Why I came back from the USA – Tess Onwueme

Tess Onwueme, acclaimed playwright and Emeritus Professor Emeritus of Cultural Diversity and English Literature at the University of Wisconsin, has shared the reasons why she decided to return to Nigeria from the United States when she had been a citizen for over 30 years.

According to her, she can't wait to go home because Nigeria's history can be better.

She said that although it has been a very gloomy and gloomy atmosphere for a long time in Nigeria, especially in the last decade, "we should be the ones who create our stories, the story Nigeria must change, we are the creators."

Onwueme, author of the popular plays Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen (2001), The Desert Encroaches (1985), Tell It To Women (1995) and Then She Said it (2003), stated in an interview with The PUNCH at Ako, Trademall in the Lugbe district of Abuja, during the official opening of Happy Belly Events and the Creative Performance Center which would serve as a hub and confluence of future arts.

The event brought together members of the country's literary community, including the Nigerian Authors Association, literature scholars and academics such as the executive director of the Nigerian School of Politics. 'Abuja, Dr. Sam Amadi, Dr. Law Mefor; Teacher. Irene Salami from the Department of Gender Studies at the University of Jos and a representative of Ijaw in the Diaspora, Dr. Edward Agbai.

The venue features a writers' haven for storytelling/folk tales, poetry readings, creative performances, with a 1,200-seat event space for weddings, parties and celebrations. picnics and a unique mix of delicacies.

Onwueme was answering questions about why she decided to return to the country, even with the worsening security problems, hardships and poor governance that have discouraged most Nigerians to go home.

She said, "The desire to go home was there. Nigerian history may be different, it has been a very gloomy and dark atmosphere for a long time in Nigeria, especially during the last seven, eight, ten years. We are the creators, we should be the ones who create our stories, Nigerian history must change.

"I have been a citizen of this country (USA) for over 30 years. But first and foremost I am a Nigerian. My umbilical cord, my placenta were buried in Nigeria and Nigeria is a place that can never be, for me, recreated. Nigeria is my home, my homeland and I claim this as my home forever and ever.

"So everywhere I go is like the turtle, everywhere he goes he goes with his shell; I may have been somewhere else in the world, I've been around of the world as a writer, as a keynote speaker, everywhere. But there's always been a place that I call home and it's here and I claim it, reclaim it and want us to be proud.

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“We can be proud of so much in Nigeria, but it seems that we have lost confidence in ourselves. I look around me, I see children, parents don't even speak their language to their children anymore, as if they were ashamed of it.

"My children, I raised them in America, five of them and now 12 grandchildren, the youngest was four when we left, the oldest was 11. They could speak our language, they would teach them to their children, so it's something up to you, it's up to us.

We can't just blame the politicians."

Talking about her writing journey, Onwueme said that as a pioneering African playwright, she entered, "when it was even more difficult for women to storm the stage. literary intelligentsia in Nigeria with people like Wole Soyinka Chinua Achebe J.P. Clark and Ola Rotimi at the time because it was a man's world.”

She pointed out, "So the moment I walked on the scene or walked in, there was a void and I became a pioneer in that sense. Zulu Sofola was an elder compared to me at the time, it was a very vacant topography for women especially for the dramatic arena.

"And for more than two decades I have occupied this stage, not only in this country, Nigeria, but also in Africa and in the United States, where I have become a full professor and professor emeritus emeritus of letters, endowed for 27 years.

"So I'm done, I have five kids, I really accomplished the best at the peak of my career, 12 grandkids, I'm retired, I took my retired as a Distinguished Global Literature Professor and Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin.”

Onwueme said Happy Belly Events was a dream come true where she could bring in writers and the community to tell stories.

"People can tell, recreate our story and to nurture our bodies, hearts and minds, we should be the ones who...