Ike Anya

Ike Anya is a Nigerian public healh physician and writer currently based in the United Kingdom. Founding Secretary of the Abuja Literary Society, he is co-editor of The Weaverbird Collection of New Nigerian Writing to be published by Farafina this year. His poetry, essays, and short fiction have been published in the UK, Nigeria, America, and India.

Two Welcomes to Toronto 2006

"This talks about teaching…you didn't say anything about teaching - did you tell the High Commission in London that you were going to be teaching in Canada? And upstairs you said you were a journalist, then a doctor and now you're teaching?"

Nigerian Health “Reforms”: Rhetoric Or Real?

One could come to the conclusion that certain aspects of governance have been given priority over others and that health does not seem to have fallen into the chosen few. We could argue that this is because initial efforts have been focused on the economy, but the question remains- is this decision wise, and more importantly, is it sustainable?

Why Are We Crying? We Are All Guilty

I am sitting at my computer, transfixed by the images on the internet of the grieving parents and relatives of the over one hundred people that died in Port Harcourt at the weekend in an aeroplane crash. And we are all responsible...

“I’d love to see more Africans writing about Africa”- Segun Afolabi

“African writer” is, I feel, a label for those in the West to lump vastly different people together. “Nigerian writer” is a more useful term, but then again it’s not the same as “Nigerian-born writer”.  - 2005 $15,000 Caine Prize for African Writing Winner, Segun Afolabi.

“I’d love to see more Africans writing about Africa”- Segun Afolabi (2)

“African writer” is, I feel, a label for those in the West to lump vastly different people together. “Nigerian writer” is a more useful term, but then again it’s not the same as “Nigerian-born writer”.  - 2005 $15,000 Caine Prize for African Writing Winner, Segun Afolabi.

The Nigerian Policeman Is Your Friend

“First you say you are doctor, now you say you are writer, my friend, which one are you? This is very suspicious o. In fact you have to come and see our Oga...”

Sefi Atta: Something Good Comes to Nigerian literature

Writers are not protected from discrimination. When I worked as an accountant I dealt with discrimination and I’m still dealing with it now. It’s funny, looking back from my first writing class, it feels like I’ve been on one long audition, standing before an audience who is yelling, What have you got? Go on, tell us an African story!

Reforms As Blinkers

In recent months, it has become the refrain of government spokesmen to attribute any negative fall-out from any policy or action of government to the natural painful consequences of reforms...

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