The idea of Nigerians attending a book fair to buy books should be discouraged; rather, they should emulate countries like France, Britain and Ghana, where citizens go to look for books to purchase from publishers after the book fair, says the Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, CSS Bokshops, Mr Dare Oluwatuyi, in this interview with Damiete Braide. He also reveals the success story behind CSS Bookshops, the prospects of publishing in Nigeria, dangers posed to Nigerian publishers, among others.
Many people may not know the history behind CSS Bookshops, can you give us an insight into it?
Nigerians know our company as CSS Bookshop, which literally means Church and School Supplies, although the initial name was Church Missionary Society (CMS) founded by the colonial masters in 1869. During that period, it was not a business entity, but was founded to propagate the gospel and to establish free education to Nigeria.
As we all know, the colonial masters brought Christianity and education, which were the positive aspects of their coming. In the same vein, they brought slave trade. With time, the company began to bring materials from Britain to build churches and establish missionary schools. They later included literature, bibles and church materials. They established an outlet where people could take these materials free of charge. They continued and, gradually, thought of breaking even by selling these materials at cheaper prices. It later metamorphosed into a bookshop, not minding the fact that the original intention was to propagate the gospel and educate the masses of Nigeria.
Towards the end of colonial era, the foreign staff had to leave when it became obvious that Nigeria would gain independence from Britain. The disparity between the missionaries and Nigerians was so much, and the leadership accidentally fell on Nigerians when the colonial masters left. It now became a Nigerian company. However, the business is owned by the church of Anglican Communion, which translated down the ladder. CSS Bookshops, as at today, still belongs to the church.
CSS specialises in the publishing and supply of Christian books and literature, educational, motivational and general books, stationery and office equipment. The company has branches in Apapa, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Kaduna.
CSS Bookshops have come to stay. If we have been in existence close to 150 years, definitely, the company will not die. We want to take the leadership position in the book industry which we are supposed to be. We want to be known in part of the country where people can purchase books, print and publish their works.
CSS Bookshops are reputed to be the oldest bookstore/publishing firm in Nigeria, what has made the organisation to continue to gain new frontiers?
I believe, because it is not an individual company, but belongs to the Church of Nigerian Anglican Communion, even when the company had problems in the past, the church has always supported it in terms of restructuring and they have injected funds into the company to stabilise it. This has helped the company to stand on its feet up till now. I believe if a company founded in 1869, and is close to 150 years now. How many companies in Nigeria founded at that time are still in existence? Such companies are very few. For CSS Bookshops to still be vibrant today, kudos should be given to the Church of Nigeria for making the company what it is today.
Would you agree that investing in knowledge economy has helped Nigeria?
I agree with the notion that investing in knowledge economy has helped Nigeria. When the colonial masters came, they also brought education. If they had not invested in knowledge then, possibly, they wouldn’t have succeeded in what they did. Though some people may also say they brought education to take our culture from us. Investing in knowledge economy has helped the country in so many ways; things are changing rapidly. Technology is one of them, so if, we are not investing in knowledge economy, we cannot catch up with the rest of the world. Although our knowledge economy is not enough in terms of investments made by the government, that is why we are still lagging behind. Countries like Malaysia, Singapore, etcetera, that came after us, have gone past us, because they invested heavily in their educational system. We are not investing enough in knowledge economy which is quite helpful and I urge the government at all levels to invest more in knowledge economy.
Would you say that authors under your imprint are well treated and they get their royalties as at when due?
CSS Bookshops has a good relationship with their authors. CSS Bookshops is also a publishing outfit. We have a press, publishers, printers and booksellers, which make us a one-stop organisation. We encourage authors to bring their manuscript to us, and we will attend to them promptly. When it comes to payment of royalties, it has become seamless that, periodically, we work out what is due to any author and pay the money into their accounts, which is stress-free.
Some authors complain that when they send their manuscripts to publishing houses, sometimes, it takes years for the publishing houses to reply them, which is why some authors have resorted to self-publishing.
When authors bring their manuscripts to CSS Bookshops, they bring them in soft copies, and it is our duty to look into it if it can be published, and if there is a market for it. We also interview the author on certain areas, and, if they are able to meet our requirements, we go ahead to publish their works. When the manuscript is submitted, we do our own research and give the author our guidelines, and they have to comply by it. We usually sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the authors and when they agree, we go ahead with the publishing. The onus lies on the author to find out which publisher has the interest on the area he/she is writing on, and that would help the author to save some time.
What are the prospects of the publishing industry with the prevailing economic reality in Nigeria?
There are publishing houses that have been in the business for a long time and new ones are springing up. If there are no prospects, the publishing industry will be dying. However, challenges, such as piracy, cost of doing business in Nigeria and the high exchange rate of foreign currencies, have really affected a lot of businesses. Most of the materials we use are imported, which has made the cost to skyrocket. Not many firms have enough funds to do business like they used to do in time past. Another factor is piracy which is on the increase in Nigeria. Unfortunately, there are laws on piracy but the penalty for piracy is insignificant which gives pirates continue with their trade.
How has CSS Bookshops been able to overcome the issue of piracy?
Our works are also being pirated. Few years ago, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) helped us to carry out some raids in various markets and made some seizures of the pirated works. Sometimes, we attend book exhibitions or book fairs, we realise that the next bookstore have some of our works which they didn’t buy from us.
On our own, we cannot go to the market to fight pirates; we report to NCC whenever we suspect our works been pirated and they go with us to arrest these pirates and confiscate the works. We are not allowing the pirates to stop us from what we are doing. We are still publishing, printing, and we are still selling. We go to schools directly to sell our works and some of the works are for the Anglican churches and they are also been pirated. We try to also expand in terms of our coverage so that pirates do not take advantage of that to pirate our works.
How would you compare Nigerian publishers with their foreign publishers?
In comparison, I don’t think Nigerian publishers are there yet but they are trying. Nigerian publishers have also visited their foreign counterparts through various forms of synergies like conferences, seminars etcetera and are doing businesses together. CSS Bookshop is collaborating with a foreign company to make our quality of high standard, which has made us compete favourably well with other publishing houses in the world. We have some Nigerian publishers and they are doing very well. When you compare the output to that of their foreign counterparts, the difference is not much. Nigerian publishers need to do more, we are not there yet, but we are trying.
What are the dangers posed to the publishing industry by the gradual shift to e-learning?
E-learning is not a new thing in Nigeria; it is in vogue now. It will take some time for e-learning to take over hard copy books in Nigeria. Both of them complements each other in Nigeria. Take our tertiary institutions, for example, where they have e-learning centres; they may have 500 computers, and there are about 20,000 students; how long will it take a particular level of students to make use of e-learning before it gets to their turn again? These are some of the challenges, but, in developed countries, every student has a laptop, tablet, I-pad that can do that. But, in Nigeria, not every student can afford these gadgets. E-learning is there, we are aware, we are coping with it and the hard copy is gradually been phased out. Nigeria is not moving fast to ensure that we are not lacking behind with the rest of the world.
What’s your impression about book fairs in the country and in the world, having attended such in the past?
CSS Bookshops usually participates in major book fairs in the country, like the Nigerian Book Fair which takes place every year. We also attend regional book fairs organised by other organizations. There are also organisations which hold book fairs, like the Abeokuta Book Fair, which addresses primary and secondary school books. All these book fairs creates awareness for books in the country which is a good thing. We also have participated in foreign book fairs, like Ghana Book Fair, World Book Fair, London Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair, among others.
A book fair is supposed to be an opportunity for people to go and see the various books that publishing houses have and not for people to go and buy books. In developed countries, people go to book fairs to ask the publishers where they can purchase their books but in Nigeria, it is the other way round. It is an opportunity for Nigerians to go and buy books.
Recently, there was a book fair in one of the states in Nigeria, and the organisers charged a fee of N500 for people to enter, which discouraged people from attending. If I decided to attend that book fair with my children, I would have to pay more than N1000 for gate fee, and, if I had the intention of buying books, I may not buy the books again. It would discourage a lot of people from attending such book fair.
As Acting Managing Director of CSS Bookshops, what magic do you intend to bring to make a difference from your predecessor?
I am not bringing any magic, but am bringing in my wealth of experience and expertise in the business. I have been in the business for 25 years now, and, currently, I have a formidable team which also worked with my predecessor and we took the company to a higher level. We will continue from where he stopped to make the company attain higher heights. CSS Bookshops have come to stay. If we have been in existence close to 150 years then definitely, the company will not die. We want to take the leadership position in the book industry which we are supposed to be. We want to be known in every part of the country for people to purchase books, print and publish their works.
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