When did the issue of climate change get personal for you?
I have always been very concerned with any form of abuse, be it on fellow human being or the environment. While it is, however, difficult for me to put a particular year or date to when my concern for climate change began, I would, nevertheless, remember that growing up as a child in the 1980s along the shore of Lagos lagoon and being a witness to the daily release of fume from Oko-Baba sawmill and the contrasting serenity in my village when I was on holidays, they always give me more than I can look away from.
There is a strong presence of nostalgia in your story. Could this sense of nostalgia be of loss or hope?
Surely, it must have been that of hope. It is the kind of hope that still resonates with me enough for me to re-enact this non-fiction piece. Some of the anecdotes in my story date back a few decades. So the hope in this story is the hope that lives; it is the hope that has eventually found expression and a home in the book project The Greens We Left Behind. Thanks to the sponsors.
What inspired your story for The Green We Left Behind nonfiction anthology?
The belief that great stories help to re-create our world, as they also envision our expectations. We believe that we need a more friendlier ecosystem than we presently have.
As an artist, how are you able to merge beauty in language with such a dire theme on climate change?
I always believe that for anything that we are passionate about, the language, the best language is used as the vehicle that will capture urgent themes as this. Besides, I also think that this story is one that has always been waiting for me to write it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been done within a day; it was written quick, barely two hours.
As you release your story to the world, what is your wish or hope for the story?
Literature for me should do more than just be all about aesthetic. Therefore, I share in the belief that art should not be for art sake. There is still a lot to be done and especially by making the issue of climate change a consciousness issue on all fronts.
Aside writing, how else do you intend to contribute towards curbing climate change?
I sometimes think of myself as an Artivist. Please, the spelling is not an error. This is a deliberate neologism. Hence, I am open to any kind of activism that will ensure that we raise global awareness on climate change.
Biography
Ari-Ajia Olanrewaju is a book lover who also loves to pen down his views through different genres of literature. He has published three works in both English Language and Yoruba Language; his ability as a bilingual writer affords him the opportunity to also double as a translator across English and Yoruba Language. Ari-Ajia’s first published drama text titled, Women at Crossroads was longlisted for the first edition of the Nigerian Prize for Literature (drama category). He is passionate about the promotion of the Yoruba Language. As a literary activist, he has been quite active in the literary platforms around Lagos, and he is one of the founders of Pen Society. He studied Political Science and has B.A and M.A in English Language from National Open University of Nigeria and University of Lagos respectively.
