Issues in Book Publishing in Nigeria

Aigboje Higo enjoys a reputation as Nigeria’s most eminent and highly respected publisher. Founder of the Nigerian Publishers Association, his long association was with Heinemann in Nigeria. Initially the publisher under the British, he oversaw the periods of indigenisation of editorial policy and transition to majority local ownership. With Alan Hill and Henry Chakava, he was one of the inspirations behind the success of the Heinemann African Writers Series, bringing in titles to the series by authors such as Ayi Kwei Armah, which are now regarded as classic texts of African literature.

Niyi Osundare, the prolific poet and critic, who contributes the preface to the book, describes Aig Higo as: ‘the ultimate publisher...a poet and writer himself, a literary insider who understands the intimate meaning of words...a deeply rooted cosmopolitan who these past fifty years has cultivated a mind full of ideas...with the protean wisdom of a village elder and the purposive panache of a corporate manager.’

This volume or festschrift is a collection of essays and articles in honour of the publisher. It comprises fifteen chapters from some of the best minds on the Nigerian and international publishing scenes. The subjects of the papers range from the economics of publishing in Nigeria and the prospects for the industry in the electronic age, through debates about government book policies, to training and the role of publishing organisations both in Nigeria and internationally.

The contributors include: Victor Nwankwo (deceased), Henry Chakava and Keith Sambrook. The editors are Ayo Ojeniyi who is the current Managing Director of Heinemann Nigeria, and Festus Adesanye, the long-standing publisher of the pre-eminent scholarly Ibadan University Press.