A gathering was already at the Lagos Race Course by the evening of 30 September 1960. The mood was the liveliest you could find, and it was all because the next 24 hours held so much significance – a country Nigeria would emerge after about half a century under British control. Out of this came a consciousness that was made into a picture through storytelling and the writers who needed to make it an act.

Then came the novelist, Chinua Achebe who carved out an opening that future Nigerian creatives can burrow through when debuting with Things Fall Apart on 17 June 1958. In the future, Nigerian-American novelist, Adaeze Ifeoma Atuegwu was waiting dutifully – she was to be painting a vision for children through their books.

Now, up to three decades have passed since Atuegwu bled her first blood as a writer. Back in 1994, she was a 17-year-old exiting secondary school education and growing up in Enugu in the southeast of Nigeria when Fate, her debut work, was published. It opened the floodgate that continued a chain which the late Chinua Achebe already started, where future generations, through the past works of those who preceded them have found a voice. Interestingly, Fate was printed by Fourth Dimension Publishers.

In the subsequent months between 1994 and the following year, the literary scene reveled in the lingering moment of buzz that came along with adulation. Wrapping up the end of an empowering 20^th Century, the image of Atuegwu at 17 portraying a grooming of romance was truly a novelty. Such curiosity greeted other works that were to follow in under eight months of the debut: Tears, Chalet 9, The Magic Leaf, The Adventures of Nnanna, Bina Series (five books), and the Lizzy Series (six books).

All these were the interesting beginnings that were to precede the author’s enormously influential shaping of the world through a focus on minorities comprising people living with disabilities or visually impaired. That had to be the burden that would follow the status of the youngest bestselling author in Nigeria. Although we have had female pop culture icons who are writers, no personality has outmatched Atuegwu at 17.

For Atuegwu who is now 46 years old, a lifelong cord was struck at an early age due to her keen interest in literature and publishing, and she was also attracted to the screens.

Growing up, I was obsessed with writing and directing plays/drama. Part of me wanted to be a movie director but the better part of me wanted to be a writer. I’m glad I chose the latter, the voice of the novelist echoes through a post on Facebook page.

I wrote My Husband’s Mistress at 17 – my teen mind playing around with societal issues of marriage and the role of women within the institution of marriage. In this play with a cast of 10 characters, a young wife is distressed by her husband’s infidelity. She struggles to follow societal norms of acceptance of his behavior since she knows better. My Husband’s Mistress has been used as text material in several Theatre Art departments of many colleges/universities in Nigeria.

Atuegwu received the Rotary International Club Award for Creativity (1994); after this was the Award for Fostering Child Development (1995), and Award for Excellence in Writing (1996). All these point to great achievements – the young Miss Atuegwu was becoming sort of a legend, and she was inspiring the world around her, whether through the printed texts of a publisher, via sound, or the pointy dots of Braille.

If the author were to be lying under a microscope, it is likely to reveal a special calling to bring stability into the world. In her universe, the visually impaired will be groomed for a profitable journey on this earth. Her Bina Series had a part to play in birthing the Bina Foundation for People with Special Needs. It is a non-profit born out of the desire to ensure assistance gets to target beneficiaries.

The stigmatised, the marginalised, and the neglected have benefited from this enterprise which is strictly the brainchild of a childrens’ writer destined to prove a point that was pretty much new around the mid-nineties. Through Adaeze Ifeoma Atuegwu, a motion picture of the Nigerian segment of the world was on display.

She was the main act in this, a light came through her, which made it clear that a limitless mind, even though young, can heal the world.

This article was first published in Local Content Digest H2 2023 edition.