Nigerians Are Everywhere. There's An Old Joke,

The Igbo Used To Say That They Built Their Own Gods. They Would Come Together As A Community, And They Would Express A Wish. And Their Wish Would Then Be Brought To A Priest, Who Would Find A Ritual Object, And The Appropriate Sacrifices Would Be Made, And The Shrine Would Be Built For The God.

If You Encounter A Human Shadow Burned Permanently Into The Concrete In Hiroshima, You Realize That This Is The Trace Of A Very Ordinary Person Now Elevated Into The Emblematic. Time, Shame, Complicity, Or Discomfort Are The Only Things That Make Us Pretend History Is Impersonal Or Far Removed From The Power And Consequences Of Our Every Lived Moment.

I Think That Most Writers Who Are Trying To Write Important And Difficult Books Are In Many Ways Putting Their Own Humanity Into Question. Sometimes The Journey Is Finding Out Where You Stand In Relationship To Your Own Humanity And To The Humanity Of Others.

Every Successful Artist Comes From A Family - Parents Or Siblings Or Both - Who, Although Equally Gifted, Chose Not To Pursue The Treacherous And Difficult Path Of The Artist.

I Think Cities Are The Primordial Forests Of Our Time. We Evolve Faster As A Species In Cities. Cities Are Chaotic, Liminal Places Where The Many Aspects Of Human Potential, Good And/or Bad, Are Most Readily Magnified.