EDITOR'S NOTE: You are not alone if you fall in love with Eugenia Abu’s voice the first time you hear her read news on TV. As the Assistant Director, Creative Writing and Presentation with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), she anchors the 9pm News twice a week, a profession that has made her a household name in Nigeria. She is also a published author and newspaper contributor. In this interview that appears in the current issue of INSIDE TRACK MAGAZINE- PRINT EDITION, the author of In the Blink of An Eye talks about motivation, success, writing, and what "making a difference" means to her...
Eugenia Abu, writer and ace newscasterEUGENIA ABU: My Family, a good book, life and the spiritual, achievers, charitable persons, ordinary everyday people doing extra-ordinary things.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?
EUGENIA ABU: I believe success is how much one has been able to impact positively on one’s environment and persons around them. Success is also translated to how efficient one is in his or her chosen field. If you are a successful doctor for instance, it should not be about how much money you make but more about how well your patients are pleased with the treatment they receive, how much of modern medicine and current trends you know, and are conversant with. A successful doctor for example is one whose patients trusts his judgement and his skill. He also brings kindness and a listening ear to his job. An arrogant doctor who is wealthy I am afraid I may not consider successful. Of course it is good for the doctor to be comfortable so I am not advocating that poverty is synonymous with success. Successful persons ought to be comfortable as well. But all these things earlier mentioned, kindness, efficiency, courage and knowledge of your field are the hallmarks of success. I am intolerant of arrogant, rude and disrespectful people. No matter how good you are, I cannot consider you successful. Success is generally about how you live life to make the world a better and strife-free place.
IF THERE IS ONE THING YOU COULD TELL THE WORLD AND YOU KNOW THAT THE WORLD IS LISTENING WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
EUGENIA ABU: It would be to stop the wars. It is not worth it. When it is all over with wounded soldiers, raped women, displaced families and the smell of death and sadness everywhere, where do the war mongers hide their faces? Was it really worth it in the end? In some cases, at the end of the war, not one of the stakeholders will remember why they went to war. It is a tragedy. In near zones women who go to fetch water, young, old under aged, grandmas and wives are still being raped by rebel soldiers, government soldiers, refugee workers, everyone takes the women for granted. The hunger, the deprivation which makes some women sell their bodies in exchange for food for their families, is so sad. When the war is all over what will one do with the broken pieces of life all over the landscape. Stop the war and adopt a poor person today.
ON HER FIRST BOOK
EUGENIA ABU: My book In the Blink of an Eye was presented to the public in 2006 and has been described as the longest running literary endeavour in Nigeria. We have had 31 book readings in Abuja, read in prisons in London, at a writing conference in Cambridge, in three cities in Australia and have had book tours in Jos, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna and Kafanchan. Lagos, Lafia and Calabar are in view. The promo of In the Blink of an Eye will be brought to an end after doing it in Lagos. We are waiting for the reprints and a special hard cover edition for Lagos. The new book is finished and we should be presenting it to the public soon.
ON HER WRITING
EUGENIA ABU: I started writing when I was seven years old. Lucky that my father let me run around his library early enough, so I am a voracious reader. That has helped my writing. Writing features for The Guardian Newspapers for over 23 years polished my writing skills. I also write a column for my church newspaper, The Good Shepherd and also the Voice of Nigerian, VON Quarterly. In the past I wrote a column for MTN Quarterly. I contribute literary reviews to the Leadership Newspaper. I have a collection of poetry, a collection of short stories, a half written novel and a cookbook; they are all works in progress.
WHAT DOES MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY MEAN TO YOU?
EUGENIA ABU: Making a difference in my community means everything to me. The world is constantly looking for role models. Communities deserve role models, are thirsty for it even if you consider that what you do is insignificant or too lowly. There are young people with no focus and no future who can change as a result of what you said and how you said it. We can all make a difference. It may be your loyalty to your boss or your thoroughness at your work. Role modelling is a huge community service and selfless too. More people should impact their communities through exemplary living. Exemplary leadership is too highfaluting even. Just exemplary living will do. People watch you. As a growing child, you may complain endlessly about your parents but there would be a neighbour, a doctor, a writer, a bricklayer, a hairdresser, a driver whom you adored. Exemplary living by these neighbours can change a child’s life and impact community.
In the summer I teach Creative Writing to children between the ages of 7-14 years and it is one of my more exciting projects, The Treasured Writers. The reward of making a difference in your community is awesome. Also I try to put something in place for the less privileged, I support St. Vincent de Paul, a society for the less privileged in my church (I am Catholic). Also, I try to send books, provide furniture, send pencils when I can to the schools n my community and my husband’s community in Kogi state. There is an afterglow with community service, it is indescribable. Soon I will start something with caregivers in hospitals around Abuja, people who look after their relations in hospitals. It is very traumatic. People care more about the sick person. Caregivers also go through their own stress and need help and empathy.
I also mentor two or three young persons a year. I take them in as my Personal Assistants and pay them a stipend. But when they leave, they have learnt so much. Everyone should be encouraged to do the same. Build a well rounded community, mentor a young person today. ■
(Eugenia Abu will be the Guest Writer at the Abuja Writers' Forum on Saturday, the 30th of January 2010 at 4pm. Venue: Pen and Pages Bookstore, White House Plaza, Plot 79, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja. Editor)
