3.1. Consolidation of industry efforts

The industry has a few professional organisations such as

Publishers Association, Booksellers Association, Authors

Association etc. who are all part of the NIBF, set up in 1999

with its main aim and objectives being to promote reading and

educational development among the people of Nigeria. On its

website, the NIBF lists how it aims to fulfil these

objectives. What it could do in addition is offer some form of

regulatory service to the industry. As mentioned in earlier

parts of this research, the industry is to a very large extent

unregulated. A code of practice and conduct that would seek to

govern the customs of booksellers and publishers would help

elevate the image of the trade and the industry, thereby

leading to a greater degree of professionalism.

80

Also, stakeholder collaboration like the NIBF could create

awards of excellence and achievement across all publishing

categories in indigenous authorship, publishing and

bookselling. These could be presented at their annual book

fairs, and would serve as an encouragement to the industry,

validating the laudable work done by the industry actors in a

given period. Seminars for the general public on the important

role of each actor in the trade would also help with the

industry’s image and exposure.

Increased collaboration between booksellers and publishers in

the area of distribution would help the industry. Smaller

publishers can outsource the distribution of their books to

bigger publishers with warehouses and distribution agents

nationwide. This would allow booksellers to go to one port for

most of their indigenous supplies. Also industry

collaboration in building successful author brands in non-

academic genres would help raise the awareness and interest of

fiction publishing. Religious leaders, celebrities and

socialites could also be used in publicity efforts, especially

in activities inculcating the reading for pleasure of locally

published fiction books.

6.3.2 Investment in authors

Author of ‘Small Island’, Andrea Levy’s editor once commented, on

how a publisher sometimes has to invest and believe in an

author for a while before they make it big (SYP members

meeting 2005). Small Island won three major literary prizes in

the UK - the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Whitbread Book of

the Year and the Commonwealth Writer’s prize. It took Levy’s

publishers believing in three of her books before the fourth

81

was received with such acclaim. Perhaps Nigerian publishers

need to show the same degree of commitment to the works of

their fiction authors. This commitment could be in the form of

capacity building, helping them to become better and better

writers as their profile rises, as well as ensure that their

works get maximum exposure within and outside the country, and

where possible acting as their agents.

6.3.3 Cover Designs

Unfortunately, this is an aspect of the book that the primary

research did not consider. As appendix 3 shows the cover

designs of some of the latest fiction titles are unattractive

and unappealing when compared to fiction titles published in

the same year by western publishers. This could be as a result

of the general lack of skilled graphic designers in the

industry. However, publishers need to realise that the cover

of a book is its packaging. In a lot of cases, it is what

makes a customer pick a book up and go to the blurb, and this

can often make the difference between the sale and non-sale of

the book. According to Laczynska, it is only in rare cases

that books sell despite their covers. It is therefore

recommended that publishers are make ensure that the covers

given to their fiction titles, are attractive and able to

attract the target audience.

6.3.4. A page from Nollywood

Nollywood as the Nigerian movie industry is often called has

grown in the last decade to become a 60 million dollar a year

industry. A number of respondents in the survey agree that

publishing has a lot to learn from this industry, especially

in the area of distribution. This successful industry with

82

patronage spanning Anglo-phone Western Africa can also teach

indigenous publishers a few things about content, language andbusiness models.

6.3.4.1 Content of movies

Firstly, a lot of the movies contain themes with moral

dilemmas facing modern Africans, themes that a wide section of

the populace can identify with. The content of these movies

also recognises the place of religion in the lives of average

Nigerians; as a result, movies with serious religious

undertones are popular. These movies also successfully depict

Nigerian modern day issues against the backdrop of its

traditional society, often informing Africans in Diaspora of

the latest cultural changes in the society. In other words,

the content of the movies is often true to the lifestyle and

living conditions of present day Nigerians in Nigeria.

Publishers can imitate this format in publishing fiction with

themes that Nigerians can easily identify with and follow.

6.3.4.2 Language of movies

Secondly, the language in the movies is the easy everyday

Nigerian English that the average Nigerian can understand

without a dictionary. Nigerian books have often been accused

of being written quite abstractly, making it difficult for the

average Nigerian to understand. By all means, the language in

a book should be different from spoken words, because it is a

celebration of the written word, but it should not be so

different as to kill the interest of the reader. Nigerian

movies not only do not shy away from Nigerian languages, but

83

also embrace the second most popular and common language in

Nigeria, - pidgin English. Publishers can begin to publish

fiction in simple English and Pidgin English that would give

the reader the pleasure of a good story, without embarrassing

the reader or producing any experience of discomfort when

reading. Different languages for different kinds of fiction

could also be adopted so that more mature readers have a

selection and slower readers have their own. Even the bible

has numerous versions. The ultimate goal is that people, who

read, understand and enjoy. It is not known whether there has

been a fiction series in pidgin before.

6.3.4.3 Business model of the industry

Thirdly, the businesses models adopted by Nollywood have

proved successful. The industry managed to produce a portfolio

of movies very quickly and at minimal cost. This portfolio

allows the very successful ones to cover the not so successful

ones. It is estimated that 54 new movie titles are released

each week with the average movie selling up to 50,000 copies

at between 150 - 250 naira each and the blockbusters selling

up to 200,000 copies each (Onishi 2006). Publishers can afford

to use their revenue from the sale of academic textbooks to

carry fiction titles, or better still create a portfolio of

easy to understand, relevant books and churn them out quickly.

The effect of this could be in twofold, firstly the pirates

would be deterred from keeping up, and the readers would read

quickly in order to read new books.

Another thing Nollywood can teach publishing is the way it

markets and distributes its movies. It adopts very aggressive

nationwide marketing and distribution crusades, with posters,

84

in videos, leaflets and in the press. In other words, it makes

use of other related media in its marketing. The publishing

industry could adopt the same type of strategy. Marketing

fiction titles in movies, magazines, newspapers etc., tasking

every media exposure using both pull and push marketing

strategies to ensure that their books are known and read by

their target audience. Also, the movies always have a

nationwide distributor and marketer, independent of the

producers and directors. These distributors have successfully

made the movies available in all major towns and cities, often

covering both urban and rural areas. The movies are sold in

highbrow video shops, as well as in market stalls, airports,

bus stations, hawked on street corners etc. In other words,

consumers can easily access these movies. Publishing could

adopt this strategy, as accessibility to the product by

consumers is key.

6.3.5 Embracing emerging technologies

The last decade has produced some wonderful technological

advancement for publishers internationally; technologies that

indigenous Nigerian publishers could take advantage of in

their own businesses. While innovations such as podcasts, and

e-books would be ridiculous at this stage for most publishers,

innovations such as audio books and print on demand could help

indigenous publishers on many levels in their growth pattern

and particularly help in selling their titles for the Diaspora

market. The technology industry and implementations of it are

still very young in the country, but it is worthwhile for the

industry to have long term plans that would enable their

businesses to adapt to some of these technologies at an

appropriate time. However, audio books would be particularly

85

relevant to the market in Nigeria today, especially in the

light of the booming music industry. Marketing audio books

would not be as foreign as say marketing podcasts etc.

6.3.5 Piracy

Piracy is a huge thorn in the flesh for all intellectual

property related industries in Nigeria, not only publishing.

Although there is government legislation on this and a

commission to enforce implementation, the industry could

assume more responsibility for ensuring that their products

are not easy prey to piracy. Collaborations between

booksellers, publishers, professional bodies and the

government, particularly in the area of social mobilisation of

the general public on the evils of piracy and the effect on

the authors and the jobs of those associated with the industry

would be a worthwhile attempt at curbing piracy. They could

involve the populace in the war against piracy, by seeking to

also make it their responsibility to oppose piracy. Also,

making book titles accessible and available for consumers as

quickly as possible would help the industry, as it should be

remembered that piracy was born as a result of lack in the

industry. Lastly, making some of these known pirates

distributors of these books may not be a bad idea and could

help deter the pirates from their activities.

6.3.6 Different kind of aid

Aid to Africa, is often in the areas of book donations.

However, aid to other actors in the book chain should be

considered. Examples of such aid could be

o Training and resources for authors,

86

o Arranging collaborations between small and big publishing

houses,

o Subsidised rights sold to publishers in developing

countries like Nigeria,

o Western / African publishers’ collaborations that would

allow liaisons where African publishers can publish

Western titles at lower prices for the African market,

while they sell the African books in the global market at

fairly standard western prices.

6.3.7 Quick reads

Quick reads are short fast paced books written by very notable

authors and personalities in the UK to encourage the reading

of books by people who would not ordinarily read them and aid

adult literacy. The books were launched in the UK in May 2006

at affordable prices, and in a wide section of genres to

include women’s fiction, adventure, crime, football, fantasy

and self-help. They are specifically targeted at emergent

readers and adult learners, hoping to make them addicted

readers. It therefore goes without saying that the language

and themes of these would be relevant to their target

audience. Nigerian publishers can learn from this initiative

and create their own version as a collaborative effort,

pulling in public, private, government and civil society

partnerships in order to get the populace reading beyond the

sphere of academia.

6.4 Further Research

This research focuses on fiction, and only scratches the

surface of a broad area of non-academic publishing in Nigeria.

Research on consumer reading patterns, likes, dislikes and

87

trends would help determine the potential of the genre. Also,

research on other non-academic sector of business books,

Christian books etc would help in gaining a better

understanding of the industry.

88

6.5. References

o UNICEF (2006) At A Glance: Nigeria [Internet] available from

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/nigeria_statistics.html

[accessed 25th September 2006]

o Norimitsu Onishi (2002) Step Aside, L.A. and Bombay, for

Nollywood [Internet] available from

http://nigeriaworld.com/feature/spotlight/nollywood.html

[accessed 8th September 2006]

o Laczynska, L. (1997) Do judge a book by its cover. The

Bookseller issue no.4760.

89

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94

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Appendices

8.1. Appendix 1 – Nigeria – Basic Statistics

(Nigeria map from www.mbendi.co.za/cyngmps2.gif)

Official Name: Federal Republic of Nigeria

Leadership: Democratically elected President and

Governors (2003)

Capital Territory: Abuja

Capital: Lagos

Geography: 36 states

Location: Western Africa

Population: 131, 859, 731

Nationality: Nigerian

Currency: Naira (N)

Literacy Rate: 67%

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Languages: English (Official), Pidgin English, Hausa,

Yoruba and Igbo

Religions: Christian, Muslim and Indigenous beliefs

GDP per capita: $1400

Main Industries: Crude oil, Palm oil, Peanuts, Cocoa, Rubber,

Tin etc.

Emerging Industries: Natural gas, Telecoms and Banking

Educational System: 6-3-3-4 system. 6 years of primary

education, 3 years junior secondary, 3 years

senior secondary and 4 years of tertiary

education

Publishing Areas: Publishers concentrated in the Western

cities of Lagos

Bookselling Areas: Booksellers can be found in all major

cities to mention a few, - Lagos, Abuja,

Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Owerri, Calabar,

Uyo, Benin, Warri, Kano, Kaduna, Jos, Makurdi,

Zaria, Yenagoa and Aba.

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98