Taking Nigeria Seriously honours Ofeimun at 70

OZOLUA UHAKHEME

AS part of activities marking the 70th Birthday celebrations of Odia Ofeimun, a foremost Nigerian poet, journalist, dance-drama producer and critic, the Odia Ofeimun at 70 Committee will hold Taking Nigeria Seriously: A conference in honour of Odia Ofeimun, at the Julius Berger Hall of the University of Lagos campus on March 16 and 17.

The celebration will end with a special dinner in honour of the celebrator on the evening of March 17 at the Hall of the University of Lagos Guest House.

The conference will be a gathering of intellectuals, scholars and academics from within Nigeria, Africa and as wide as from North America and Europe.

The keynote will be given by Prof. Biodun Jeyifo, a reputed literary scholar and globally recognised cultural theorist, who until recently was with Harvard University in the United States.

The opening ceremony of the conference holding by 10 a.m on March 16 at the same venue, will be chaired by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister of Interior while the dinner on March 17 will be chaired by the renowned civil rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba.

Ofeimun, who is also a columnist and public intellectual, has for more than four decades now, exerted a phenomenal presence in the Nigerian cultural, creative, intellectual and political space.

He served as Private Secretary to Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late Nigerian nationalist and politician between 1978 and 1981; was a member of the editorial board of The Guardian from 1983 to 1988, Chairman of the Editorial Board of The News, Tempo and AM News from 1993 to 1999, and President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) from 1993 to 1997.

Ofeimun’s Hornbill House of Culture represents a platform, which he has continued to use to execute his multi-dimensional activities including writing, dance-drama production, book publishing, cultural promotion and political interventions.

He has close to forty (40) published books to his name; they include volumes of poetry, collections of critical essays, anthologies of cultural and political interventions, and compilations of journalistic writings.

In 2010, Odia Ofeimun won the Fonlon Nichols award for excellence in writing and human rights activism.